NOTE ON THE PACKED CELL VOLUME IN SCIURUS PALMARUM L WITH REFERENCE TO SEX AND SEASON

In Sciurus palmarum L., the males (43.86 percent) have higher average PCV value than that in females (40.72 percent). Though the difference between average values of PCV of male and female were not statistically significant (P<0.05) The PCV is higher during winter with the maximum in January (50.22 - 2,732 in males, and 49.55 - 2.533 in females) and lower during sum mer and monsoon with the minimum in June (39.77 - 3.843 in males and 35 11 - 2,269 in females) in both the sexes, The haematological studies in rodents is attracting much attention due to their importance as experimental animals in biomedical researches. Although the packed cell volume has been reported by Youatt et al. (1961) in some mammals, Silverman & Chavannes (1977) in European hamster, Dimitrova (1979) in Sciurus vulgaris, Armitage (1983) in Marmota flaviventris and Fox et al. (1984) in certain rodents, yet no attempt has been made so far to study it in the Indian palm squirrel, Sciurus palmarum L. Twenty adult specimen of Sciurus palmarum L. of almost equal size and weight, representing both the sexes, were collected each month from the suburbs of Agra. The blood samples were obtained directly from the ventricle of anesthesized animals in the oxalated vials. The packed cell volume was estimated by the clinical methods (Wintrobe, 1969).