Abstract
In 1924 Huyghebaert first reported the hemolytic action of methylene blue.(l) Later, in 1934, Wendel and Hefley (2) studied the anemia produced in dogs by single large doses of methylene blue, and suggested that the dye might be useful in treating polycythemia vara, They noted that the drug did not cause immediate hemolysis, but that the maximum anemia developed four to seven days after a single dose of methylene blue mas given, and that the dogs recovered in about two weeks. Another effect of methylene blue noted by these investigators was the formation of Heints bodies in the erythrocytes. In 1947 McLimans and Grant (3) who were studying the use of methylene blue in the treatment of tsutsugamushi fever, found that methylene blue reduced the mortality in rats infected with this disease, but that the rats often succumbed because of anemia.