GASES PERMEATE MEMBRANES. 1 1 1 



few hours, the distended body of the animal becomes 

 less swollen, and at the end of twenty-four hours no 

 trace of the gases is left. (25) 



Finally, if we consider the fatal accidents which so 

 frequently occur in wine countries from the drinking 

 of what is called feather-white wine (der federweisse 

 Wein), we can no longer doubt that gases of every 

 kind, whether soluble or insoluble in water, possess the 

 property of permeating animal tissues, as water pene- 

 trates unsized paper. This poisonous wine is wine still 

 in a state of fermentation, which is increased by the 

 heat of the stomach. The carbonic acid gas, which 

 is disengaged, penetrates through the parietes of the 

 stomach, through the diaphragm, and through all the 

 intervening membranes, into the air-cells of the lungs, 

 out of which it displaces the atmospherical air. The 

 patient dies with all the symptoms of- asphyxia caused 

 by an irrespirable gas ; and the surest proof of the 

 presence of the carbonic acid in the lungs is the fact, 

 that the inhalation of ammonia (which combines with it) 

 is recognised as the best antidote against this kind of 

 poisoning. 



The carbonic acid of effervescing wines and of soda- 

 water, when taken into the stomach, or of water satur- 

 ated with this gas, administered in the form of enema, 

 is given out again through the skin and lungs ; and this 

 is equally true of the nitrogen which is introduced into 

 the stomach with the food in the saliva. 



No doubt a part of these gases may enter the venous 

 circulation through the absorbent and lymphatic vessels, 



