Changes in the constituents of the peripheral blood occur rapidly during whole body x-irradiation. It was the purpose of this study to compare these blood changes in weanling and adult rats of both sexes during acute x-irradiation to death.
The killing by x-irradiation at a rate of exposure of 750 r/min. required a maximum of two-and three-fourths hours.
MATERIALS AND METHOD
The white rats used were descendants of a stock selected by Dr. T. F. Zucker of Columbia from an original Osborne-Mendel-Sherman stock, the selection resulting in a very hardy strain quite free from respiratory disabilities. The rats used in this report were bred in our laboratory.
At the time of exposure the weanling rats were 1 month and the adults 4 to 6 months of age. The male weanlings had an average weight of 121,gm and the females 95gm. The adult males had an average weight of 437 g-m and the females 252 gm. Three rats were used in each group, totalling 12.
Each rat constituted its own control in that prior to irradiation, and on the same day, a complete blood analysis was made. Not more than one rat was studied in a single day and the time of day of initiating the irradiation was the same * Based on work performed under Contract AT-30-1-GEN-70 for the Atomic Energy Commission.