Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 147 



cold has been much greater than they have hitherto experienced ; 

 but they have, thanks to the kindness of Mr. Bourchier, everything 

 that can be desired. 



" These four Giraffes, three males and one female, are so interest- 

 ing and so beautiful, that I shall exert myself to the utmost to be of 

 use to them. It is possible that they may breed; already I observe in 

 them some tendency towards mutual attachment. They are capable of 

 walking for six hours a day without the slightest fatigue. — G. T." 



Mr. Gould, at the request of the Chairman, exhibited a specimen 

 of the Trogon resplendens, Gould, and one of the Trog. pavoninus, 

 Spix ; and stated that he was indebted to the kindness of M. Nat- 

 terer, who M^as present at the Meeting, for the opportunity of de- 

 monstrating, by the juxtaposition of the Birds, the correctness of 

 the determination which he had made in regarding them as distinct 

 species. Mr. Gould directed particular attention to the several 

 characters and distinguishing marks which he had pointed out to 

 the Society on March 10, 1835, and which had subsequently been 

 published in the ' Proceedings,' part iii. p. 2.0 (Lond. and Edinb. 

 Phil. Mag., vol. vii, p. 226.), and again dwelt especially on the fact 

 that in Trog. resplendens the hinder feathers of the back, which are 

 fully 3 feet in length, hang gracefully far away beyond the tail ; while 

 in Trog . pavoninus the lengthened feathers of the back are rarely equal 

 in length to the tail : in only one instance has M. Natterer known 

 them, in the latter bird, to exceed the taU by so much as a quarter 

 of an inch. 



XXXIII. Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



EFFECTS OF COMPRESSED AIR ON THE HUMAN BODY. 



DR. JUNOD has communicated to the Academy of Sciences the 

 results of his experiments with compressed air. 



In order to operate on the whole person, a large spherical copper 

 receiver is employed, which is entered by an opening in the upper 

 part, and which has a cover with three openings ; the first for a ther- 

 mometer, the second for a barometer or manometer, and a third for a 

 tube of communication between the receiver and the pump. The air 

 in the receiver is perpetually renewed by a cock. 



When the pressure of the atmosphere is increased one half, the 

 membrane of the tympanum suffers inconvenient pressure, which 

 ceases as gradually as the equilibrium is restored. Respiration is 

 carried on vvith increased facility j the capacity of the lungs seems to 

 increa.se; the inspirations are deeper and less frequent. In about 15 

 minutes an agreeable warmth is felt in the interior of the thorax. The 

 whole oeconomy seems to acquire increased strength and vitality. 



The increased density of the air appears also to modify the circu- 

 lation in a remarkable manner : the pul.«e is more frequent, it is full 

 and is reduced with difficulty; the dimensionsof the superficial venous 

 vessels diminish, and they are sometimes completely effaced, so 

 that the blood in its return towards the heart follows the direction of 

 the deep veins. The quantity of venous blood contained in the lungs 



R2 



