Distribution and hematocrit ratios of blood in the rat

¹ Department of Radiation Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York

The distribution of blood in the rat was investigated with Cr⁵¹ red blood cells and I¹³¹ plasma proteins. The hematocrit of blood obtained by decapitation may be assigned the value of 100. Then, the hematocrit of blood draining from the tissues was found to be 100, and for that which remains in the tissues the figure was 57. Since this fraction in the tissues was 18% of the blood volume, the hematocrit for the whole body must be between the two; the value found was go.