Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
The intention was to study the changes in the composition of the blood in the newborn infant during the first 48 hours of life by taking capillary blood samples from the heel at frequent intervals and using a development of Sanzs (1957) ultramicro-technique for the analysis. Material and Methods The subjects of the study were normal infants born in hospital of healthy mothers by normal delivery. The cord was clamped at once after birth. In a subsequent paper the effects of various abnormalities of birth are examined. Sodium and potassium were estimated by flame photometer in a dilution of 10 micro litres (,lI.) in 5 ml. water; chloride by iodometric titration using silver iodate; calcium by adapting Wilkinsons EDTA titration method (1957) for 201l. serum; totalprotein by biuret using Natelsons (1957) technique; urea by a urease method modified from Archer and Robb (1925); sugar by a modification of Nelson-Somogys (Natelson) using 10 V..; inorganic phosphorus by an adaptation of Natelsons method; and lactic acid by adapting Barker and Summersons (1941) method using 10,ul. serum. Haematocrit was estimated by using thin even bore heparinized capillary tubes. Cell potassium was estima-ted by taking 10 V.I. whole freshly mixed blood in 5 ml. water, centrifuging, and estimating in the flame photo-meter. The blood was taken from a heel using the technique described by Wilkinson (1960), but first covering the skin with sterile petroleum jelly and collecting in plastic tubing with a sealed end and a diagonally cut top containing 10 pul. of a heparin solution. Blood for sugar, phosphorus, and lactic acid was collected separately in a small tube containing fluoride and oxalate. A total of about 1 ml.
Acharya et al. (1965) studied this question.