ABSTRACT

Twenty-four active looking adult rats, twelve of which were males and the other twelve females, were used for the experiments. The male rats were of four types, the wild freshly captured rats, and the first, second and third generations of the domesticated rats. There were three male rats from each of the four types. Blood was collected from the cut tip of the tails of the male rats directly into heparinized haematocrit tubes and also into heparinized containers. The packed cell volume was determined by the microhaematocrit method, and the red cell count, white cell count, and haemoglobin content were determined four times in each blood sample. The blood glucose level was determined in each blood sample using 4-aminophenazone as oxygen acceptor (Trinder, 1969).