ACID INTOXICATION 451 



ACID INTOXICATION 1 



If a rabbit is given in repeated small doses by mouth con- 

 siderable quantities of inorganic acids, such as hydrochloric or 

 phosphoric acids, which it cannot destroy by oxidation, it soon 

 becomes extremely sick. The manifestations are characteristic 

 unsteadiness of motion and stupor being followed by coma, 

 in which the striking feature is the excessively active respiration, 

 as if the animal were being asphyxiated (the so-called " air 

 hunger "), while at the same time there is no cyanosis and the 

 blood is bright red, containing much less CO 2 than normal, 

 while the amount of oxygen remains quite normal. The 

 explanation of this interesting condition is as follows : Nor- 

 mally the blood carries the CO 2 away from the tissues to the 

 lungs in combination with the inorganic alkalies of the blood, 

 of which sodium is by far the most abundant. This combina- 

 tion is the bicarbonate of sodium (or other base), which in the 

 lungs is decomposed into the carbonate, the CO 2 escaping into 

 the alveolar air, according to this equation : 



2NaHCO 3 = Na 2 CO 3 + H 2 O + CO 2 . 



The carbonate thus formed goes back to the tissues to again 

 combine with more CO 2 and form bicarbonate. If acids are 

 introduced into the blood they combine with the alkalies there, 

 forming neutral salts which are eliminated in the urine, and in 

 this way the amount of alkali in the blood is reduced, with a con- 

 sequent reduction in the capacity of the blood to carry CO 2 

 away from the tissues ; the amount of CO 2 in the blood sinking 

 from the normal 24 per cent, to as low as 2.5 and 3 per cent. 

 (Walter). Consequently, in acid poisoning the CO 2 produced 

 in metabolism accumulates in the tissues where it is formed, and 

 blocks the processes of oxidation, so that the animal suffers 

 from asphyxia exactly as if it were deprived of air. In other 

 words, the lack of alkalies in the blood in acid intoxication 

 checks the " internal respiration," as intracellular gas exchange 

 is called, by preventing the removal of CO 2 from the cells. 



If the urine of such an animal is analyzed, it is found to 

 contain increased quantities of the four chief inorganic bases, 

 Na, K, Ca, and Mg (the last two apparently being derived from 

 the bones), but in addition to these it is found that the amount 

 of ammonia in the urine is decidedly increased. If instead of 



1 General literature will be found in Waldvogel's " Die Acetonkorper," 

 Stuttgart, 1903 ; v. Noorden's "Die Zuckerkrankheit und ihre Behandlung" * 

 in Krehl's " Pathologische Physiol.," pp. 397-406 ; and in the articles cited in 

 the text. 



