Compressed Air; 2 Poisoning 743 



1. Oxygen acts like a poison which is rapidly fatal, when its 

 quantity in the arterial blood rises to about 35 cubic centimeters per 

 100 cubic centimeters of liquid; 



2. The poisoning is characterized by convulsions which, according 

 to the intensity of the symptoms, represent the different types of 

 tetanus, strychnine, phenol, epilepsy, etc.; 



3. These symptoms, which are quieted by chloroform, are due to 

 an exaggeration of the excito-motor power of the spinal cord; 



4. They are accompanied by a considerable and constant drop of 

 the body temperature. 



It is this last point, purposely set aside until now, that I shall 

 discuss next. 



2. The Diminution of Oxidations by Oxygen Poisoning. 



When for the first time I saw a sparrow struggling in violent 

 convulsions under the influence of compressed oxygen, I imagined 

 at first that the intra-organic oxidations had been so overstimulated 

 in this bird that it was dying from burning itself out too quickly, 

 producing thus a quantity of exaggerated heat, which perhaps be- 

 came the direct cause of death. I thought therefore that the 

 thermometer would show me a rise in the bird's temperature. 

 Great was my surprise when I noted an absolutely opposite result. 



In fact, in all the experiments, as the numbers listed in Column 

 5 of Table XIV and Column 9 of Table XV show, the temperature 

 of the experimental animals dropped considerably, before and 

 during the convulsions due to the oxygen. 



At the beginning of the poisoning, when the convulsive symp- 

 toms were just commencing to appear, the temperature fell (Ex- 

 periments CCLXI, CCLXII, CCLXVII) . During the convulsions, it 

 falls more, and when the convulsions are to end in death, it reaches 

 very low figures (Experiments CCXCIII, CCLXXXI, CCLXXVIII, 

 CCXCVII), especially in birds, in which it goes below 30, and 

 sometimes even below 20 degrees (Experiment CXXXVII). 



If, on the contrary, the animal is to survive, its temperature rises 

 and returns in a few hours to its normal value (Experiments 

 CCLX, CCLXII, CCLXVII, CCLXXXIX, CCXCIII) . 



It is, therefore, a firmly established fact that the excess of oxy- 

 genation of the organism results in a diminution of intensity in the 

 chemical acts which produce the animal heat. 



If the falling of the temperature of the body has given us a 

 certain though indirect demonstration of this strange fact, we 

 should find the direct proof when we examine either the absorp- 



