The hemodynamic significance of the flow properties of blood was put into perspective only during the past decade. Advances in modern technologies today allow the quantitative analy- sis of the fluidity of blood and its components under conditions approximating the flow in vivo, particularly those in the microcirculation. The hematocrit is the most important of the determinants of blood fluidity (reciprocal value of blood viscosity); acute increases in the hematocrit exert deleterious effects on circulation and oxygen transport owing to impaired fluidity of blood. High viscosity of plasma due...