lew (11/24/82)
The Encyclopedia Britannica article on "Circulation of Blood" contains the following paragraph: "Close to the heart, the mean arterial pressure is about 100-120mm. It falls only slowly in the large arteries, but between the smaller arteries and the capillaries there is a very extensive fall of pressure, so that the capillary pressure is only about 10 to 30 mm. of mercury; from the capillaries to the veins the blood pressure falls steadily, until in the large veins near the heart it may be negative." This is in direct contradiction to Richard M. King's statement that: "The pressure inside a systemic vein (the lowest pressure found in the bloodstream) is 40 mm Hg. This pressure is maintained by the various elasticities of the parts of the bloodstream; NOT by the heart." I would comment that an elastic membrane cannot "maintain" a pressure, something must keep it pumped up. Richard also stated: "The boiling point of water at 37 deg C is considerably less than 40 mm." The CRC "Handbook of Chemistry and Physics" gives the vapor pressure of water at 37c as 47.067 mm of Hg. Lew Mammel, Jr. ihuxr!lew