64 



Composition of the Atmosphere 



potassium pyrogallate as the reagent, Jaquet analyzed a number of 

 samples of outdoor air and reports the results in support of his con- 

 tentions regarding the accuracy of his apparatus. These are given in 



table 46. 



Table 46. Results of air-analyses made by Jaquet. 



Staehelin, using the same apparatus as Jaquet, reported in 1907 J 

 that in 51 analyses of air in Basel the average oxygen content was 20.90 

 per cent. The average value was found only in 22 samples. Twice the 

 oxygen was less than 20.89 per cent and eight times larger than 20.91 per 

 cent. The extreme values were 20.875 and 20.94 per cent. 



Using the gas-analysis apparatus in Basel, Gigon 2 found with po- 

 tassium pyrogallate that the oxygen content of the air near the laboratory 

 varied between 20.87 and 21.2 per cent. These fluctuations he is inclined 

 to attribute to the fact that the laboratory is in the center of the city and 

 near large factories. 



In connection with the use of the Zuntz-Geppert respiration apparatus, 

 many analyses of air have been made and occasionally such analyses are 

 reported. Few have greater interest than those published by Durig and 

 Zuntz 3 in connection with the description of one of their trips into the 

 high Alps. 



Table 47. Results of air-analyses made by Durig and Zuntz. 



In 1903 they analyzed free air at Col d'Olen and at the Capanna 

 Margherita on the summit of Monte Rosa. The results are given in table 

 47. The authors state that these results, which agree with their numerous 



1 Staehelin, Verhandlungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Basel, 1907, 19, p. 9. 



2 Gigon, Archiv fur die gesammte Physiologie, 1911, 140, p. 517. 



3 Durig and Zuntz, Archiv filr Anatomie und Physiologie, Physiologische Abtheilung, 

 Supp].Bd.,1904,p.421. 



