Induced Polycythæmia by l-Ascorbic Acid in Albino Mice

Abstract

The effect of l-ascorbic acid in increasing the number of red blood corpuscles has been studied in various laboratory animals¹ but hitherto not in mice. The present investigation was made to ascertain the action of the vitamin on the latter animal, taking into consideration, at the same time, the fact that there are many dietetic factors which affect the blood picture. Thus besides being properly fed on a diet consisting of cabbage and a mixture of cereal flour (8 parts) and whole milk powder (2 parts), the animals were given a salt mixture of iron, copper and cobalt (42, 55, 0.03 p.p.m. respectively²) and cod liver oil.