CUTANEOUS RESPIRATION IN MAN IV. THE RATE OF CARBON DIOXIDE ELIMINATION AND OXYGEN ABSORPTION IN NORMAL SUBJECTS'

Shaw and his associates (1, 2) demonstrated that the rate of cutaneous respiration in man is influenced principally by the temperature and humidity of the air in contact with the skin and by individual character-istics of different subjects. The present investigation was undertaken to establish the range of carbon dioxide elimination and oxygen absorption through the skin in normal individuals of various ages under controlled conditions of temperature and relative humidity. METHOD OF STUDY The apparatus and technical procedure were essentially the same as those employed by Shaw and Messer (2) in studying the effect of tempera-ture on the rate of cutaneous respiratory exchange. The subject lay on a bed with the entire arm in a glass plethysmograph filled with room air kept at the saturation point by means of a moist woolen stocking worn on the arm. The temperature within the plethysmograph varied between 260 C. and 310 C. in different experiments but was maintained practically constant during individual experiments by regulating the temperature of the room. All experiments were made with the room temperature between 200 C. and 260 C. After a preliminary mixing period of 20 minutes, a sample of gas was withdrawn from the plethysmograph. Three hours later a second sample was collected. The change in percentage concentration of carbon dioxide and oxygen multiplied by the total volume of gas in the system gave the volume of carbon dioxide or oxygen which had been gained or lost. All quantities were corrected to standard conditions of temperature and barometric pressure, and the rates of carbon dioxide excretion and oxygen absorption were expressed in terms of cubic centimeters per hour per square meter of skin surface. In order that the results obtained in different individuals should be comparable, all final quantities were transposed by interpolation to the value they would have had if th