A study of the late effect of division of the pulmonary branches of the vagus nerve on the gaseous metabolism, gas exchange, and respiratory mechanism in dogs / by Walter M. Boothby, Boston, and V.N. Shamoff, Petrograd from the surgical service and respiration laboratory of the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Boston, Mass.

  • Boothby, Walter M.
Date:
[1915?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: A study of the late effect of division of the pulmonary branches of the vagus nerve on the gaseous metabolism, gas exchange, and respiratory mechanism in dogs / by Walter M. Boothby, Boston, and V.N. Shamoff, Petrograd from the surgical service and respiration laboratory of the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Boston, Mass. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    It is possible, therefore, to conclude that the vagus nerve does not contain fibres which transmit impulses arising from varia¬ tions in the composition of the alveolar air. INFLUENCE OF THE VAGUS ON THE SECRETORY POWER OF THE LUNGS Maar10 has described experiments which, he believed, showed evidence of the influence of the vagus nerve on the gas secretion of the lungs. Krogh11 later pointed out that the results obtained by Maar could be explained by a vasomotor, instead of a direct secretory influence. The metabolic experiments al¬ ready cited indicate that there is no impairment of the gas ex¬ change function of the lungs. However, as Haldane and Doug¬ las12 only claim a secretory ac¬ tion in a condition of oxygen want, we arranged a few experi¬ ments to test the effect on the oxygen intake under conditions of oxygen want. The Benedict apparatus was arranged with an extra container to enlarge the total volume of air in the apparatus, and air (carbon dioxide free), was used in¬ stead of oxygen to maintain a constant volume. In other respects the metabolic experiments were conducted as those described previously. The analyses of the inspired air at the beginning and at the end of the experiments, together with the metabolic data, are given in Table II. 10 Maar: Exp. Untersuchungen uber den Einfluss des Nervus Vagus und des Nervus Sympathicus auf den Gaswechsel der Lungen. Skand. Arch. f. Physiol., 1902, xiii, 269-336. 11 Krogh: On the mechanism of the gas exchange in the lungs of the tortoise. Skand. Arch. f. Physiol., 1909, xxiii, 200-216. 12 Haldane and Douglas: The causes of the absorption of oxygen by the lungs. Jour. Phys., 1912, xliv, 4, 305-354. Fig. VII. Subject, Dog No. 18. This curve obtained about twenty minutes after the curve in Fig. VI. It shows the reaction on being sud¬ denly made to breathe air containing only 4.21 per cent of O2. Time in 5 seconds.