1028 Summary and Conclusions 



one fear: the irritating action of oxygen on the tissue of the lungs, 

 and especially the ravenous activity it would give to vital oxida- 

 tions. Brize-Fradin 10 expresses himself warmly on this point: 



Vital air or pure oxygen would soon wear life out instead of 

 maintaining it ... . The torch of life, burning fiercely, would soon 

 be extinguished .... Fever would soon carry off anyone who used 

 vital air immoderately. 



It is impossible to breathe oxygen alone for more than two min- 

 utes; the pulse beats are then quicker, more frequent; a sensation of 

 unendurable discomfort is felt. (P. 133). 



It is hardly necessary to say that the violence of the sensations 

 and of the symptoms experienced is purely imaginary, unless the 

 oxygen was badly prepared. 



After having been completely forgotten, oxygen has been gain- 

 ing favor for several years. But I think that its application has 

 been bad, and that, if it is possible to hope for any advantage from 

 its use, the method must be entirely changed. 



As a matter of fact, patients are given almost pure oxygen to 

 breathe, and since it is not possible to have a great quantity of 

 it, a few liters are administered (generally 30 as a maximum in 

 France), which are absorbed in 5 or 6 minutes at the most. This 

 mode of procedure has two disadvantages: first, one cannot hope 

 for any lasting action from a slight increase in the oxygen of the 

 blood for ten minutes at the most; in the second place, as they try 

 to use oxygen as pure as possible, it is possible that they seek the 

 goal they wish to reach by going beyond the maximum of oxygena- 

 tion that is really useful to oxidation. And so, this method, which, 

 it seems to me, should not be retained in most cases, amounts to a 

 violent shock of short duration, perhaps producing an effect op- 

 posite to that which is desired. 



Henceforth I should like to see it used only in threatening cases 

 of asphyxia, 11 poisoning by carbon monoxide 1 - or sewer gas, where 

 the time for action is short. Only air with about 60% of oxygen 

 should be used, and the inhalations should be continued for at least 

 an hour. 



Attacks of asthma might also be favorably affected by these 

 inhalations, but much less, no doubt, than by compressed air, in 

 which mechanical action is added to chemical action. 



But if is a matter of combatting a slow disease, like anemia, 

 my advice is to try to have the patient breathe, every day for 

 about two hours, a mixture with only 25% or 309'' of oxygen, 

 which would correspond to a compression of 20 to 35 centimeters. 



