Histology of the Blood

he amount of blood in the internal organs may be very different. The problem, how to estimate exactly, if possible mathematically, the quantity of blood in the body has always been recognised as important, and its solution would constitute a real advance. The methods which have so far been proposed for clinical purposes originate from Tarchanoff. He suggested that one may estimate the quantity of blood by comparing the numbers of the red blood corpuscles before and after copious sweating. Apart from various theoretical considerations this method is far too clumsy for practical purposes.

Quincke has endeavoured to calculate the amount of blood in cases of blood transfusion for therapeutic purposes. From the number of red blood corpuscles of the patient before and after blood transfusion, the amount of blood transfused and the number of corpuscles it contains, by a simple mathematical formula the quantity of the blood of the patient can be estimated. But this method is only practicable in special cases a