Abstract
ACCESS to a Unicam SP800 recording spectrophotometer prompted me to check the absorption spectra of the haemoglobins of the leeches Hirudo medicinalis L., Haemopis sanguisuga (L.) and Erpobdella testacea (Savigny) previously recorded1 with another instrument. The new records (Table 1) show the previous set to have been in considerable error at the longest wavelengths, though substantially correct at the short wave end of the range. The corrected values resolve the problem raised by the apparent implication that leeches live in conditions of very low oxygen tension.
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References
Needham, A. E., Nature, 210, 427 (1966).
Heilmeyer, L., Spectrophotometry in Medicine (trans. by Jordan, A., and Tippell, T. L.) (Adam Hilger, Ltd, London, 1943).
Prosser, C. L., and Brown, F. A., Comparative Animal Physiology (Saunders, Philadelphia, 1961).
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NEEDHAM, A. Absorption Spectrum of Leech Haemoglobin: a Correction. Nature 221, 572 (1969). https://doi.org/10.1038/221572a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/221572a0
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