Page:Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Vol 4.djvu/455

 Rh

The following papers were read, viz. : —

1. "Observations on the Blood-corpiiscles, particularly with re- ference to opinions expressed and conclusions drawn in papers ' On the Corpuscles of the Blood,' and ' On Fibre,' recently published in the Philosophical Transactions." By T. Wharton Jones, Esq., F.R.S.

The author points out what he considers to be important errors in the series of papers by Dr. Martin Barry, which have lately appeared in the Philosophical Transactions, and are entitled, " On the Corpus- cles of the Blood" and " On Fibred He alleges that Dr. Barry has generally confounded the colourless corpuscles contained in the blood wdth the red corpuscles of the same fluid ; each of which latter kind consists of a vesicle or cell, with thick walls, but in a collapsed and flattened state, and having therefore a biconcave form, and in con- sequence of its thick wall being doubled on itself, presenting under the microscope a broad circumferential ring, which is illuminated or shaded differently from the depressed central portion, according to the focal adjustment of the instrument: while the colourless corpuscles, on the other hand, are of a globular shape, strongly refractive of light, and granulated on their surface, and are of less specific gravity and of somewhat larger size than the red corpuscles. The author quotes various passages from Dr. Barry's papers in proof of his assertions, and refers particularly to fig. 23 of his second paper on the corpuscles of the blood. He farther states, that Dr. Barry's description of the appearances of what he terms the red corpuscles, in paragraphs 53, 68, and 76 of his second paper, can, in fact, apply only to the colourless corpuscles : and he observes, that even when Dr. Barry does, at last, in his " Additional Observa- tions," advert to the distinction between the red and the colourless globules, he considers the latter as being merely "the discs" con- tained in the red globules appearing under an altered state.

The author regards as wholly erroneous the notion which Dr. Barry entertains that a fibre exists in the interior of the blood- cor-