TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 
GO I 
He next relates the results of comparative experiments with 
various other gases;—in nitrous oxide, excitement followed by 
debility, bright redness of the interior of the body, long-con¬ 
tinued action of the heart and intestinal canal after sensibility 
has ceased, and generally effects very similar to those pro¬ 
duced in oxygen, took place in a much shorter space of time. 
Young rabbits are affected in little more than a minute, spar¬ 
rows in four or five minutes ; cold-blooded animals remain a 
long time unaffected, but ultimately die; a kitten left in the gas 
half an hour was past recovery. 
With regard to other gases, the author states his experience 
to he at variance with a prevailing notion that they are all in¬ 
capable of entering the lungs, from a closing of the epiglottis 
simultaneously with the first-drawn inspiration. About thirty 
seconds of time are sufficient to manifest the effects of chlorine 
when the animal falls down insensible. If immediately opened, 
the heart is found palpitating, and the peristaltic movements 
going on. This gas is traced into the lungs both by their deep 
yellow tinge and acquired odour, and the brain likewise smells 
strongly of it. 
Sulphuretted hydrogen destroyed sensibility in about half a 
minute, and in two minutes and a half the heart still palpitated. 
The lungs and brain exhibited a dark brown tint, and smelt 
strongly of the gas. 
In the other gases, animals do not remain unaffected so 
long as a minute, and contractility is not preserved, as in 
experiments with oxygen and nitrous oxide, although the 
period of its surviving sensibility and the motion of the dia¬ 
phragm may vary a little. Ail the gases experimented on 
probably passed into the lungs, with the exception, perhaps, 
of the carbonic acid gas, immersion in which is borne with¬ 
out any very sensible effects during nearly three minutes, 
when the animal struggles, and falls down insensible, the blood 
appearing very dark-coloured, and the heart still and flaccid. 
From the seresults, the author extends his deduction of the 
poisonous character of oxygen in excess to the other gases 
which enter the lungs, and remarks on the specific analogy 
which obtains between the effects of nitrous oxide and ferment¬ 
ed liquors. 
In the last portion of the paper, an account was given of some 
late researches of Dr. Marshall Hall, who has inferred from cer¬ 
tain galvanic experiments on animals, that the muscular irrita¬ 
bility of animals is inversely proportioned to the quantity of re¬ 
spiration. 
