Ill. CONFINED IN STAGNANT AIR. 111 
thefe exhalations do not kill by fufpending ref- 
piration, but that they are one of the poifons moft 
fit to deftroy life, acting as immediately as any 
other poifon, and even almoft inftantaneoufly de- 
ftructive when collected in a great quantity. This 
poifon penetrating the body by means of refpira- 
tion, when animals infpire the air, will caufe that 
laboured breathing they fuffer ; for more than 
probable, it makes a violent and painful impref- 
fion on the organs of refpiration. At the fame 
time, thefe are not the only vehicles for the poi- 
fonous vapours. Earth worms, leeches, and 
fome other infects, which are not only with- 
out real lungs but alfo without {tigmata or trae 
chez, die in like manner with the reft in con- 
fined air(1). It is neceflary to admit, that the 
exhalations act upon them, either by infinuating 
themfelves through the pores of the fkin, by the 
alimentary canal, or perhaps by both. The de- 
| leterious 
(1) Vauqueline has made feveral experiments on the 
dyration of certain animals’ lives in confined air. A fe- 
male locuft lived thirty-fix hours in eight inches of com- 
mon air; and a fnail lived forty-eight hours in twelve 
inches. He concludes, from various experiments, that in- 
fects and worms refpire nearly in the fame manner as 
warm blooded animals, and are capable of refpiring vital 
air only. He found that worms died when all the vital 
air was confumed, Experiences fur la refpiration des Infefes 
et-des Vers. Annales de Chimie, Tom. 12-7. 
