On the relative sizes of the organs of rats and mice bearing malignant new growths / by F. Medigreceanu ; [communicated by J. Rose Bradford].

  • Medigreceanu, Florentin.
Date:
1910
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: On the relative sizes of the organs of rats and mice bearing malignant new growths / by F. Medigreceanu ; [communicated by J. Rose Bradford]. 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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    [Reprinted from the j^ocEEDiNtffc pE thej*Royal Society, B. Vol. 82] T •, JUL 10 is V5\ ' i uu' i .<2, \cy' On the Relative Sizes of tjhQrgcms of Rats arid Mice bearing Maligfiaht Neiv Growths. By Dr. F. Medigreceanu (Bucharest). Communicated by Dr. J. Rose Bradford, Sec. R.S. Received Decomber 21, 1909, —Read February 3, 1910.) (From the Laboratory of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund.) The object of the present investigation has been to determine the effects of the growth of tumours on the weight of-the principal organs of the body. The fundamental conception on which the work is based is that the weights of the different organs of normal animals bear a relatively constant ratio to the total weight of the body. Such investigations ars capable of throwing light on many debatable points of cancer metabolism, and give important indications of promising directions for future more detailed work. The previous investigations of workers in the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (Cramer, Haaland, Murray), and recently by Moreschi, in Ehrlich’s Institute, have dealt with this subject from the standpoint of the ratio of tumour-weight to total body-weight and the influence of the former on the latter and on the normal growth of the body. In the present investigation a closer analysis of the factors is attempted, in reasonable expectation that under the influence of the physical and chemical changes taking place in the bodies of animals bearing tumours, definite aberrations from the normal relations may be produced. From a consideration of these aberrations it may be possible to infer the nature of these changes. Method. The following precautions have been taken to avoid the sources of error which would impair the comparability of the numerical data. Normal and tumour-bearing animals (tumour-animals) were chosen which were free from obvious illness, looked healthy and strong even when bearing large tumours. They were killed by fracture-dislocation of the cervical vertebrae. Estima- tions were made on 300 animals. With few exceptions the mice were taken three at a time, the rats singly. In all cases the comparisons are made with total body-weight less the contents of the alimentary canal. The abdominal organs were removed in the order—spleen, alimentary canal, kidneys, liver. The thorax was then opened, blood-clots removed, and lungs and heart excised. The heart was separated from the lungs and the