704 Experiments 



11:10; pressure 715 mm.; pulse 62. 



11:20; 580 mm.; pulse 63. 



11:23; 535 mm.; pulse, 63; slight nausea. 



11:25; 510 mm.; gas escaping above and below. 



11:27; 495 mm.; pulse, 66. 



11:31; 455 mm.; pulse, 64; nausea; gas escapes, and yet the abdo- 

 men remains somewhat distended. 



11:33; 435 mm.; pulse, 70; act of whistling, which I manage very 

 well at normal pressure and which had become difficult at 520 mm., 

 is completely impossible. 



11:35; 425 mm.; pulse, 72; a little trouble with vision, which is less 

 clear. 



11:37; 412 mm.; pulse, 76; I am quite uncomfortable, with my eyes 

 somewhat affected. 



I begin then to inhale continuously from the bag full of super- 

 oxygenated air which I have beside me; the exhaled air goes outside. 

 Occasionally I am dizzy, then every symptom disappears, and until 

 the end of the experiment, I am in a state of perfect comfort. 



The pulse rate, which had fallen instantly to 63, is still falling, 

 although the decompression progresses. 



11:41; pressure, 408 mm.; pulse, 60. 



11:46; 382 mm.; pulse, 63. 



11:47; 380 mm.; gas escapes by the mouth and anus; perfect com- 

 fort. 



11:48; 369 mm.; pulse, 58; more gas. 



11:51; 355 mm.; pulse, 59. 



11:52; 350 mm.; more gas. 



11:55; 338 mm.; I make efforts to open and close a flask; the pulse 

 rises to 63; pressure begins to rise again. 



11:59; 400 mm.; pulse, 60. 



12 (noon); 440 mm.; impossible to whistle. 



12:02; 490 mm., pulse, 60; impossible to whistle; I stop breathing 

 superoxygenated air. 



12:03; 520 mm.; impossible to whistle; pulse, 56. 



12:05; 540 mm.; I begin to be able to whistle. 



12:07; 570 mm.; I whistle very well; pulse, 59. 



12:10; return to normal pressure; pulse, 52. 



This experiment shows very clearly that continuous inhalations 

 of oxygen, after having checked painful symptoms, prevent them 

 from reappearing, although the barometric pressure continues to 

 fall. Nothing is more conclusive. The decompression reached was 

 338 mm., corresponding to the elevation of about 6500 meters, that 

 is, a little more than that of Chimborazo. 



Figure 58 shows the different phases through which the heart 

 beats passed before and during inhalations of oxygen, whose begin- 

 ning is marked by 0. 



Among other phenomena which continued in spite of the in- 

 haling of oxygen, because they depend entirely upon the decrease 



