167 
OZONE IN VENTILATION: REVIVIFICATION OF MICE. 
F. O. ANDEREGG and R. H. CARR. 
There has been a considerable amount of discussion as to the value 
of ozone for ventilation. A summary of the situation was presented 
before this academy a year ago.‘ The work to be described here is a 
direct outgrowth of that report and describes some experiments to 
obtain direct evidence as to the value of ozone physiologically. In 
view of the success of Dr. Cunningham, of Kansas City, in treating a 
great variety of diseases by the use of a tank in which the patient 
spends several hours each day at a pressure of some 15 pounds, it 
seems desirable to secure evidence as to whether the use of an activated 
form of oxygen might be beneficial. Some experiments of James Todd,’ 
of Pittsburgh, in this connection are of interest. 
In the work here described advantage has been taken of the fact 
that a mouse will die when left in contact with its own exhalations 
for a sufficient time. This period will vary with the weight, vigor, etc., 
of the mouse. By placing mice of equal liveliness in filter flasks and 
then drawing a slow stream of air through the bottles in series, the 
mouse in the last bottle would be expected to succumb first. In an 
actual experiment, some divergence is, of course, noted, caused by 
variations in individual mice. The procedure was to draw air at the 
rate of 25-50 cc. per minute through 8 or 10 bottles, each containing 
a mouse, until the mice in a larger number of the bottles exhibited 
marked lethargy. Then ozonized air was drawn through the bottles 
in the opposite direction and the revivifying effect noted. Different 
concentrations of ozone were used. The results obtained so far are 
rather of a qualitative than of a quantitative nature. To make them 
quantitative will require a large number of mice so as to largely elim- 
inate individual variations. Sufficient mice for this purpose are being 
accumulated. | AOR) 
Certain preliminary conclusions may be drawn at this time. Mice 
which have become rather sick as a result of breathing their own 
exhalations can be revived by the use of ozone. The greater the con- 
centration of ozone, or the greater the flow rate of ozonized air, the 
shorter the period of convalescence. On occasion, certain mice have 
succumbed completely to the poison, and these, of course, could not be 
revived. The revivifying effect of ozonized air was much greater than 
that of air free from ozone. The action of ozone seems to be to elim- 
inate the poisonous exhalations by oxidation. Also, when drawn into 
the lungs, it tends to be selectively absorbed by the blood so that the 
oxidation of waste material throughout the system is accelerated. With 
1 These Proc. 1920. pp. 271-3. 
?Floyd L. Parsons. Everybody’s Business. Saturday Evening Post, April, 1921. 
3 Experiments with Oxygen on Disease. James L. Todd, New Era Printing Co., 
Lancaster, Pa., 1916. 
