ON RESPIRATION. 



t9 



■He quotes a:great number of expsM'iments, and institutes a 

 few (of his own it) support of it. Among those <!Ui:teil is 

 that of Bichat alluded to bj' J. F. Now the general ten- 

 dency of Mr. Ellis's work, as far as it concerns rt^spi ration, 

 is to prove the impossibility of oxigen gas beii.g absovbedby 

 the blood in the lungs during respiration. |n my paper 1 Bichat's «xpe. 

 observed, it was ^^'onderful that Mr. Ellis should adduce the ^"J'pJ^fJ^™^ 

 experiments of liichat in sujjp'Oit of this proposition, when air into tk« 

 Bichat ^.tated it as ai>"ording a " proof of the passage of air °° * 

 into the; blood through the lungs, in addition to that of 

 healthy rtospiratjon,", And I now add, is if notalsjo/^^Te/M^- 

 aQcaiintalie, how Mr. Eilis should have dverlooked those 

 circumstances, winch must destroy all analogy between the 

 •absorption of air in the lungs, and the injection of air into 

 the vessi'li } 



I very much hope neither your correspondent J. F., nov Rit the oxi- 

 any of your rea<iers, will suspect meoi enterlauiingso preno-,- ^."■'^ does not 

 teroiusa notion as that of the oxigen gHs entering the idood »as i* is che- 

 yessels and continuing there in, an derifoiui state. On the mically coni- 

 contrary I have exp;e::s,y dec . e ., l irt d.'a rn ;:-: be tlie i^i^^j 

 , CoaseqiwinCeof such an event, nodoubt by its nieoiianicul ac- 

 tion in iipp^dingthe circuhuioa of tl e b' > kI. 1 contend, the 

 pxigeo ,gft3 is absorbed ciu niicallv by the ' oo-J, who t in^ 

 becomes changed Irom ve.ious to arte la! : t e j.ir lous;^- 

 ,quent!y loses its. eluoticity and Uieclianical agency, as much 

 ^s when it is combined with a uie.aL or base to Ibrui an 

 jp^jidc or acid. 

 - : ,Mr. Ellis appears to have tested his principal argumeiit Mi. Ellis sup- 



agaiastthe absori>tion of oxiuen gas by the blood upon wimt P"*^^^' ■^'^ '^^' 



o ■ ■ ' . ..^ ; . terve n^s; 



he conce-rves to be the irnposi>ii)iiity of any chemical attrac- mern*)wt.e 



lion taking place between them, on account of the interpo- P''^.^'^"^^ ^'''* 



. ' ■ . . union, 



sed membrane, which separales the air in the lungs irom 



the blood in the vessels. 



To prove the contrary of this, suffer any small animal to T»e contrary 



die in oxigen gas, and immediately lay bare the tho'-acic proved 



•viscera; observe them carefully for some time, and \oij will 



r perceive a gradual change ta^^ place in tlie colour of the 



blood, in the. lungs particularly. Compare this with another 



just opened, and tlie difference will be more obvious. Also 



'{examine the bra i^i o^\^'i auiuial recently dead, the veins of 



the 



