﻿106 Canadian Record of Science. 



test for phosphoric acid, before I knew of the above pub- 

 lication. 



The phosphorus is probably derived from phosphates 

 in the quicklime and in the ash of the coke used for 

 making the carbide of calcium. Moissan used a pure 

 carbon obtained by charring sugar, and his carbide gave 

 pure acetylene free from disagreeable odor. The previous 

 statements that acetylene is innocuous may only apply to 

 pure acetylene, and it is important then to make a special 

 examination of commercial acetylene to see if it contains 

 dangerous constituents. I have only found one statement 

 on this subject, contained in the Electrical Engineer, New 

 York, November 13, 1895, p. 469. 



Dr. W. H. Birchmore says that 1 cu. ft. of acetylene in 

 10,000 cu. ft. of air produces headache in twenty minutes, 

 and that so small a quantity of acetylene is not percep- 

 tible to smell. 



I have frequently breathed air containing enough acety- 

 lene to be very plainly noticeable from its smell, and have 

 not suffered the slightest inconvenience. It seems pro- 

 bable that individuals differ greatly in their susceptibility 

 to poisons of the class to which phosphoretted hydrogen 

 belongs. It is also quite possible that other poisonous 

 gases in very small quantity may constitute impurities of 

 acetylene. Dr. Birchmore performed a single experiment 

 upon an animal and states that one part of acetylene in 

 10,000 parts of air killed a guinea pig in six hours ; sick- 

 ness came on in ten minutes. The blood lost its power 

 of absorbing oxygen, as in a case of poisoning by cyan- 

 hydric acid. He did not examine the blood for acetylene. 

 Experiments of this kind should be repeated by compe- 

 tent physiologists, and the blodd should be carefully 

 tested. It is quite certain that in this case the death 

 was caused by some other body present and not by the 

 pure acetylene. 



If it is found that phosphoretted hydrogen or some 



