94 
EXTREME COLD PRODUCTIVE OF TETANUS. 
Du. Kane, in his ‘Report of the Return of the American 
Arctic Expedition/ addressed to the Secretary of the Navy, 
states that the winter of 1853 was passed at the bottom of a 
bay which opened from the coast in latitude 78 deg. 44 min. 
“The winter was of heretofore unrecorded severity. Whiskey 
froze as early as November, and mercury remained solid for 
nearly four months. The range of spirit thermometers, 
selected as standards, gave temperatures (not yet reduced) of 
60 to 75 degrees below zero, and the mean annual tem- 
perature was 5*2 degrees Fahrenheit, the lowest ever regis- 
tered. The extreme cold, combined with 120 days of absence 
of sun, gave rise to an obscure but fatal form of tetanus 
(lock-jaw). The exertions of Dr. Hayes, the surgeon of the 
expedition, had readily subdued the scurvy, but these fearful 
tendencies to tonic spasm defied our united efforts, and two 
of the seamen died from it. This disorder extended to our 
dogs, fifty-seven of which perished, thus completely breaking 
up my sledge organization. The operations of search were 
carried on under circumstances of peculiar hardship. We 
worked at our sledges as late as the 24th of November, and 
renewed our labour in March. Much of this travel was in 
darkness, and some at temperatures as low as 50 degrees. 
The earlier winter travel was undertaken by myself in person, 
but by the aid of a single team of dogs, and the zealous 
co-operation of my officers, we were enabled to replace the 
parties as they became exhausted, and thus continued the 
search until the 12th of July.” 
QUANTITY OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR REQUIRED FOR THE 
RESPIRATION OF THE HORSE. 
If the computation made by Bousingault and others 
be correct, that ninety-seven ounces of carbon are con- 
verted into carbonic acid by the horse, during respiration, 
in four and twenty hours, and that 190 cubic feet of 
oxygen are called for to effect this, then it follows that as 
this gas makes up only one fifth of the atmosphere, five 
times that bulk of air are required for a horse to live in so as 
