The effects of pneumonia and of postmortem changes on the percentage of water in the brain of the albino rat / Helen Dean King.

  • King, Helen Dean, 1869-1955.
Date:
1911
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The effects of pneumonia and of postmortem changes on the percentage of water in the brain of the albino rat / Helen Dean King. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    THE EFFECTS OF PNEUMONIA AND OF POST- MORTEM CHANGES ON THE PERCENTAGE OF WATER IN THE BRAIN OF THE ALBINO RAT HELEN DEAN KING The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology A. THE EFFECTS OF PNEUMONIA The determination of the percentage of water in the brain and in the spinal cord of the normal albino rat between birth and maturity, recently published (Donaldson TO), has made it desir- able to test how far this character might be modified by disease. For this purpose rats suffering from a common lung infection, usually designated as 'pneumonia7, were used. This disease causes marked emaciation in its advanced stages and generally some loss in the weight of the brain. It attacks rats when they are half-grown, runs a variable course and usually appears to be fatal. Some of the rats used in this investigation were found dead, others were killed because a loss of weight and general behavior in- dicated illness. In the latter instances, when the autopsy showed pneumonia, the brain of the animal was used. Taken altogether, 51 infected animals were examined, of which 22 were males and 29 were females. In making the records it was noted whether the infection was beginning, as indicated by a congested condition of the lungs, or had proceeded further; the later stages of the disease being designated as moderate, bad, or very bad. The technique of measuring the animal, removing, weighing and drying the brain was similar to that described in the paper by Donaldson (TO). The exact ages of the diseased rats were not