io6 



Scientific Proceedings (33). 



blood-pressure came down to forty or thirty millimeters of mercury 

 and sometimes even lower. Strong stimulations of the sciatic 

 nerve had now no effect upon blood-pressure. After curarin and 

 strychnin were given stimulation of the sciatic caused some rise 

 (spinal centers). Electric stimulation of the superior laryngeal 

 nerves or mechanical stimulation of the pharynx caused no de- 

 glutition. Injection of fluid into the oesophagus caused no con- 

 traction of that organ (no secondary peristalsis). Intravenous in- 

 jection or local application of calcium did not restore these func- 

 tions. In a few cases spontaneous respiration returned after a few 

 hours of continuous artificial respiration. 



Sodium chloride had no depressing effect ; on the contrary, 

 there was a moderate stimulating effect upon the respiration and 

 blood-pressure. There was a strikingly stimulating effect upon the 

 center of deglutition ; for eight or ten minutes the animal had to 

 swallow every ten or fifteen seconds. 



54 (392) 



Respiration by continuous intrapulmonary pressure without 

 the aid of muscular action. 



By J. AUER and S. J. MELTZER. 



[From the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology of the 

 Rockefeller Instittite for Medical Research.'] 



Investigations of the nature of the mechanism which keeps 

 up the respiration in the underpressure and overpressure methods 

 of Sauerbruch and of Brauer led to the discovery that the respi- 

 ration can be kept up for hours by a continuous stream of air 

 equal to fifteen or twenty millimeters of mercury without the aid 

 of any muscular action. The only requirement is that the air 

 stream must reach at least the bifurcation. If the air is intro- 

 duced simply through a tracheal cannula, as in the Brauer method, 

 and curare is given, the animal dies in a few minutes. Our object 

 was attained in three ways. In one method a slit was made in 

 the trachea and a glass tube, filling out about two thirds of the 

 trachea was introduced to the tracheal bifurcation or even a short 

 distance into the right bronchus. Air entered through this tube 

 and returned through the slit in the trachea and through the 



