THE PROBLEM OF THE IRON RESERVE: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

It is generally acknowledged that iron in the tissues, particularly in the liver and the spleen, acts as a reserve supply for the formation of hemoglobin, but definite experiments on changes in this iron reservoir are not readily available. In 1895, Kunkel 1 reported some work on puppies which were bled and then placed on an iron-poor and iron-rich diet. He found more iron in the tissue of the animals on the iron rich diet, but other dietary factors may have entered into his results. In our previous work, we 2 have shown that ferric citrate given in the food and by subcutaneous injection does build up this iron reserve in the tissue, but that it has no effect on the rate of the formation of hemoglobin. We have also noted that food iron is capable of being quickly and efficiently used in the formation of hemoglobin, an observation that is in