The Initiation of Respiration at Birth

Abstract

IN a classic paper forty years ago, Miescher-Rusch reviewed the evidence then available in regard to the control and regulation of respiration in the adult, and also in regard to the initiation of respiration at birth. He pointed out that afferent nervous stimulation is a merely accessory, influence, and that the blood gases are the dominating control with carbon dioxide in the major rôle. He did no experiments, however, to prove this thesis.