CONNECTION BETWEEN BLOOD AND ITS GASES. 769 
Nitrogen. — The blood contains about 1*8 volumes per cent, of 
nitrogen, and this is present chiefly in a condition of solution. Thus 
Lothar Meyer 1 and others 2 have found that the absorption of nitrogen 
by defibrinated blood is proportional to the pressure. This, Paul Bert 3 
showed, was also the case in living animals, but, owing to the want of 
perfect ventilation of the lungs, the increase did not exactly follow 
Dalton's law. Thus — 
Pressure in Percentage of 
Sta Xitro ^ Dog ' s 
Pressure in 
Atmospheres. 
Percentage of 
Nitrogen in Dog's 
Blood. 
1 2-2 
2 3-0 
3 x 3-9 
5 
7 
10 
6-0 
7-0 
9-4 
The coefficient of absorption of water for nitrogen is small, and the blood 
has even less power of absorption, for Fernet, Setschenow, Hiifner, and others 4 
have shown that the presence of other substances in solution diminishes the 
capacity of water to absorb gases. The following table shows the coefficient 
of absorption of water for nitrogen at different temperatures : — 
Coefficient of Absorption. 
Bunsen. 5 
Hiifner. 6 
Winkler.? 
<y 
0-02035 
0-02348 
5 
0-01794 
0-02081 
10° 
0-01607 
0-01857 
15° 
0-01478 
0-01682 
20° 
0-01403 
0-01406 
0-01542 
25° 
0-01357 
0-01431 
30' 
0-01308 
0-01340 
3/ 
0-01239 
ur 
0-01210 
0-01183 
1 "Die Gase des Blutes,"' Inaug. Diss., Gottingen, 1857, S. 56. 
2 Setschenow, Sitzungsh. d. k. Akod, d. Wissr-nsch. Math.-iiotiin'-. CI.. Wien, Bd. xxxvi. 
S. 293. 
3 "La pression barometrique," Paris, 1878, p. 661. 
4 Fernet, Ann. d. se. not., Paris, Ser. 4, "Zool.," tome viii. p. 125 ; Setschenow, Mem. 
Acad. imp. d. sc. de St. Petersbourg, 1879, tome xxvi. p. 6; Ztsehr. f. physikal. Chem., 
Leipzig, 1889, Bd. iv. S. 117; Hiifner, Arch. f. Physiol., Leipzig, 1894, S. 130; 1895, S. 
209; Mackenzie, Ann >■'. Phys. ". Chem., Leipzig, W6, Bd. i. S. 438; Bohr, "Exper. 
Untersuch. u. d. Sauerstotfaufnahme des Blutfarbstoffes," Copenhagen, 1885, S. 37. 
5 " Gasometrische Methoden," 1857, S. 136 ( " Gasometry, " Roscoe's transl., London, 
1857). 
6 Arm. d. Phys. u. Chem., Leipzig, 1877, Bd. i. S. 632; Arch. f. Physiol., Leipzig, 
1890, S. 27. 
7 Ztsehr. f. physikai. Chem., Leipzig, 1S92, Bd. ix. S. 173. 
vol. I. — 49 
