ACID-BASE BALANCE OF NEW-BORN INFANTS: II. CONSIDERATION OF THE LOW ALKALINE RESERVE OF NORMAL NEW-BORN INFANTS

The acid-base equilibrium of new-born infants has proved a fertile field for research. Interesting differences exist between the new-born infant and the adult. In the first paper of this series, Hoag and Kiser¹ showed that the serum of the new-born infant has a lower carbon dioxide content and a higher chloride content than that of the normal adult. Other authors have reported similar decreases in the carbon dioxide content of the serum. Kane and Kreiselman² found an average value of 47.7 per cent by volume for the carbon dioxide content in the cord blood of forty-seven infants. Leenhard and Chaptal³ demonstrated that there is a decrease in the bicarbonate of the blood of young infants. Halfer⁴ found a latent acidosis in the new-born infant as manifested by a decrease in the carbon dioxide content of the blood, which usually persisted during the first two weeks of