Effect of alkali 



43 



When we left off working with blood and commenced working 

 with solutions of haemoglobin, the discrepancies were quite as great 

 as, if not greater than, they had been with blood, and intellectually the 

 same difficulties presented a much greater embarrassment because 

 they were much more paradoxical. With regard to blood, it might 

 be said with some reason that the haemoglobin was modified by the 

 fact of its being enclosed in the red blood corpuscles. Indeed, many 

 suggestions might be put forward as to how this could happen. The 

 surface charge of the corpuscle, if it has one, might increase or 

 decrease the affinity of a corpuscle as a whole for oxygen. The 

 surface membrane of the corpuscle might in different cases present 



%100 



20 40 60 80 100mm. 



FIG. 21. Comparison of points obtained from blood laked with dilute ammonia with 

 dissociation curves of Bohr and Hiifner. Oxygen pressure horizontal. Percentage 

 saturation vertical. 



different obstacles to the diffusion of the oxygen within its walls. 

 The existence of points or particles in a fluid is known to have a 

 considerable influence on the accumulation of gas in their vicinity. 

 All these unknown factors might be advanced with regard to the 

 corpuscle. 



When, however, we laked the blood, and so obtained a solution 

 of haemoglobin, free from corpuscles, it was not possible to apply 

 any of these considerations, and therefore the fact that no two 

 solutions of haemoglobin presented identical affinities for oxygen was 

 much more difficult of explanation. 



