THE ACIDOTIC STATE OF NORMAL NEW-BORNS

Abstract

The work of Ylippo, in 1914, was a stimulus to the study of this subject in new-borns. He claims to have found (1) that the human organism at birth is in a state of "physiologic acidosis"; (2) that the blood shows an "acidotic constitution" (he having found the P_H of the blood to be as low as 6.58); (3) that the CO₂ dissociation curve of the blood of new-borns shows an acidosis (20 per cent. less than in adults), and (4) that the hydrogen concentration is uniformly higher than in adults. Of the many methods for determining acidosis, the two most accurate are, first, the chemical study of the blood, and second, the study of the CO₂ alveolar tension. The method for determining the CO₂ alveolar tension is simple and in most conditions an accurate one for determining acidosis. So far as we know this has