Practically all of the energy on which bodily functions depend is derived from oxidations. It makes no difference whether these functions are normal or whether they are pathologic. The subject, therefore, is of as great concern to the clinician as it is to the physiologist, and both have studied the variations in respiration under different conditions. On the whole, the physiologist has had the advantage in that he provides the variables, one at a time, at his choice, whereas the internist must accept the variables as they present themselves in his patients. The physiologist finds in the acute experiment that animals breathe harder on administration of carbon dioxide, on the administration of a gaseous mixture low in oxygen, on the intravenous injection of acid, cyanide or sodium bicarbonate. The internist finds that his patients breathe harder with fever, with cardiac disturbances, with acidosis.
The physiologist is better equipped for fundamental