154 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCiENCE.—1918. 
gas by a more strongly adsorbed one and the “spoiling” of the 
surface by adsorbed impurities are problems of much interest and 
importance, not only in relation to the hemoglobin question, but 
especially in relation to the properties of the material used for the 
box respirator for protection against poison gases. It will be 
remembered that Faraday showed how readily the activity of platinum 
was stopped by the deposition of impurities from the air of the 
laboratory and that they could be driven off by heat. Investigations 
on these lines, from certain aspects, have been carried out by the 
Anti-gas Department, but are not yet made public. Bancroft (1918) 
states that carbon monoxide decreases the action of platinum in 
causing combination between oxygen and hydrogen gases and that it 
is tenaciously retained by the surface. 
When hemoglobin “combines” with oxygen, heat is evolved, 
but the results obtained by different investigators vary so much that 
it is scarcely worth while quoting them. It is well known that 
adsorption of gases by charcoal is attended by evolution of heat, so 
that the fact does not exclude the hypothesis of adsorption by 
hemoglobin. The condensation of a gas on the surface is equivalent 
to a reduction of volume by compression. 
The behaviour of the oxy-hzemoglobin system to a rise of temper- 
ature is similar to that of an adsorption process. That is, the rate at 
which oxygen is taken up is increased, but the amownt held in 
equilibrium is less than at a lower temperature. 
There are thus difficulties involved in both views, that of chemical 
combination and that of adsorption. It may be that the explanation 
may be found in a double process, such that the amount of oxygen 
taken up ata given tension is determined by the amount adsorbed, 
and that the adsorption is followed by chemical combination. But it is 
by no means easy to understand the mechanism of such a process. 
At any rate, it is obvious that hemoglobin is a very extraordinary 
chemical compound and that its relation to gases is far from being 
explained up to the present, 
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