27
TABLE No. 13.
Type of leucocyte.
,
Percentage
on first
day of
paralysis.
Percentage
on second
day of
paralysis.
Percentage
on third
day of
paralysis.
Percentage
on fourth
day of
paralysis.
Percentage
in health.
Small mononuclears
...
...
...
20
19.6
10.6
2 3 5
57'6
Polymorphonuclears *
.,,
...
...
...
71
76.9
854
72
34.5
Large mononuclears
...
...
...
...
5
1.5
1 8
2.3
24
Transitionals
.,.
...
4
1'6
1 2
11
1
Basophile polymorphonuclears ...
...
...
0
0
2
.3
0
Eosinophiles*
...
...
...
...
...
0
4
4
2
4.5
Courmont and Lesieur (34) observed a similar increase of polymorphonuclears in lung smears
from 45 per cent. in health to 95 per cent. in rabies.
It was at first thought that this change in the proportions of the leucocytes of the blood
might be explained, though partly, as an. effect of starvation which invariably occurs in rabies, at
first as a result of general paralysis preventing the animal from getting at its food and subse-
quently when the muscles of mastication and deglutition are involved and the animal stops
eating altogether. But the fact that the change is always noticed before starvation actually
commences went against this hypothesis. It was however determined experimentally that
starvation has no such effect on the leucocytes as is noticed in rabies. In one series of experi-
ments one rabbit and one guinea-pig were each given a small morsel of moistened bran every 24
hours without any other kind of food and in the other series the starvation was carried still
further by giving the same amount of food every 48 hours. That the starvation was not less
severe than in rabies was indicated by the loss of weight undergone by the animals during the
period of the experiment. A rabbit weighing 1,230grammes at the commencement weighed only
960 grammes at the termination of the experiment, a loss of weight which compares favourably
with that occurring in rabies (vide chart 2). The. subjoined tables which give the combined
results of the two series of experiments give the relative proportions of leucocytes of rabbits and
guinea-pigs before and after starvation and indicate that the changes noticed in the blood of
rabies are not the effect of starvation (vide Tables Nos. 14 and 15).
TABLE No. 14.
Type of leucocyte,
P e r c e n t a g e b e f o r e s t a r v a t i o n .
P e r c e n t a g e a f t e r o n e d a y ' s s t a r v a r t i o n
P e r c e n t a g e a f t e r t w o d a y ' s s t a r v a t i o n .
P e r c e n t a g e a f t e r t h r e e d a y ' s s t a r v a t i o n .
P e r c a n t a g e a f t e r f o u r d a y ' s s t a r v a t i o n .
P e r c e n t a g e a f t e r f i v e s t a r v a t i o n .
P e r c e n t a g e a f t e r s i x d a y ' s s t a r v a t i o n .
P e r c e n t a g e a f t e r e i g h t d a y ' s s t a r v a t i o n .
Small mononuclears
...
...
...
742
55
76'5
75
75'5
75'5
80
66
Polymorphonuclears
215
35
16.2
22
13'5
16
15
21
Eosinophiles
•.5
1.5
1'3
0
2.8
.5
0
1.5
Large mononuclears
...
...
...
1.3
3
2'8
1'5
3'3
3
2
4
Transitionals
...
...
..,
..,
1'5
5
1.7
1,5
3'7
3
2.5
5.5
Basophile polymorphonuclears ...
...
1
•5
1.5
0
1•02
2
'5
2
Weight of rabbit ...
...
...
...
,
1,230
grammes,
1,130
grammes.
1,070
grammes.
...
1,010
grammes.
960 -
grammes.
* The polymorphonuclears of the guinea-pig possess fine rod-like granules in' the protoplasm. The eosinophiles
,:show larger rounded granules staining a deeper pink.