exes.
Contrary to the assertion of Robin, Hayem finds that the white
blood-corpuscles are not more numerous in women than in men, and he
also states that the number of haematoblasts is the same in the two
sexes. All chemists are agreed, however, that the number of red
corpuscles is greater in men than in women. Nasse found in man 0.05824
of iron to 100, and in woman only 0.0499. Becquerel and Rodier give
0.0565 for man, 0.0511 for woman, and Schmidt, Scherer, and others
give similar results. Welcker (using a chromometer) found between
the corpuscles of man and woman the relation of 5 to 4.7, and Hayem
confirmed this by numeration. Cadet found in woman on the average 4.9
million corpuscles per cubic millimeter, and in man 5.2 million. More
recently Korniloff, using still another method--the spectroscope of
Vierordt--has reached about the same result. The proportion of red
blood-corpuscles varies according to individual constitution, race,
and sex. In robust men Lacanu found 136 red corpuscles in 1,000; in
weak men, only 116 in 1,000; in robust women, only 126 in 1,000; and
in weak women, 117.[61] Professor Jones has taken the specific gravity
of the blood of above 1,500 individuals of all ages and of both
sexes.[62] An examination of his charts shows that the specific
gravity of the male is higher than that of the female between the
ages of 16 and 68. Between the ages of 16 and 45 the average specific
gravity of the male is about 1,058, and that of the female about
1,054.5. At 45 years the specific gravity of the male begins to fall
rapidly and that of the female to rise rapidly, and at 55 they are
almost equal; but the male remains slightly higher until 68 years,
when it falls below that of the female. The period of marked
difference in the specific gravity of the blood is thus seen to be
coincident with the period of menstruation in the female. A chart
constructed by Leichtenstern, based upon observations on 191
individuals and showing variations in the amount of haemoglobin
with age, is also reproduced by Professor Jones, suggesting that
the variations in specific gravity of the blood with age and sex
are closely related to variations in the amount of haemoglobin.
Leichtenstern states that the excess in men of haemoglobin is 7 per
cent. until the tenth year, 8 per cent. between 11 and 50 years, and
5 per cent. after the fiftieth year.[63] Jones states further[64] that
the specific gravity is higher in persons of the u