﻿314 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN" 
  INSTITUTION, 
  192 
  9 
  

  

  mention. 
  Another 
  is 
  what 
  I 
  may 
  call 
  the 
  blood 
  equilibrium. 
  The 
  

   red 
  blood 
  cells 
  are 
  inclosed 
  in 
  a 
  membrane 
  which 
  does 
  not 
  allow 
  the 
  

   haemoglobin 
  to 
  escape, 
  and 
  only 
  permits 
  the 
  passage 
  of 
  inorganic 
  

   anions, 
  though 
  water 
  and 
  oxygen 
  can 
  pass 
  freely 
  in 
  and 
  out. 
  Between 
  

   the 
  red 
  cells 
  and 
  the 
  external 
  blood 
  plasma 
  in 
  which 
  they 
  are 
  sub- 
  

   merged 
  there 
  exists 
  a 
  whole 
  series 
  of 
  delicate 
  exchange 
  equilibria, 
  such 
  

   as 
  water 
  or 
  osmotic 
  equilibrium, 
  ion-distribution 
  equilibria, 
  etc. 
  The 
  

   entrance 
  of 
  oxygen, 
  which 
  combines 
  with 
  the 
  hssmoglobin, 
  converts 
  

   it 
  into 
  a 
  stronger 
  acid 
  and 
  ejects 
  carbonic 
  acid 
  from 
  the 
  bicarbonate 
  

   ions 
  within 
  the 
  cell. 
  Any 
  disturbance 
  of 
  one 
  of 
  these 
  equilibria 
  

   produces 
  compensating 
  changes 
  in 
  the 
  others. 
  The 
  whole 
  series 
  of 
  

   equilibria 
  can 
  be 
  written 
  down 
  in 
  a 
  set 
  of 
  precise 
  mathematical 
  equa- 
  

   tions. 
  Thus 
  two 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  important 
  elementary 
  phenomena 
  of 
  

   many 
  forms 
  of 
  life, 
  namely, 
  respiration 
  and 
  the 
  exchanges 
  of 
  the 
  red 
  

   blood 
  cells, 
  have 
  been 
  analyzed, 
  subjected 
  to 
  exact 
  measurement 
  

   and 
  described 
  by 
  exact 
  mathematical 
  equations. 
  The 
  laws 
  of 
  physics 
  

   and 
  chemistry 
  have 
  again 
  been 
  found 
  to 
  hold 
  good. 
  The 
  beautiful 
  

   story 
  of 
  this 
  blood 
  equilibrium 
  we 
  owe 
  to 
  the 
  labor 
  of 
  many 
  dis- 
  

   tinguished 
  physiologists, 
  but 
  chiefly 
  to 
  Lawrence 
  Henderson 
  an^ 
  van 
  

   Slyke 
  in 
  America 
  and 
  to 
  A. 
  V. 
  Hill 
  and 
  Barcroft 
  in 
  England. 
  That 
  

   is 
  the 
  second 
  example 
  I 
  wished 
  to 
  mention. 
  These 
  two 
  will 
  suffice 
  for 
  

   my 
  present 
  purpose. 
  What 
  is 
  the 
  lesson 
  to 
  be 
  drawn 
  from 
  them? 
  No 
  

   less 
  than 
  that 
  the 
  elementary 
  phenomena 
  of 
  life 
  are 
  deterministic, 
  that 
  

   is 
  to 
  say, 
  that 
  events 
  compensate 
  or 
  succeed 
  each 
  other 
  just 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  

   physico 
  chemical 
  world 
  of 
  inanimate 
  things, 
  and 
  that 
  their 
  compensa- 
  

   tions 
  and 
  successions 
  can 
  be 
  exactly 
  measured 
  and 
  expressed 
  in 
  the 
  

   form 
  of 
  precise 
  mathematical 
  equations. 
  Determinism 
  exists 
  just 
  as 
  

   much 
  or, 
  if 
  you 
  please, 
  just 
  as 
  Uttle, 
  in 
  the 
  elementary 
  phenomena 
  of 
  

   the 
  living 
  as 
  in 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  nonliving 
  systems 
  familiar 
  to 
  physics 
  and 
  

   chemistry. 
  Claude 
  Bernard 
  maintained 
  that 
  this 
  was 
  so. 
  To 
  the 
  

   imperishable 
  luster 
  of 
  his 
  name 
  be 
  it 
  said 
  that 
  50 
  years 
  of 
  exact 
  

   research 
  have 
  borne 
  witness 
  to 
  the 
  truth 
  of 
  his 
  faith. 
  Do 
  not 
  mis- 
  

   understand 
  me 
  here. 
  True 
  science 
  should 
  have 
  no 
  dogmas. 
  It 
  would 
  

   have 
  been 
  a 
  wonderful 
  and 
  a 
  fine 
  thing 
  if 
  recent 
  research 
  in 
  general 
  

   physiology 
  had 
  led 
  to 
  a 
  nondeterministic 
  sequence 
  of 
  phenomena 
  in 
  the 
  

   elementary 
  condition 
  of 
  life. 
  During 
  the 
  last 
  15 
  years 
  theoretical 
  

   physics, 
  which 
  has 
  been 
  undergoing 
  a 
  period 
  of 
  unexampled 
  and 
  

   daring 
  advance, 
  has 
  dropped 
  many 
  a 
  hint 
  of 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  appar- 
  

   ently 
  nondeterministic 
  systems. 
  The 
  audacious 
  springs 
  of 
  the 
  electron 
  

   within 
  the 
  atom 
  from 
  one 
  energy 
  level 
  to 
  another 
  have 
  often 
  appeared 
  

   to 
  be 
  ruled 
  by 
  considerations 
  of 
  relative 
  probability 
  rather 
  than 
  by 
  any 
  

   exact 
  determinism 
  in 
  the 
  ordinar}" 
  sense 
  of 
  this 
  word. 
  But 
  we 
  can 
  not 
  

   as 
  yet 
  be 
  sure 
  of 
  anything 
  in 
  modern 
  theoretical 
  physics. 
  Just 
  as 
  

   we 
  now 
  hear 
  little 
  of 
  the 
  jumping 
  frog 
  of 
  Calaveras 
  County, 
  so 
  modern 
  

   wave 
  mechanics 
  has 
  overwhelmed 
  the 
  discontinuously 
  jumping 
  elec- 
  

  

  