BAD AIR AND BAD HEALTH. 819 



get the excess of poison oxidized ; when, therefore, unconscious- 

 ness supervenes, we may say pretty confidently that the rapid 

 circulation and the rapid breathing have not been sufficient to 

 oxidize and neutralize the mass of poison which is being carried 

 to the brain.* So, again, in pneumonia the quickened breathing 

 shows both the effort of Nature to make up for the loss of that 

 part of the lung which is ineffective, and also the stimulus which 

 the increased waste poison in the blood (increased owing to di- 

 minished lung capacity, and therefore diminished oxygen) exerts 

 upon the respiratory machinery. So, again, when less blood is 

 carried to the lungs, owing to the artery which leads from the 

 heart to the lungs being partially blocked with a clot, the same 

 effect is produced. Probably a somewhat similar condition arises 

 after hard work, either in old age or in a feeble state of health. 

 The tissue, not being in the firm condition of the tissue of a vig- 

 orous person accustomed to daily work, breaks down in large 

 quantities, while at the same time the circulatory and respiratory 

 machineries are no longer at their best, and therefore the oxida- 

 tion is imperfect. On the next day the infirm man is poisoned 

 by the unusual quantity of waste in the system, and feels discohi- 

 fort in many parts of his body or limbs. So, also, the discomfort 

 acutely felt by some persons during east winds probably arises 

 from the poison that ought to have been got rid of by the skin, 

 but, owing to the closing of the pores, has been thrown back into 

 the system. So also with ordinary violent exercise. When we 

 take violent exercise an unusual quantity of waste is thrown into 

 the blood, requiring an unusual quantity of oxidation. Here also 

 the waste stimulates the nerve-centers, increasing action of heart, 

 and of respiratory muscles, so that the blood charged with waste 

 and the air may come into quicker contact. The successful ath- 



this not be explained by the supposition that, where oxygen is altogether denied, an in- 

 crease in the rapidity of the circulation would carry the poison quicker to the brain, and 

 therefore hasten the end ? A different effect seems to occur in the case of vitiated air. 

 In this case Miiller asserts (as quoted by Mr. Angell, Manchester Health Lectures, p. 33, 

 IS'ZO-'SO) that the circulation is slowed. Is this — if correctly stated — a consequence of 

 the depressing action of these peculiar poisons, which escape with the breath, and are re- 

 breathed in vitiated air ? The case of flies which died in foul air with unexhausted tissue, 

 alluded to later on, and some other evidence, seem to point in this direction. In exercise, 

 on the other hand, the effect is, as one would expect, different : both respiration and cir- 

 culation are quickened in order to increase the supply of oxygen required to meet the 

 large increase of waste; thus it would appear as if the ordinary waste poisons stimulated, 

 while the special poisons of vitiated air depressed. The whole subject calls for very care- 

 ful consideration. A friend remarks that Dr. Burdon Sanderson, of Oxford, has long been 

 and Is working out these questions. 



* This indicates very clearly that the purest and freshest air should flow through the 

 room of a person suffering from fever. It would be almost as necessary to him as to the 

 person suffering from loss of blood. Such treatment is confirmed by experience (see case 

 of Austrian army, further on). 



