566 
Effect  of  Noxious  Gases. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Dec.  1893. 
that  5  per  cent,  of  CO  killed  small  birds  in  3  minutes  ;  one  per 
cent,  in  half  that  time  ;  2  per  cent,  will  render  guinea  pigs  insensible 
in  2  minutes.  In  all  cases  effects  were  the  same.  The  animals 
show  no  signs  of  pain,  they  fall  insensible,  and  either  die  at  once 
with  a  slight  flutter,  hardly  amounting  to  a  convulsion,  or  gradually 
sleep  away  as  if  in  profound  slumber. 
Post-Mortem — Blood  a  little  redder  than  usual. 
Prof.  A.  R.  Leeds  says :  "  The  operation  of  pure  CO  is  so 
immediate  as  to  prevent  the  lungs  throwing  off  a  single  charge 
received." 
Watts  Dictionary  of  Chemistry  says :  "  It  is  a  very  poisonous 
gas,  acting  chiefly  on  the  nervous  system,  causing  giddiness  when 
inhaled  ;  sometimes  acute  pain  in  various  parts  of  the  body  and  after 
awhile  complete  asphyxia." 
Buck,  on  Hygiene  and  Public  Health  says :  "  It  is  not  so  imme- 
diately fatal  as  Carbonic  Acid  Gas." 
Ency.  Brit.,  Vol.  5,  p.  87,  says:  "It  is  an  extremely  poisonous 
gas,  being  capable  of  displacing  the  oxygen  in  the  blood,  owing  to 
a  compound  with  the  haemoglobin,  with  which  the  oxygen  is  ordi- 
narily combined." 
American  Ency.,  vol.  3,  p.  775,  says:  "It  is  more  irrespirable  and 
poisonous  than  Carbon  Dioxide.  Its  inhalation  from  furnaces 
sometimes  causes  immediate  asphyxia  to  the  workmen." 
I  will  now  submit  results  of  my  own  experiments  on  the  effect  of 
Carbonic  Oxide  on  animal  life,  but  have  to  omit  several  important 
tests,  owing  to  the  carelessness  of  a  servant  in  destroying  my  notes. 
No.  1.  I  Placed  a  rabbit  in  a  glass  cylinder  and  pumped  in  an 
atmosphere  of  2  per  cent,  of  CO  and  98  per  cent,  of  air.  At  the 
end  of  10  minutes  the  posterior  extremity  of  the  rabbit  became 
paralyzed ;  at  the  end  of  18  minutes  forelegs  became  paralyzed,  and 
at  the  end  of  20  minutes  the  rabbit  became  semi-comatose  ;  at  the 
end  of  45  minutes  condition  had  not  altered  ;  on  being  placed  in  the 
fresh  air  it  revived  sufficiently  to  maintain  its  equilibrium. 
Result. — 2  per  cent.  CO  and  98  per  cent,  air,  revived  in  fresh  air 
after  45  minutes  inhalation  of  the  gas. 
No.  2.  I  placed  a  rabbit  in  a  glass  cylinder  and  pumped  in  an 
atmosphere  of  2  5  per  cent,  of  CO  and  97-5  per  cent.  air.  At  the 
end  of  5  minutes  the  rabbit  became  semi-comatose,  but  on  being 
placed  in  pure  air,  recovered'almost  immediately. 
