The Solubility of Gases in Blood and Blood Fluids

In connection with the problem of the determination of the cardiac output by the use of ethylene (13), it seemed of interest to investigate further the nature of the forces which make the solubility of this gas 1% times as great in human blood as it is in water. The general problem of the nature of the factors which determine the solubility of gases in blood is of importance not only because of the theoretical considerations involved but also because of the practical application of these values to such problems as the determination of the cardiac output, the general problem of anesthesia, and the like. Despite the number of determinations of the solubility of gases in blood which have been made in the past, there is still much confusion regarding the factors which determine the solubility of a given gas in blood or blood fluids. Of particular practical interest, too, is the problem of the variation of this solubility with different bloods of the same and different species. The present communication reports data on the solubility of several gases in water, blood, and aqueous solutions of certain blood constituents for the value which these data may have on the further elucidation of the problems mentioned above.