96 PHYSIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY. 



arterial blood is saturated with oxygen, as immediately after bleed- 

 ing a loss of oxygen always takes place. Still it seems to be un- 

 questionable that it is not quite completely saturated with oxygen 

 in life. Arterial canine blood, according to PFLUGER, is saturated 

 to T 9 ^ with oxygen, according to HUFKER to -j-|. 



The question whether ozone occurs in the blood is to be answered 

 decidedly in the negative. It is not only impossible to detect ozone 

 in the blood, but the possibility of the occurrence of ozone in the 

 fluids and tissues is even a priori to be denied. Ozone acts as nascent 

 oxygen; and as easily-oxidized substances occur in the organism 

 which combine with nascent oxygen, ozone, if such a formation 

 should take place at all, would be destroyed instantly. But such a 

 formation of ozone in the animal body cannot be admitted. Ozone 

 may indeed be formed by slow oxidation, since the nascent oxygen 

 formed in consequence combines with neutral oxygen forming 

 ozone; but in the animal organism the nascent oxygen must be 

 bound by the oxidized substances before it can form ozone. 



It was formerly believed that the haemoglobin acted as an 

 " ozone-exciter," possessing the property of converting the inactive 

 oxygen of the air into ozone. The red blood-corpuscles can by 

 themselves also give a blue color with tincture of guaiacum, which 

 is markedly seen when this tincture is dried on blotting-paper and 

 a drop of blood previously diluted with 5-10 vols. water is added. 

 According to PFLUGER, we are here dealing with a decomposition 

 and gradual oxidation of haemoglobin, in which processes the neu- 

 tral oxygen is split, setting free oxygen atoms. 



The carbon dioxide of the blood occurs in part, and indeed, ac- 

 cording to the investigations of ALEX. SCHMIDT and L. FREDERICQ, 

 generally in the blood- corpuscles, and it also occurs in part, and 

 in fact the greatest part, in the plasma and serum respectively. Of 

 the carbon dioxide in the form-elements a small part, according to 

 SETSCHENOW, occurs in the colorless corpuscles (probably combined 

 with the globulin alkali), while the chief mass exists in the red 

 blood-corpuscles. 



The carbon dioxide of the red corpuscles is loosely combined, and 

 the constituent uniting with the C0 2 of the same seems to be the 

 alkali combined with phosphoric acid, oxyhaemoglobin or haemoglobin 

 and globulin on one side and the haemoglobin itself on the other. 



