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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LIII. No. 1363 



of the experiment and at half hour intervals 

 during the final hour. 



The normal alkali reserve of the blood for 

 the control group of animals has varied from 

 8.0 to 8.1. When such animals are given 

 intravenously 5 c.c. per kilogram of a n/2 

 solution of hydrochloric acid there occurs 

 within fifteen minutes a reduction in the 

 alkali reserve of the blood which, in the nor- 

 mal animal of Experiment 4 that is repre- 

 sentative of the group, was Y.85. In these 

 animals there occurs at once an attempt to 

 restore the normal acid-base equilibrium. 

 Within the second fifteen-minute period of 

 Experiment 4 the alkali reserve had increased 

 from 7.85 to 7.95, and at the end of one hour 

 the reading was 8.0. At the termination of 

 the experiment the alkali reserve was 8.05, as 

 opposed to the normal of 8.1. 



The remaining five normal animals received 

 •intravenously 25 c.c. per kilogram of a three 

 per cent, solution of sodium bicarbonate. The 

 response of these animals to the introduction 

 of such a solution has been of the same type. 

 The animal of Experiment 7 had a normal 

 alkali reserve of the blood of 8.1. At the end 

 of fifteen minutes following the introduction 

 of the solution of sodium bicarbonate the 

 alkali reserve was increased to 8.3. Within 

 half an hour, as a result of the attempt on 

 the part of the animal to reestablish a normal 

 acid-base equilibrivim, the reading was 8.2. 

 At the end of the first hour the normal read- 

 ing of 8.1 had been established and remained 

 at this point during the second hour of the 

 experiment. 



1 Sixteen naturally nephropathic dogs are in- 

 cluded in the second group of animals. Eight 

 of these animals received intravenously 5 c.c. 

 per kilogram of a n/2 solution of hydrochloric 

 acid, while the remaining animals of the group 

 received by the same method of administration 

 ^5 c.c. per kilogram of a three per cent, solu- 

 ition of sodium bicarbonate. Following a half- 

 Jiour period of anesthesia by ether, the reserve 

 ^alkali of the blood of these naturally nephro- 

 pathic animals was found to vary between 8.0 

 ito 8.1; a variation similar to that obtained 

 for the normal control animals. 



, When a naturally nephropathic animal is 

 given 5 c.c. per kilogram of a ?i/2 solution of 

 hydrochloric acid there occurs a rapid and 

 imarked reduction in the alkali reserve of the 

 blood which is in excess of the reduction ob- 

 itained in normal animals. In Experiment 14, 

 ,which is representative of this group, there 

 occurred within fifteen minutes after the in- 

 troduction of the acid solution a depletion of 

 the blood in its alkali reserve from the normal 

 of 8.1 to 7.7. At the termination of the sec- 

 ond fifteen minute period the reading remained 

 unchanged, 7.7. No demonstrable attempt had 

 been made on the part of the naturally nephro- 

 pathic animal to reestablish a normal acid- 

 ibase equilibrium. At the end of the first hour 

 iof the experiment the alkali reserve had in- 

 creased to 7.85, and remained at this point dur- 

 ing the final and second hour of the experi- 

 pient. 



, The response of naturally nephropathic ani- 

 nials to a solution of hydrochloric acid differs 

 .quantitatively from the response of normal 

 animals. The reduction in the alkali reserve 

 of the blood is uniformly greater in a natur- 

 ally nephropathic animal than it is in a normal 

 lanimal. Furthermore, the normal animal is 

 able to reestablish its acid-base equilibrium to 

 ,a point within the range of the normal, while 

 ,the naturally nephropathic animal is unable 

 to effect such a return in the alkali reserve of 

 the blood. 



, The eight naturally nephropathic animals 

 that received intravenously a solution of 

 podium bicarbonate have shown the same type 

 pf reaction. The response of the animal of 

 Jlxperiment 21 is typical for this group. The 

 animal had a normal alkali reserve of the 

 ,blood of 8.0. Within the first fifteen minutes 

 following the injection of the bicarbonate so- 

 lution the reserve alkali of the blood rose to 

 8.4. At the end of the second fifteen minutes 

 of the experiment the reading remained un- 

 changed. At the end of the first hour the re- 

 serve alkali had been reduced to 8.2 and by 

 ;the end of the second hour of the experiment 

 to 8.15, a determination in excess of the nor- 

 mal reading of 8.0. 

 , When the response of these naturally 



