Page:Structure and functions of the body; a hand-book of anatomy and physiology for nurses and others desiring a practical knowledge of the subject (IA structurefunctio00fiskrich).pdf/136

 traces of ammonia and certain organic matters, generally the results of decomposition, which give a bad odor to the breath and are more dangerous in a close room than the mere lack of oxygen or the presence of carbon dioxide. Indeed, the amount of oxygen may be very much diminished, being reduced even to 5 or 6 per cent. instead of the normal 21 per cent., without being noticed or giving rise to any immediate bad results. Yet the importance of ventilation is very evident.

Effect on Blood.—Respiration causes changes also in the blood, the venous blood being purple and the arterial bright red. This difference in color is due to the absence or presence of oxygen, which is not absorbed or dissolved by the blood but forms a rather unstable compound, oxyhemoglobin, with the hemoglobin of the blood. As the oxgen is removed in the passage of the blood through the body, there results in venous blood reduced hemoglobin, which is of a purplish color. Upon exposure to the air, however, it absorbs oxygen once more and resumes its scarlet color. If carbon monoxide gets into the blood, as in cases of gas poisoning, it drives off the oxygen and forms a more stable compound with the hemoglobin, whence the difficulty in restoring a person so poisoned.

Nervous Mechanism.—Nervously, respiration is controlled in three ways: 1. by the phrenic nerve to the diaphragm; 2. by some fibers of the vagus or pneumogastric, and 3. by the respiratory center in the bulbous portion of the spinal cord. Injury to the respiratory center means the ceasing of respiration and death. Stimulation of the respiratory center seems to depend upon the character of the blood. If it is well oxygenized, the breathing is slow and quiet; if there is a lack of oxygen, dyspnœa results. Probably certain chemical substances in the blood, which are ordinarily rapidly burned up by the oxygen but which accumulate in its absence, serve to stimulate the