DISTRIBUTION OF INHIBITORS IN ANIMALS 



401 



These results are of interest because the blood flow distribution in the small- 

 er animals is not well known. However, these animals were anesthetized 

 with pentobarbital and the blood flow through some of the tissues, such as 

 the brain and skin, might have been quite diff"erent from the normal animal. 

 Potassium is a substance which diffuses rapidly from the vessels, is 

 negligibly bound to plasma proteins, and equilibrates readily with the intra- 

 cellular compartment. In such a case, removal of a small amount of a sub- 

 stance from the blood may be essentially complete during one passage 

 through an organ. The amount of substance in the tissue will depend only on 

 the volume of blood entering it; it will not depend on the rate of flow or the 



Table 8-3 

 Composition and Blood Flow of Tissues 



°- Organ weights for small animals averaged from cat, rat, dog, guinea pig, and rabbit. 

 Water content averaged from man, rat, dog, cat. and rabbit. Lipid content averaged 

 mainly from man, rabbit, and rat. These values have been collected from a variety 

 of sources, including unpublished data from Dr. Alfin-Slater (Dept. of Biochemistry, 

 University of Southern California) and our laboratory. There is remarkable varia- 

 tion in data reported in the literature and the above values are to be taken as reason- 

 able approximations only. 



* The arterial blood flow through the liver is about one-third the total flow and the 

 portal two-thirds. 



'^ Gray matter is about 6.9°o lipid and white matter 20.3%. 



■* This value is for dermis and does not include the more lipid subcutaneous tissue. 



