454 



VICTOK C. MYEKS 



PHOSPHORUS CONTENT OF HUMAN BLOOD, 

 MILLIGRAMS P PER 100 c.c. 



cussed, see p. 446). As will be noted the average content of inorganic 

 phosphorus in the plasma of both men and women is about 3 mg. per 

 100 c.c. and of lipoid phosphorus about 7.5 mg. The corpuscles are rela- 

 tively richer in all types of compounds than the plasma and there is also 

 considerably less variation in their composition in different individuals 

 than is the case with the plasma. The amount of the unknown form, of 

 phosphorus combination is very small, but in the corpuscles it constitutes 

 60 to 80 per cent of the total phosphorus. This large amount of organic 

 phosphorus in the corpuscles is significant considering the fact that Bloor 

 has shown that "lecithin" formation takes place in the corpuscles during 

 fat absorption. Furthermore it would appear to be the mother substance 

 of the phosphoric acid of the lipoid phosphorus compounds. Owing to 

 the fact that this organic phosphorus compound is relatively unstable, it is 

 probably easily made available to serve as a "buffer" in case of need. 



Sulphates. According to Green wald(d) the sulphate sulphur of 

 human blood plasma probably does not exceed 3 mg. per 100 c.c., although 

 the content in the cells may be as high as 10 mg. The figures appear to be 

 considerably increased in some cases of nephritis. 



Blood Gases 



Although we possessed considerable information regarding the blood 

 gases as a result of observations made with the Barcroft-Haldane method, 

 the development by Van Slyke(c) of a much simpler method of estimating 

 the oxygen and carbon dioxid of the blood has given a considerable impetus 

 to this line of study. For the extraction of the gas to be determined, Van 

 Slyke makes use of a Torricellian vacuum, with which the gas is easily and 

 completely extracted in a closed chamber without any loss. Furthermore, 

 the Haldane apparatus has recently been considerably simplified by Hen- 



