u8 Scientific Proceedings (82). 



3. Peptone shock has long been known to resemble ana- 

 phylactic shock closely, and the inference has generally been 

 drawn that the latter is due to the production and circulation of 

 peptone-like bodies. But the transfusion experiments above 

 described do not bear out this theory. The suggestion is made 

 that these two syndromes coincide for the reason that both alike 

 result from a reaction of the liver. Phosphorus and chloroform, 

 both hepatic poisons, also produce entirely similar changes in the 

 chemistry and coagulability of the blood. Peptone is known to 

 protect sensitized animals against anaphylactic shock. I have 

 found that phosphorus or chloroform poisoning exerts a similar 

 effect. The conclusion is drawn that the liver may be partially 

 exhausted by any of these methods, and will not then react 

 as acutely in anaphylactic shock. 



4. Anaphylaxis in dogs is a cellular phenomenon, due chiefly, 

 if not wholly, to the reaction of the sensitized liver cells. 



5. It is suggested that the fall of blood pressure in anaphylactic 

 shock may indirectly be due to the liver. That organ is found 

 to be enormously congested, and it is conceivable that the animal 

 is "bled to death" into its own liver. Or, the drop in pressure 

 may be a vaso-motor reflex, comparable to the Goltz phenomenon, 

 initiated by the acute hepatic shock of the reaction. 



70 (1248) 



The response of the respiratory mechanism to rapid changes in 

 the reaction of the blood. 



By John P. Peters, Jr., M.D. (by invitation). 



[From the Medical Clinic, Presbyterian Hospital, and the Coolidge 

 Fellowship for Medical Research, Columbia University, New York.] 



For the past year we have been studying the reaction of the 

 blood by two parallel methods : the Fridericia method for alveolar 

 CO2 and the Van Slyke determination of the carbon dioxide 

 combining power of the blood. We believe that this combination 

 offers a simple method for the study of the state and the reaction 

 of the respiratory mechanism. 



