Concerning the neutrality of protoplasm

Abstract

It is desirable, both on account of the normal production of acid during metabolism, and because of the production of acid under pathological circumstances, to study the adjustment of equilibrium in protoplasm whereby neutrality is maintained. In undertaking this study the equilibrium in mixtures of sodium hydrate, phosphoric acid and carbonic acid has been studied.As a result of the investigations it appears that in the presence of both free and combined carbonic acid in measurable amount, such mixtures are precisely neutral to rosolic acid, and that the amount of sodium bicarbonate in such mixtures can vary greatly without great variation in the ratio between mono-sodium phosphate and di-sodium phosphate. These results are in accord with the theory, based upon the ionization constant of carbonic acid (3 × 10-7) and of the ion H2PO4 (2 × 10-7). Although the equilibrium in such a system at 40° C. may be somewhat different it is evident that this equilibrium is calculated almost perfectly to protect protop...