136 RAYMOND PEAEL 



of the reagent actually evaporated into the tank during each 

 day's treatment. These amounts in the experiments here re- 

 ported are for the large tanks about 45 cc. per treatment, and 

 for the small tank about 30 cc. per treatment. Taking into ac- 

 count all the factors in the case it appears reasonable to consider 

 that the degree of alcoholization in these birds corresponds fairly 

 to that of the steady but moderate drinker. 



In a later paper in this series data on the immediate physio- 

 logical effect on respiration rate, temperature, etc., of the admin- 

 istniion of alcohol by the inhalation method will be presented. 

 Fiom these data it is possible, by the same sort of reasoning as 

 is used in the so-c£,lled physiological assay of drugs, to arrive at 

 a f . ir idea of the effective physiological dosage when substances 

 are f^udministered by inhalation. 



Regarding the time factor here used it should be said that one 

 hour is approaching closely to the limit of time which the birds 

 will survive the fumes. This is pro^^en by the fact that in the 

 course of the experiments nearly all of the birds in two series 

 have been lost in two accidents. In both cases the birds were 

 left for a short period beyond the alloted time of one hour, and 

 were promptly killed beyond possibility of reviving. The first 

 of these accidents took place on April 15, 1915, when the at- 

 tendant forgot that the birds were in the ether tank and allowed 

 them to remain in there for about an hour and twenty minutes. 

 The four birds, 1490, 1391, 1572 and 1573, which were in the 

 tank at that time were found to be past any hope of revival by 

 first aid methods, which were vigorously applied. Male No. 

 (365 was in the same tank with the females mentioned and was 

 nearly dead, but subsequently revived and lived for nearly 

 another year after, until he was killed for experimental purposes. 

 Fortunately one ether female, 1585, was not in the tank at the 

 time of this accident. On September 5, 1915, a similar acci- 

 dent resulted in the death of three methyl birds, 1486, 1487 and 

 1492. The conditions of the accident were much the same as 

 those already described in the case of the ether birds. At this 

 point in the paper, the important feature regarding these acci- 

 dents lies in the fact that they demonstrate that the dosage 



