174 



Scientific Proceedings (127) 



80 (2040) 



The effects of graded saturation of the circulatory blood on the 

 respiratory response to the administration of carbon dioxide 

 and on the total oxygen consumption of the dog. 



By ROBERT GESELL, CHARLES S. CAPP, and FREDERICK FOOTE. 



[From the Department of Physiology of the University of Cali- 

 fornia, Berkeley, California.] 



Saturation of the blood with carbon monoxide resulted in an 

 increased pulmonary ventilation both on the administration of 

 room air and of a mixture of carbon dioxide in room air. 

 Desaturation led to a return to normal respiratory response, 

 though not always complete. 



The effects of saturation of the blood with carbon monoxide 

 on the rate of oxygen consumption were variable. In some in- 

 stances the rate of oxygen consumption decreased progressively 

 from the outset of saturation. In other instances this decrease 

 in the rate of oxygen consumption was preceded by a temporary 

 increase in the rate of oxygen consumption. 



This observation along with the finding that the respiratory 

 response to the administration of carbon dioxide was not as 

 constant as that noted with hemorrhages 1 points to circulatory 

 compensations which are absent if the blood volume is less than 

 normal. 



Since the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning and hemor- 

 rhage are in general the same they are apparently due, in both 

 instances, to similar disturbances in oxidation and transport of 

 blood gases. 



The results obtained on saturation of the blood with Car- 

 bon monoxide, therefore, support our view 2 on the significance 

 of the coordination of the dual function of hemoglobin and the 

 volume flow of blood in relation to the mechanism of the chemi- 

 cal control of respiration. 



lGesell, Capp and Foote, Froc. Soc. Exp. Biol, and Med., 1921, xix, 1; 

 The American Journal of Physiology, 1922, lxiii, 1. 



2 Gesell, Foote and Capp, The American Journal of Physiology, 1922, 

 lxiii, 32. 



