Red corpuscles which vary from the normal in size and shape are present in most symptomatic anemias, and in the severer grades are often very numerous. Irregularities are particularly conspicuous in leukemia and pernicious anemia, where, in some instances, a normal erythrocyte {176} is the exception. In pernicious anemia there is a decided tendency to large size and oval forms, and megalocytes are rarely found in any other condition. (2) Variations in Staining Properties (See Plate VIII).--These include polychromatophilia, basophilic degeneration, and basophilic stippling. They are probably degenerative changes, although polychromatophilia is thought by many to be evidence of youth in a cell, and hence to indicate an attempt at blood regeneration. (_a_) _Polychromatophilia_.--Some of the corpuscles partially lose their normal affinity for acid stains, and take the basic stain to greater or less degree. Wright's stain gives such cells a faint bluish tinge when the condition is mild, and a rather deep blue when severe. Sometimes only part of a cell is affected. A few polychromatophilic corpuscles can be found in marked symptomatic anemias. They occur most abundantly in malaria, leukemia, and pernicious anemia. (_b_) _Basophilic Granular Degeneration_ (_Degeneration of Grawitz_).--This is characterized by the presence, within the corpuscle, of small basophilic granules. They stain deep blue with Wright's stain; not at all, with Ehrlich's triple stain. The cell containing them may stain normally in other respects, or it may exhibit polychromatophilia. Numerous cells showing this degeneration are commonly found in chronic lead-poisoning, of which they were at one time thought to be pathognomonic. Except in this disease, the degeneration indicates a serious blood condition. It occurs in well-marked cases of pernicious anemia and leukemia, and, much less commonly, in very severe symptomatic anemias. (_c_) _Basophilic Stippling_.--This term has been applied {177} to the finely granular appearance often seen in red corpuscles, which harbor malarial parasites (Plate VI). It is commonly classed with the degeneration just described, but is probably distinct. Not all stains will show it. With Wright's stain it can be brought out by staining longer and washing less than for the ordinary blood-stain. The minute granules stain reddish purple.