The present study was undertaken to provide quantitative data on the myelinated fibers of the phrenic and intercostal nerves and the number of spindles in the main respiratory muscles of the cat. The myelinated component of the phrenic and intercostal nerves was studied in the cat. Histograms of sequency distributions as a function of nerve fiber diameter were established for normal nerves. Certain nerves were then examined 35 to 40 days after excision of the dorsal spinal ganglia. The muscle spindles of the corresponding muscles were counted and localized, and, on the basis of several morphological criteria, were classified with those usually described in the interosseous muscles. The study of the nerves, as that of the spindles, demonstrates clear differences of proprioceptive innervation among the respirator muscles. The lateral part of the diaphragm and the Triangularis sterni have practically no spindles. The external muscles of the first thoracic spaces are very rich in spindles. Respiratory muscles can be ranged in an almost continuous manner between these two extremes.

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Effects of steady-state hypoxia (inspired O2 fraction = 0.11) on ventilation and breathing pattern were studied during postnatal development in unanesthetized kittens. Studies were done from 2 days to 8 mo of age, every week during the first month and every month thereafter. During the first 2 months, states of consciousness were determined. In the first month, minute ventilation (VE) was depressed in hypoxia compared with control values in air, whereas in the older kittens VE was increased in hypoxia, as in adult cats. The inhibitory effect of hypoxia was observed in all three states of consciousness in 7- and 14-day-old kittens. In the 21- and 28-day-old kittens, VE could not be reliably related to the state of consciousness. In the 2-mo-old kittens, VE increased in all states. Tidal volume (VT) was markedly decreased in kittens up to 14 days of age, and respiratory frequency increased. In the 21- and 28-day-old kittens, changes in breathing pattern were variable. In the oldest, the increase of VE was mainly due to an increase of VT. We conclude that in unanesthetized kittens, the ventilatory response to hypoxia is mature at 2 mo of age. The hypoxic tachypnea observed at 7 and 14 days resembles that previously seen in adult carotid-denervated cats, and may be due to a low level of carotid chemoreceptor drive and to a central excitatory effect of hypoxia on respiratory frequency. The complex response observed during the first month of life must reflect the development of peripheral and central mechanisms and their interactions.

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