VI. Further experiments upon the blood volume of mammals and its relation to the surface area of the body

• Published in: Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Containing papers of a biological character Containing papers of a biological character, 1912-01, Vol.202 (287), p.191-212
• Main Authors: Dreyer, Georges, Ray, William
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0264-3960; 2053-9266
• DOI: 10.1098/rstb.1912.0006

In previous papers* we have shown that the blood volume of normal and healthy mammals, such as rabbits, guinea-pigs, and mice, is satisfactorily expressed by the formula B = Wn/k, where B is the blood volume in cubic centimetres, W the weight of the individual in grammes, n approximately ⅔, and k a constant (calculated from the experiments), which varies with the particular species of animal. This formula indicates that the smaller and lighter animals of any given species, which have a relatively greater body surface than the heavier ones, have also a relatively greater blood volume—in other words, the blood volume can be expressed as a function of the body surface, and it must therefore be misleading to express it in per cent, of the body weight, since when so expressed it is not a constant for any given species of mammal. As it was of interest to ascertain whether wild animals of closely allied species would differ greatly as regards their blood volume from the above-mentioned tame animals, we have determined the blood volume of hares, wild rabbits, and wild rats.