CONTENTS 



PAGE 



PREFACE vii 



I. THE REGULATION OF BREATHING .... 1 



Introduction. 



The problem presented by the co-ordinated main- 

 tenance of reactions between organism and environ- 

 ment Vitalistic and Mechanistic attempts at explana- 

 tion. 



The elementary facts relating to breathing. 



The respiratory centre and the blood. 



Alveolar air and the exact regulation of its CO 2 

 percentage. 



Apnoea and hyperpnoea. 



Varying frequency of breathing. 



Physiological effects of varying pressures of gases. 



Effects of deprivation of CO 2 . 



Effects of air of confined spaces and mines. 



Effects of breathing compressed air in diving and 

 tunnelling. 



Influence of the vagus nerves in breathing. 



Co-ordination of the responses to central and periph- 

 eral nervous stimuli, so that the respiratory apparatus 

 acts as a whole. 



II. THE READJUSTMENTS OF REGULATION IN 



ACCLIMATISATION AND DISEASE . . .27 



The gases of the blood. 



Oxyhaemoglobin and the conditions of its dissocia- 

 tion. 



The combinations of CO 2 in the blood and their 

 dissociation. 



Effects of oxygenation of haemoglobin on the disso- 

 ciation of CO . 



