Abstract
Nine rabbits were splenectomized, the operative procedure being done as simply and rapidly as possible. Ether anesthesia was used in all cases. Initial blood samples were taken from the ear vein of each rabbit the day before operation and were analyzed for total blood pigment and oxygen capacity by the Van Slyke carbon monoxide method. 1 In all of these initial samples the agreement between the total and the oxygen carrying hemoglobin was within the limits of experimental error. A spectrophotometric analysis of each sample was also made.
The rabbits were bled from the ear daily for three, four, or five days after operation and the blood samples analyzed as before. In every instance it was found that the oxygen capacity dropped below the total pigment, in most cases showing a maximum deviation of 10 to 15 per cent of the total pigment on the second day and returning to the same value as the total hemoglobin on the third or fourth day after operation. It was first thought that the discrepancy between the oxygen carrying pigment and the total hemoglobin content might be due to the presence of methemoglobin. The results of the work with the spectrophotometer did not substantiate this idea, however, as the ratios obtained for the light absorption at two given wave lengths (A = 5400 and A = 5600) are entirely different from those obtained in solutions of known methemoglobin content. Further work is necessary before any statement can be made as to the nature of this reduced oxygen carrying power. Such work is now in progress.
As a control a laparotomy without the removal of the spleen was performed on one rabbit. There was no discrepancy found between total and oxygen bearing pigments.
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