The influence of pathological conditions on active absorption of oxygen by the lungs / by J. Lorrain Smith.
- Smith, J. Lorrain.
- Date:
- [1898]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The influence of pathological conditions on active absorption of oxygen by the lungs / by J. Lorrain Smith. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.
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![atmosphere and we have in one of these experiments a fall of fully 70®/o of normal tension. In regard to the last two experiments a detail should be added which could not be easily brought out in the table. Previously to their exposure to the tension of 301 ®/o of an atmosphere of oxygen they had been exposed to a moderate tension of 100—120®/o for a period of 12 hours. They were then exposed subsequently, after an interval of some hours, to the high tension of 300 ®/o of an atmosphere for the period stated in the table. In regard to the mice, while the results do not proceed exactly according to the period of exposure to the high oxygen tension, yet on the whole this is so, and if we compare say an exposure of 3 hours with one of ID hours or even shorter periods we find that the oxygen tension is lower after the longer period. In comparing the tensions which arc obtained after damage to the tissue of the lungs with those which are obtained by exposure to high temperature, or by the action of toxic agents, one interesting fact comes out. The diminished tensions which may be obtained by this method of local disturbance to the lungs are distinctly lower than the lowest obtained by the other means used in the present research. By means of the increased temperature a tension as low as 14’5% was reached, by injections of bacillus pyocyaneus a tension of 12 G®/o reached, whilst by the latter method the tension falls as low as !H)®/o. The gradation which is observed in the 3 sets of experiments suggests that we may in the study of oxygen tension in various pathological conditions not only find the explanation of various ])heno- mena of respiratory disease, but also obtain data for estimating the clinical significance of disturbance to the respiratory functions in these conditions. The tables of results .seem to indicate that when a disturbance by the active absorption of oxygen is local in the sense of being due to changes localised in the lungs, it is less grave than a similar disturbance due say to a rise in body temperature. In other words, there seems in the former case to be a wider limit within which the animal is able to survive. To interpret this fully however we would I'oquire to understand the reason why the organism normally maintains a high oxygen tension in its arterial blood.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b24930064_0015.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
