XIX. Observations on the theory of respiration
The cause of the dark colour of the blood in the venous circulation has long been a subject of discussion; but even at the present moment the question has not been satisfactorily decided. It is universally admitted that the expired air contains carbonic acid, but it is still doubtful in what part of...
| Published in: | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London |
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
The Royal Society
1835
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstl.1835.0021 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rstl.1835.0021 |
| Summary: | The cause of the dark colour of the blood in the venous circulation has long been a subject of discussion; but even at the present moment the question has not been satisfactorily decided. It is universally admitted that the expired air contains carbonic acid, but it is still doubtful in what part of the system this acid is formed. Lavoisier maintained that carbon was the cause of the dark colour of the venous blood, and that the acid was formed in the pulmonary organs, by the combination of that carbon with the oxygen of the air. At one period this theory was generally adopted, though the evidence in its favour is almost entirely hypothetical; for hitherto there has not been even one well-conducted experiment which proves the existence of any form of free carbon in the venous blood. |
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