916 Experiments 



In the last 



50 min. 2.2 of oxygen consumed, and 1.7 of C0 2 excreted 



As a total, 



in 5h. 50m. 50.2 45.7 



Experiment DCXIV gives similar results: there were, in fact: 



In the 1st hour 11.9 of oxygen consumed and 9.2 of CO, excreted 

 In the 2nd hour 9.0 of oxygen consumed and 8.8 of CO, excreted 

 In the 3rd hour 5.9 of oxygen consumed and 4.6 of CO, excreted 

 In the 4th hour 5.2 of oxygen consumed and 3.3 of C0 2 excreted 

 In the 5th hour 3.7 of oxygen consumed and 2.8 of C0 2 excreted 

 In the 6th hour 0.8 of oxygen consumed and 0.4 of CO, excreted 

 In the 7th hour 1.5 of oxygen consumed and 1.1 of CO, excreted 



As a total, 



in 7 hrs. 37.0 of oxygen consumed and 30.2 of CO, excreted 



So the consumption of oxygen diminishes progressively: and so, 

 in spite of the high proportion of oxygen contained in the arterial 

 blood, the chemical phenomena of oxidation slacken. It is not 

 surprising, therefore, to see that the temperature of the animal 

 drops progressively until, at the moment of death, it reaches the 

 values of 27.8° (Exp. DCXI), 27° (Exp. DCXV) (line of Fig. 75), 

 and even 23° (Exp. DCXIV). In this connection I mention Experi- 

 ment DCX in which the temperature dropped from 39° to 25 3 , and in 

 which, however, the animal, when returned to the free air, sur- 

 vived without symptoms. I shall refer later to the importance of 

 this drop in temperature, as a result of the decrease of the inner 

 combustions. 



Let us now examine the gases of the blood at different moments 

 in the experiments. Let us take again, for example, Experiment, 

 DCXV, the most complete we have performed. The summarizing 

 table-' and lines Ox and CO- of Figure 76 show these results clearly. 



We see first that in spite of the increasing proportion of carbonic 

 acid, both in the respired air and in the blood, the proportion of 

 oxygen was not much modified during the first four hours of the 

 experiment; not until then did it decrease progressively, although 

 death cannot be attributed to it, since at the last heart-beats, when 

 the respiration had ceased, there still remained 9.7 volumes of 

 oxygen in 100 volumes of arterial blood. 



As to the carbonic acid, I have already mentioned the enormous 

 proportion which it reached at the moment of death. But the course 

 of its storing up in the arterial blood is not regularly progressive. 



