PREFACE TO HAEMOGLOBIN 



JLhe rapid advance of knowledge rendered impossible the task of 

 revising The Bespiratory Function of the Blood for a second edition. 

 The book was in three parts with an Appendix on technique : there 

 is now more than enough known about the subject-matter of each 

 part to justify a book on that alone. I have therefore determined 

 to break up the volume into a series of manageable units, originally 

 intended to correspond more or less to the "Parts" of the original 

 work. The first volume of this series, Lessons from High Altitudes, 

 appeared in 1925, the second is now presented. 



The present volume deals with haemoglobin regarded as a chemical 

 substance ; and here I would hke particularly to point to the limited 

 scope of this book. It makes no profession of dealing with the red blood 

 corpuscle, or with the properties of blood. These will form the subject 

 of another volume. Thus the consideration of many now classical in- 

 vestigations, such as those of the Rockefeller Institute and the nomo- 

 gram of Prof. L. J. Henderson, is reserved for the present. 



I have to thank the Royal Society for permission to reproduce 

 Figs. 2, 6, 7, 14, 28, 33, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 A and b; the Chemical 

 Society for Figs. 15 and 16; the American Chemical Society for 

 Fig. 17 ; the Editors of The Journal of Biological Chemistry for Figs. 34 

 and 38 and The Journal of Physiology for Figs. 8, 9, 10, 29, 30 and 59. 

 For allowing me to reproduce their figures and for much help at 

 various stages my thanks are due to Dr H. Hartridge, Dr D. Keilin, 

 Dr F. J. W. Roughton, Mr G. S. Adair and Mr R. Hill: indeed if 

 the work has any merit it will be largely due to their efforts. For 

 assistance with the proofs and the bibhography I am much indebted 

 to Mrs Thacker, late Fellow of Newnham College and to Miss N. 

 Henderson. 



