Summary1. The technique for the measurement of cardiac output by external recording of the intracardiac flow of 131I labelled human serum albumin has been extended to provide a measure of the mean circulation time from right to left heart and hence a new approach to the estimation of the pulmonary blood volume.2. Values for the basal cardiac output in normal subjects and its variations with age are in good agreement with the previously published data of other workers.3. The pulmonary blood volume in normal man in the basal state was found to be 28.2 ± 0.6% of the total blood volume.4. There was no correlation between cardiac output and pulmonary blood volume in a series of normal subjects in the basal state.5. The increase in cardiac output during digestion was associated with a decrease in pulmonary blood volume equal to 6.3 ± 1.2% of the total blood volume, that is, about 280 ml.6. The increase in cardiac output during exercise was associated with a decrease in pulmonary blood volume equal to 4.5 ± 1.0% of the total blood volume, that is, about 200 ml.7. The increase in cardiac output attributed to alarm is not associated with a decrease in pulmonary blood volume, the latter may in fact be increased.8. The total blood volume is advocated as a standard of reference for studies of this type in normal subjects in preference to body weight or surface area.9. The significance of these results and the validity of the method are discussed.
URICOLYSIS IN NORMAL MAN
