Foetal Respiration in the Hen. Gas Diffusion Through the Egg Shell

Abstract

FROM the work of Romijn and Roos (1938) and of Romijn (1948) about the development of the air space in the hen’s egg and the respiratory movements of the chicken before birth we know many details about the physiology of foetal respiration in the hen. Many problems remained unsolved, especially with regard to the oxygen supply of the chicken before birth and the influence of the CO2 on the O2 combining power of the blood. Further work on these points has been carried out and the results of experiments on the oxygen supply and the diffusion of gases in general through the egg shell is the subject of the present paper. According to Romijn and Roos (1938) the composition of the gas in the air space does not remain at a constant level during the incubation time, but from the tenth day there is a gradual increase in CO2 content . . .