266 Dr. Meyer on the Gases of the Blood. 
The value of the coefficients of absorption for carbonic acid 
were, lastly, found to be— 
a=1'15 reduced to 0° C.* 
a= 1-20 reduced to 12° C. 
This value of « is but slightly different from that found by 
Bunsen for carbonic acid in water, viz. 1:10t. 
The cause of a retention of a portion of the oxygen and car- 
bonic acid (which we have designated as kh), independent of the 
pressure, is to be sought in a special attraction which one or 
more constituents of the blood exert upon these gases, that is, 
in the action of chemical forces. 
In the case of oxygen, & is much larger than «; so that the 
solution of oxygen in the blood is almost independent of the 
pressure exerted on the free gas. The dissolved quantity varies, 
on the other hand, with several circumstances; as, for instance, 
when the amount of solid constituents of the blood is reduced, 
A mixture of water and blood absorbs less oxygen than the blood 
itself, and it would appear that this diminution is directly pro- 
portional to the dilution. The absorbed quantity of oxygen also 
seems to depend upon the length of time which the blood, on 
issuing from the artery, remained in contact with the air before 
the dissolved gases were removed by ebullition in the vacuum. 
Defibrinated calf’s blood, which was brought under the air-pump 
whilst still warm, gave for 18° C. (Exps. 19-30) 
k=0:166, 
reduced to 0° C. and 0™76 as unit of pressure. Other expe- 
riments gave a smaller value for k, 
The comparison of these numbers with those obtained by the 
ebullition of arterial blood, and also of that which had been satu- 
rated by agitation with atmospheric air, shows that the quantity 
of dissolved oxygen independent of the pressure remains the 
same, whether it be derived from pure oxygen, atmospheric air, 
or the air contained in the lungs. The presence of nitrogen or 
carbonic acid does not alter, at all events to a perceptible amount, 
the attraction exerted upon the oxygen. 
The importance of this property of the blood for the living 
organism is very evident; without this, the residence in atmo- 
spheres of various composition, at various heights above the sea, 
for example, would not be possible without considerable dis- 
arrangement of the animal functions. This property explains 
also the fact observed by Reiset and Regnault, that the vital 
* See Bunsen’s definition of absorption-coefficient “Gasometry,’ p. 128; 
and Phil. Mag. February 1855. 
+ See Bunsen’s ‘ Gasometry,’ p. 152. 
