Relation between Alkalosis and Tetany. 233 



sort of disturbance as it is for the introduction of acid or alkali. 

 Nevertheless, as Hastings, Murray and Murray 1 have shown, there 

 is, at the most, an inconsiderable increase in the alkalinity of the 

 plasma after pyloric obstruction. The CO2 capacity is increased 

 but not the alkalinity. 



It is interesting to note that whereas in the paper dealing with 

 the effects of forced respiration, Collip and Backus accept the 

 view that tetany is due to alkalosis, even going so far as to sug- 

 gest that muscle "cramp" and ether spasm may be due to al- 

 kalosis, in a later paper dealing with the effects of the sub-arach- 

 noid and intra-arterial injection of sodium bicarbonate and other 

 electrolytes, Collip 2 emphasizes the disturbance in the kation 



table 1. 





Pk Before » 



Ph After 



Plasma CO a after NaHCO,. 







NaHCO s s 









Calcd Ph 

 from 

 H = 



k co 2 



Remarks. 7 

 k = 3.04 IO — 7 

 S =0.8 



Exp 



Blood 



Plas- 

 ma. 



Blood 



Plas- 

 ma. 



NaH- 



Per 3 

 Cent.* 



Total 

 Per 

 Cent.* 



Ten- 

 sion 

 (cal.) 















mm . 6 



5 NaHC0 3 





4 



7.06 



7.40 



7.06- 

 7-43 



7.15 



162 









No tremor or twitching. 

 Death due to respiratory 



failure. 

 Aerated blood. 



5 



7.02 



7-37 



7-37 



7-45 



183 

 162 









Convulsions. 



Blood drawn after death in 

 convulsions. 



6 





7-34 



7-33 

 6.88 



7.56 



139 

 26 









Convulsions. 



Blood drawn after death 

 after injecting HC1. 



7 



7-01 



7-33 



7-50 

 7.24 



7-5i 

 7-43 



177 

 226 

 96 



191 

 245 

 108 



122 

 I6l 

 104 



7.51 

 7-49 

 7.31 



Slight tremor. 

 Convulsions. 



Blood drawn after death 

 after injecting HC1. 



1 Hastings, A. B., Murray, C. D., and Murray, H. A., Jr., Journal of Biological 

 Chemistry, 1921, xlvi, 223. 



s Collip, J. B., American Journal of Physiology, 1920, Hi, 483. 



3 More recent experiments indicate that the anticoagulant used lowered the 

 P__ values in blood by about 0.33 and in plasma by about 0.15. 



B 



« Van Slyke, D. D., Stillman, E., and Cullen, G. E., Journal of Biological 

 Chemistry, 1919, xxxviii, 167. 



6 Van Slyke, D. D., Journal of Biological Chemistry, 191 7, xxx, 347. 

 • Assuming solubility of CO2 in plasma to be 0.9 that in H2O. 



7 Walker, J., and Cormack, W., Journal of Chemical Society, 1900, lxxvii, 5. 



Michaelis, L., and Rona, P., Biochemische Zeilschrift, 1914. lxvii, 182. 

 Evans, C. L., Journal of Physiology, 1920, liv, 353. 



