191 1] William J. Gies 285 



let it be noted that Araki found lactic acid in the urine of epileptics 

 voided shortly after their seizures. As a proof that lactic acid is not 

 necessarily the only acid that may be or is produced in states of lack of 

 oxygen, we can mention E. Mendel's* finding that the phosphoric acid 

 content of the urine is increased immediately after epileptic seizures 

 and in apoplexy. We may also call to mind Hoppe-Seyler's analysis of 

 various edema fluids which he found to contain, besides lactic acid, 

 valerianic, succinic, and butyric acids. (Page loi.) 



The lactic acid found in conditions associated with a lack of oxygen 

 is produced in the tissues, enters the blood, and is excreted by the 

 kidneys. This has been proved by Araki's later publications and 

 through Hermann Zillessen's^ experiments. Zillessen found that when 

 the oxygen supply to a muscle or the liver is shut off for a variable 

 number of hours through ligature of the arteries supplying these parts, 

 an increased production of lactic acid occurs. If the ligature is loosened 

 and the first blood returning from the oxygen-starved tissues is ana- 

 lyzed, this is found to be particularly rieh in lactic acid, and if the 

 blood is titrated, it is found to have a diminished capacity for neutraliz- 

 ing a Standard oxalic acid Solution.* Zillessen was also able to demon- 

 strate the production of lactic acid in animals poisoned with hydrocy- 

 anic acid, which we know from Geppert's studies to owe its action to 

 its power of inducing a State of lack of oxygen in the tissues. (Page 



lOI.) 



The accumulation of carbon dioxide in the tissues is also of import- 

 ance. The ordinary circulatory disturbances while making for a de- 

 creased supply of oxygen to the tissues also make for an accumulation 

 of carbon dioxide. In experiments with fibrin which I placed in dis- 

 tilled water in ordinary " soda " bottles, and then had charged with 

 carbon dioxide at various pressures in a local mineral water establish- 

 ment, I found a marked increase in the amount of the swelling with 

 every increase in the concentration of the carbon dioxide. The Observa- 

 tion of Strassburg and Ewald, that the carbon dioxide content of edema 

 fluids and of tissues deprived of a circulation runs very high, is there- 

 fore not to be disregarded in trying to find a cause for the increased 

 affinity of the tissues for water in a State of disturbed circulation. 

 (Page 102.) 



* Mendel : Archiv für Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheiten, iii, p. 636. 



° Zillessen : Zeitschrift für physiologische Chemie, 1891, xv, p. 387. 



' Araki, Zillessen, and most of the older observers speak of a " decreased 

 alkalinity " of the blood. Since modern physico-chemical measurements have 

 shown the blood to be neutral in reaction, it is best to State the experimental 

 findings of these authors as above. 



