Respiration of Putrid Gases. 



123 



the experimental scurvy of guinea pigs is attributable to failure of 

 normal intestinal movement. 



Preliminary experiments on the nutritive qualities of des- 

 cicated vegetables indicate that the drying of fresh cabbage does 

 not entirely remove its antiscorbutic property. 1 



181 (1359) 



The effect of the respiration of putrid gases upon the growth of 



guinea pigs. 



By C.-E. A. Winslow and David Greenberg. 



[From the Department of Public Health, Yale School of Medicine.] 



Three years ago Mr. G. T. Palmer and the senior author re- 

 ported here a series of experiments on human subjects conducted 

 by the New York State Commission on Ventilation which indi- 

 cated that "there are substances present in the air of an unventi- 

 lated occupied room (even when its temperature and humidity 

 are controlled) which in some way, and without producing con- 

 scious discomfort or detectable physiological symptoms, diminish 

 the appetite for food. 2 



A natural assumption would be that odoriferous materials 

 contributed to the stale air by the bodies and clothing of the occu- 

 pants might produce such an effect upon appetite; and the present 

 study is an attempt to detect a possibly analogous effect of putrid 

 odors of a more intense kind upon the growth of guinea pigs. 



A galvanized iron box 4 feet wide, 2 feet deep and 3 feet high 

 was constructed and divided into two equal vertical compartments, 

 each holding two standard animal cages and each provided with a 

 separate glass door. Fresh air to the amount of 1.5 cubic feet 

 per minute for each compartment (amounting to 4 liters per 

 minute per animal) was supplied to the box by a small centrifugal 

 fan, the supply to each section of the box being carefully regulated 

 by dampers. On the course of the branch duct leading from the 

 fan to one section was inserted a chamber in which was placed a 

 pan of fresh moist human or dog feces, so as to produce a strong 

 fecal odor in that section of the box. 



1 See succeeding abstract. 



2 Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol., Vol. XII, p. 141. 



