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272 THE BLOOD.
they do not yield any information as to the true alkalinity, apart from
the fact that the results are dependent upon the indicator used, because
we understand as true alkalinity the concentration of the hydroxyl
ions. The Na2C03 is in aqueous solution more or less dissociated into
2Na+ and C03
=
, depending upon the dilution. The C03° ions com-
bine partly with the H+ ions of the dissociated water, forming HCO3-,
and the corresponding HO~ ions produce the alkaline reaction. If now
by the addition of a little acid, a few of the HO" ions are removed,
the equilibrium is then disturbed, a new quantity of Na2C03 is dissociated,
and this process is repeated every time a new quantity of acid is added
until all the carbonate is dissociated. The dissociation of the carbonate
existing in the original concentration, upon which the number of HO~
ions is dependent, cannot therefore be determined by titration.
For these reasons we generally determine the quantity of HO
and H ions in the serum and blood by methods based upon Nernst’s
theory for the electromotive force of gas-chains. According to these
investigations it has been found that the concentration of the hydroxyl
ions in blood-serum and blood is only a little higher than in distilled
water (see Chapter I page 76, and the reaction of the blood below).
H. THE FORM-ELEMENTS OF THE BLOOD.
The Red Blood-corpuscles.
The blood-corpuscles are round, biconcave disks without membrane
and nucleus, in man and mammalia (with the exception of the llama,
the camel, and their congeners). In the latter animals, as also in birds,
amphibia, and fish (with the exception of the Cyclostoma) the cor-
puscles have in general a nucleus, are biconvex and more or less ellip-
tical. The size varies in different animals. In man they have an average
diameter of 7 to 8 ju (/x = 0.001 mm.) and a maximum thickness of 1.9 /x.
They are heavier than the blood-plasma or serum, and therefore sink
in these liquids. In the discharged blood they may sometimes lie with
their fiat surfaces together, forming a cylinder like a roll of coin (rouleaux).
The reason for this phenomenon, which is considered as an agglutination,
has not been sufficiently studied, but as it may be observed in defibrinated
blood it seems probable that the formation of fibrin has nothing to
do with it.
The number of red blood-corpuscles is different in the blood of various
animals. In the blood of man there are generally 5 million red cor-
puscles in 1 c.mm., and in woman 4 to 4.5 million.
The blood-corpuscles consist principally of two chief constituents,
the stroma, which forms the real protoplasm, and the intraglobular
contents, whose chief constituent is haemoglobin. We cannot state
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