Measurements of red cell volume, plasma volume, and tissue haematocrit (Hct) were made in 14 brain regions in adult rats using 51Cr-tagged red cells and 125I-labeled human serum albumin. The mean large vessel (systemic artery) Hct was 41.8, total body Hct was 35.3, and of the brain regions, the lowest value (septal nucleus) was 25.91 and the highest (visual cortex) was 32.05. The lowest blood volume was 6.29 microliters g-1 (caudate putamen) and the highest was 14.44 microliters g-1 (inferior colliculus). There was a significant difference between regions in both blood volume and tissue blood Hct. When brain regions were ranked in order of blood volume, this did not coincide with the order for blood flow.