The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1875-08-12
What Is seen In the Blood .


Young folks have q great fancy for
"blOody stories ;" so / am going TO
tell you not exactly a bloody story"
out a story about blood, and you need
not be alarmed, for before finish you
will find there is nothing in blood to
alarm any one, bat good deal that
is useful, curious and beautiful. If
you prick your finger with needle,
and squeeze out drop of blood and
place it under the microscope, you
will be astonished at what you see
You can hardly believe that drop OF
blood contains so many curiosities.
First you observe a whole lOs of little
reddish looking bodies, aud among
these a number Of larger transparent
bodies, which look like minute splash
es of ligbt-cOiored jelly. 1t is about
these jelly-like bodies am going to
talk with you. II you keep your eye
on one oil them, you see that it con.
tinually changes its form, aud that it
has slow, crawling kind of motion !;
and If you try to make drawing of
it on paper, your picture will never
be twice ali alike. 1t puts out some
thing from one side which looks like
foot; then il draws in this foot, and
puts out another at the other side
as if trying to find q soft place to walk
upon. Sometimes it puts out several
OF these feet at one time. This little
j ielly-splash appears to use its feet as
we use ours, 10 walk with, though
you see it gets on quite slowly and
awkwardly. It's foot is called pseudo
DodilHn, which means false foot.
These little bodies have very suit
able name-ameba, and the word
means changing. This name was
given to them, no doubt, because they
are constantly changing their form.
The amRba, or blood cell, is larger
than the still prOtococus, or mould OF
the paling, and not quite as large as
the moving prOtoeOcus, or green wa
ter mould. 1t is usually about 1-2500
OF an inch in breadth. 1t does not
possess the cellulose or woody sac,
like the little protococus houses. II
is more like the pear shaped proto-
cocus boatmen. Its wall is Just the
hardened outer layer of the Jelly or
protoplasm. It has no thin space OF
vacuole, no "eye-spOt," no eyelashes
or ella, and when it is quite fresh
and new you can not see any kernel
or nucleus. You really can see noth-
ing but an odd-loOking lump, with
here and there some little grains
inside of it. If you give it q drop Of
weak vinegar or aoetic acid, the little
grains will disappear, and you see the
kernel in the centre.
You can find the kernel much
easier If you stain the cell with ma.
ge1ltG or weak iodine, Heat makes
these sm9be or blood cells move
much quicker, and it is very interest.
| ing to watch them make their way
among the yellowish red cells which
lie in rows around them. Sometimes
one of the amRbse will clear a chan.
mel for itself right through a thick
group of the others. The first time ]
ever saw them moving In this way, ]
could not help thinking of the canal:
in Venice, where the gondoliers steel
their gondolas close beside the houses
turning the corners so skilIfully a
never TO strike them. So these LITTLE
gondoliers OF the blood went in anC
ont, threading their way among the
dish-yellow cells, which stood In row
on either side of the narrow channels
There IS one great difference, though
in Venice the gOndolier has nothing
to do but to follow the canals tha
are made for him, but the ame5a
gondolier has to make his way as ht
goes. No wonder you open you
eyes! 1t Is enough to open any one'
eyes to think OF the thousands of thes
odd creatures that go half creeping
half walking through ones veins
You know people sometimes tall
about their "bloOd-crawling," bu
very few people know hOW the bloc,
Acrawls.-Rquldr Science Monthly.