The Fate of Sulfides in the Blood.*

The investigation embodied in this paper was primarily under-taken in an endeavor to determine in what manner H&3 is ‘transported in the blood after inhalation of this gas. That it is trans-ported in the blood in a loosely combined and readily dissociable manner is evident from the fact that, when H&3 is injected into any of the body cavities, it is a&host at once detectable in the expired air (1). On the question in what form hydrogen sulfide combines with and is carried by the blood there is diversity of opinion, however. Two modes of transportation have been suggested: That the hydrogen sulfide combines with the hemoglobin to form a sulfhemoglobin compound; and that the gas in its capacity as an acid unites with the alkali of the blood to, form sodium sulfide. Since both of these combinations are dissociable both views neces-sarily assume a trace of H,S in simple solution in the plasma. Paradoxically, although the first of these views is definitely disproved by evidence contained in the literature, the belief that inhalation of H&3 is followed by the formation of a sulfur hemoglobin compound is still generally prevalent. The persistence of this idea is no doubt due in part at least to the need for an explanation of the rare disease, sulfhemoglobinemia, one of the endogenous cyanoses.