THE 



QUARTERLY JOURNAL 



OF 



SCIENCE, LITERATURE, AND ART. 



An Experimental Inquiry info the Physiological Effects of 

 Oxygen and other Gases upon the Animal System. By 

 S. D. Broughton, F.R.S., F.G.S., Member of the Royal 

 College of Surgeons, &c. &c. 



Physiologists have long known that the compound of oxygen 

 and nitrogen, constituting the atmosphere of our globe, is the 

 only gaseous matter capable of supporting animal life, or of 

 imparting health and vigour to the constitution. . It appears, 

 also, from the experimental researches instituted at different 

 periods, that oxygen, in its pure state, is unfit for any length- 

 ened degree of respiration ; although it be so essentially neces- 

 sary to the vital functions, that it should always form a certain 

 portion of the air breathed by animals. 



The stream of blood, transmitted from the lungs to every 

 part of the body, derives its scarlet colour from the absorption 

 of oxygen during the pulmonic circulation ; and it is only in 

 this state of the blood that the animal functions can be main- 

 tained and life preserved. A few waves of this fluid, which 

 have passed round the brain without oxygenated particles, are 

 sufficient to destroy the proper influence of the nervous system ; 

 while a deficient supply of natural arterial blood is attended 

 with a proportionate degree of functional disorder, or vitiated 

 vital action. 



In reference to these known circumstances, it seems to be 

 an object of interest and importance to inquire into the causes 

 leading to the destruction of animal life, during the respiration 



JAN. — MA.RCH, 1830. B 



