928 Experiments 



Subchapter II 

 ASPHYXIA 



The researches of which I have given an account in the pre- 

 ceding chapters have naturally led me to the study of asphyxia in 

 closed vessels, in ordinary air, at normal pressure. Here, at the 

 moment of death, are very low oxygen tension and fairly high C0 2 

 tension; to which of the two influences is death due? Do both 

 have an effect? 



I have already treated this question in my "Lessons on Respira- 

 tion" (page 525) , and basing my belief exclusively on the chemical 

 composition of the lethal air, I had arrived at the following 

 conclusions: 



A. For warm-blooded animals, death occurs from lack of oxygen; 



B. For cold-blooded animals, from poisoning by carbonic acid. 



I was brought to consider this question from another point of 

 view, upon observing the modifications undergone by the gases of 

 the blood, and comparing them on one hand with those reported in 

 Chapter II, Subchapter IV, and ok che other hand, with those 

 which are the result of carbonic acid poisoning. 



The experiments were made by the same method as in the 

 chapters mentioned: respiration with a hermetically closed muzzle, 

 or by the trachea, in a bag containing a certain quantity of air. 



The report of a few experiments follows: 



Experiment DCXXXVIII. March 5. Spaniel weighing 12 kilos. 



5:35. Drew 40 cc. of blood from the carotid .... A 



5:37. Caused to breathe -through a muzzle in a rubber bag con- 

 taining about 20 liters of air. 



5:52. The animal, which has struggled a great deal, and which has 

 lost air around the sides of the muzzle, is very sick. 



Took air from the bag .... a 



5:55. Drew 33 cc. of very dark blood from the carotid . . . . B 



6:15. The animal dies, without convulsions or rigor. With diffi- 

 culty I draw from the left heart blood which is beginning to coagu- 

 late . . . . C 



Air from the bag . . . . b 



Blood A (in the open air) contained 2 15.9; CO, 44.8 



Blood B (air a: O, 4.8; CO, 12.1) contained O, 2.4; CO, 44.5. 



Blood C (lethal air b: O, 3; CO, 15.8) contained O, 0.8; CO, 39.9 



Experiment DCXXXIX. March 7. Spaniel weighing 13 kilos. 



I expose the carotid and the trachea. 



3 o'clock. Respirations 45; pulse 90; rectal temperature 38.5 D . 



