EFFECT OF CARBON DIOXID, CARBONIC OXID, 
SULPHURETED HYDROGEN. WATER-GAS 
AND COAL-GAS ON ANIMAL LIFE. 
BV y 
JOSEPH R. WILSON, 
OF PHILADELPHIA J 
MEMBER OF THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE. 
FROM 
THE MEDICAL NEWS, 
December 16, 1893. [Reprinted from The Medical News, December 16, 1894.] 
EFFECT OF CARBON DIOXID, CARBONIC 
OXID, SULPHURETED HYDROGEN, WATER- 
GAS AND COAL-GAS ON ANIMAL 
LIFE} 
By JOSEPH R. WILSON, 
OP PHILADELPHIA ; 
MEMBER OF THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE 
As the health of every individual is dependent 
upon the purity of the atmosphere, a knowledge of 
the effect on animal life of impurities in the air is 
of the highest importance to the community at 
large, but of special importance to those who work 
in coal, silver, lead, copper, or gold mines, or at 
iron furnaces, coke ovens, etc. In such places 
impurities often exist, such as 
s. D. 
COa—" Choke-damp,” or carbon dioxid . . 1.529 
CO—“ White damp,” or carbonic oxid . . 0.9678 
HaS—Sulphureted hydrogen,or hydrogen sulphid o. 1912 
The statistics compiled by me from the indices 
of the library of the College of Physicians, Phila- 
delphia, one of the most complete institutions in the 
world, show that 90 per cent, of the total scientific 
experiments on the effects of noxious gases on 
animal life have been made by the Germans and 
1 A lecture delivered before the students and Faculty of the 
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, November ai, 1893. 2 
the French, and for the last decade scarcely any 
experiments have been made by scientists of any 
nationality, the results obtained by our forefathers 
being accepted with a credulity seldom encountered 
in other branches of science. In addition to this, 
the poverty of information in the standard refer- 
ences on this subject is so great that were any 
particular knowledge required, it would be neces- 
sary to make new experiments. With these facts 
before me, in grouping the results obtained in 
experiments with carbon dioxid, carbonic oxid, and 
sulphureted hydrogen on animal life, the medical 
fraternity will at least have a condensation of ex- 
periments for reference from many authorities, com- 
bined with the results of my own experiments. I 
claim that my experiments are absolutely accurate, 
as the means employed for mixing the different at- 
mospheres (the Shaw gas-tester) is acknowledged to 
be as nearly perfect as human agency can make any- 
thing, and has been awarded the Elliott Cresson 
and the Scott Legacy medals for accuracy—the 
highest awards in the gift of the Franklin Institute. 
This tester is to gases what weights and scales are 
to solids. 
It is not my intention to go into the constituents 
of the gases named, there being no necessity for my 
doing so in this paper. I have simply one object 
in view: to describe, as the result of recent experi- 
ments, the effect produced by them on animal life. 
The Shaw gas-tester, which I used for mixing my 
gases in the centesimal proportions desired, is an 
apparatus simple, convenient, and accurate, con- 
sisting of two pumps with pistons attached to a 3 
graduated arm, so that one cylinder can be set to 
pump io per cent, of gas and the other 90 per cent, 
of air, or vice versa, or any per cent, to the lowest 
fraction. It is the only instrument in the world 
capable of mixing gases accurately, rapidly, and 
continuously in any per cent, desired, the product 
of the two cylinders being forced through an 
injector or mixer before delivery. 
The animal under treatment is placed in a bell- 
sh:q>ed glass cylinder sixteen inches high, of four 
inches diameter at the neck and eight inches at the 
base. The cylinder is placed horizontally on the 
table, with the neck toward the operator, and is 
connected with the instrument at the neck by 
means of a rubber tube. The animal rests on all 
fours, facing the operator, with its nose near the 
aperture through which the gases enter the cylinder 
from the instrument or mixer. 
The end of the bell-shaped glass cylinder is en- 
tirely open to the air, so that the mixture of gas 
and air is discharged and replaced every four sec- 
onds by each stroke of the pump, always maintain- 
ing a constant mixture, preventing stratification or 
contamination through the exhalations of the ani- 
mal. The cylinder, being of glass and perfectly 
transparent, enables the operator to observe every 
change in the condition of the animal. 
The difference in results obtained by the various 
authorities has caused me to make the following 
experiments to satisfy myself, an accurate knowledge 
on this subject being necessary to the pursuit of my 
profession, and I am well aware of the great diffi- 
culties experienced by my predecessors in making 4 
accurate mixtures of gases, owing to the crude ap- 
pliances for this purpose at their command. 
As a prelude to my experiments I will give the 
results obtained with carbon dioxid by scientists 
whom we are accustomed to quote : 
Per cent. 
J. H. Merrivale says: It extinguishes lights and 
is fatal to animal life. 
J. J. Atkinson says : Dangerous to life . . 8 
Lights extinguished ..... 10 
Fairley’s Catechism : Dangerous to life . . 3 
Will cause death quickly . . . . 10 
Light will burn in . . . . 10 to 20 
Sir H. Roscoe’s Chemistry : Will not support com- 
bustion of candle . . . . . 3 to 6 
Dr. A. Smith: Lights extinguished . about 2 
Would suffocate...... 4 
CARBON DIOXID. 
Watts’ Dictionary of Chemistry says: “Animals 
immersed in it soon die, not only from want of 
oxygen, but in consequence of a direct poisonous 
action, violent spasms being sometimes produced ; 
sometimes complete atony of the cerebral faculties.” 
The Encyclopedia Britannica, vol. v, p. 87, says: 
“ Will not burn, neither does it support combus- 
tion.” 
Dr. Karl Friedlander, of Berlin, in experiments 
on animal life states that “62.8 per cent, killed a 
rabbit in twenty-seven minutes ; 65 per cent, killed a 
rabbit in forty-five minutes,” the higher per cent, in 
this instance taking longer to kill the rabbit than 
the lower per cent., showing a wide variation in his 
tests, which I can only account for by the imperfect 
appliances at his command for placing definite 
quantities of gas in the atmosphere, and maintain- 5 
ing a constant mixture of definite proportions. 
Rabbits, like human beings, have their ailments, 
and I have found in the course of my experiments 
that disease, in the shape of a fatty accumulation 
about the heart, disqualifies the animal entirely 
for tests of this nature, death resulting in one-tenth 
of the time necessary to produce the same result in 
a perfectly healthy animal; but in the foregoing 
instance the difference in time of immersion in such 
a high per cent, is not great enough for me to 
ascribe the difference in effect to any organic disease, 
but rather to the imperfect mixing of the gases. 
In all of my experiments I have found that the 
smaller the animal the sooner it succumbed to pois- 
onous gases. My first experiments were made with 
small birds; then I tried mice, after which I be- 
stowed my attention on guinea-pigs, finally selecting 
the rabbit upon which to conduct the experiments 
herewith presented. 
EXPERIMENTS WITH CARBON DIOXID. 
Experiment No. i. I placed a rabbit in a glass 
cylinder and pumped in an atmosphere of io percent, 
of CO, and 90 per cent, of air. After one hour and 
seven minutes the rabbit gave no indication what- 
ever of being affected, so I released it and allowed 
it to run with several others of its species, the effect 
of its treatment, contrary to expectation, being great 
exhilaration instead of stupefication. 
Result. 10 per cent, of CO, and 90 per cent, of 
air; one hour and seven minutes’ inhalation—ex- 
hilaration. 
No. 2. 1 placed a rabbit in a glass cylinder and 
pumped in an atmosphere of 25 per cent, of CO, 6 
and 75 per cent, of air for one hour, at the end of 
which time the animal showed no indication what- 
ever of being affected, and when released and placed 
with Others exhibited as much liveliness as they. 
Result. 25 per cent, of C02 and 75 per cent, of 
air; one hour’s inhalation—unaffected. 
No. 3. I placed a rabbit in a glass cylinder and 
pumped in an atmosphere of 50 per cent, of C02 
and 50 per cent, of air. At the end of two minutes 
the rabbit showed signs of being affected; at the 
end of three minutes it commenced to gasp regu- 
larly every two seconds; at the end of six minutes 
the gasps were three seconds apart; ten minutes, 
the gasps were four seconds; twelve minutes, the 
gasps were six seconds; fourteen minutes, the gasps 
were eight seconds ; fifteen minutes, the gasps were 
nine seconds ; sixteen minutes, the gasps were ten 
seconds ; seventeen minutes, death ensued. 
Result. 50 per cent, of C02 and 50 per cent, of 
air; seventeen minutes’ inhalation—death. 
No. 4. I placed a rabbit in a glass cylinder and 
pumped in an atmosphere of 75 per cent, of C02 
and 25 per cent, of air. At the end of two minutes 
the rabbit commenced to pant rapidly; three min- 
utes, it became stupefied and gasped every two sec- 
onds; five minutes, the gasps were three seconds 
apart; seven minutes, the gasps were five seconds; 
eight minutes, the gasps were six seconds; nine 
minutes, the gasps were ten seconds; ten minutes, 
death ensued. 
Result. 75 per cent, of C02 and 25 per cent, of 
air; ten minutes’ inhalation—death. 
No. 5. I placed a mouse in a glass cylinder and 
pumped in an atmosphere of pure C02; death was 
instantaneous. 
Result. Pure C02; death instantaneous. 
No. 6. I placed a mouse in a glass cylinder and 
pumped in an atmosphere of 25 per cent, of C02 7 
and 75 per cent, of air. At the end of three min- 
utes the mouse seemed slightly affected, but kept 
moving around the cylinder—in this test held 
vertically. At the end of ten minutes the condi- 
tions were unchanged, and I displaced the atmos- 
phere of 25 per cent. C02 with pure air. The 
mouse revived instantaneously on the first inhalation. 
Result. 25 per cent, of CO, and 75 per cent, of 
air; ten minutes’ inhalation; slightly affected, but 
recovered instantaneously in the fresh air. 
No. 7. I placed a mouse in a glass cylinder and 
pumped in an atmosphere of 50 per cent, of CO, 
and 50 per cent, of air. At the end of ten seconds 
the mouse showed great exhilaration ; twenty sec- 
onds, its activity was greatly reduced; thirty sec- 
onds, it became stupefied ; thirty-five seconds, gave 
short gasps ; forty-five seconds, the gasps were long 
and apparently painful; fifty-five seconds, death 
occurred. 
Result. 50 per cent, of CO, and 50 per cent, of 
air; fifty-five seconds’ inhalation—death. 
Experiments 5, 6 and 7, are only given here to 
illustrate the fact that the smaller the animal the 
less the power of resistance to CO,. 
The results obtained by scientists whom we are 
accustomed to quote, on the effect of carbonic 
oxid on animal life, are first epitomized. 
H. Letheby, M.B., M. A., Ph.D., etc. late Professor 
of Chemistry and Toxicology in the Medical College 
of the London Hospital, says that 0.5 of 1 per 
cent, of CO killed small birds in three minutes; 1 per 
cent, in half the time ; 2 per cent, renders guinea-pigs 
insensible in two minutes. In all cases the effects 
EXPERIMENTS WITH CARBONIC OXID. 8 
were the same. The animals showed no signs of 
pain ; they fell insensible and either died at once 
with a slight flutter, hardly amounting to a con- 
vulsion, or gradually slept away as if in profound 
slumber. The post-mortem examination showed 
the blood to be a little more deeply red 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 a while 
complete asphyxia.” 
Buck, on Hygiene and Public Health says: “ It is 
not so immediately fatal as carbonic acid gas.” 
The Enclycopedia Britannica, vol. v, p. 87, says : 
“ It is an extremely poisonous gas, being capable of 
displacing the oxygen in the blood, owing to a com 
pound with the hemoglobin with which the oxygen 
is ordinarily combined.” 
The American Eticyclopedia, vol. iii, p. 775, says : 
“ It is more irrespirable and poisonous than carbon 
dioxid. Its inhalation from furnaces sometimes 
causes immediate asphyxia to the workmen.” 
I will now submit the results of my own experiments 
on the effect of carbonic oxid 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 ten minutes 
the posterior extremity of the rabbit became par- 9 
alyzed ; at the end of eighteen minutes the fore-legs 
became paralyzed, and at the end of twenty minutes 
the rabbit became semi-comatose; at the end of 
forty-five minutes its condition had not altered ; 
on being placed in the fresh air it revived sufficiently 
to maintain its equilibrium. 
Result. 2 per cent, of CO and 98 percent, of air; 
revived in fresh air after forty-five minutes’ inhala- 
tion 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, of air. At the end of five minutes 
the rabbit became semi-comatose, but on being 
placed in the pure air, it recovered almost im- 
mediately. 
Result. 2.5 per cent, of CO, and 97.5 per cent, of 
air; revived in fresh air after inhalation of the gas 
five minutes. 
No. 3. I placed a rabbit in a glass cylinder and 
pumped in an atmosphere of 4 per cent, of CO, 
and 96 per'cent, of air. Death resulted in four 
and one-half minutes. 
Result. 4 per cent, of CO and 96 per cent of air ; 
four and one-half minutes’ inhalation; death. 
No. 4. I placed a mouse in a glass cylinder and 
pumped in an atmosphere of 0.2 of 1 per cent, of 
CO and 99.8 per cent, of air. At the end of six 
minutes the mouse showed no signs whatever of 
being affected. 
No. 5. I then increased the atmosphere to 0.5 of 
one per cent, of CO and 99.5 per cent, of air. At 
the end of five minutes the mouse showed no signs 
whatever of being affected. 
No. 3. I now increased the atmosphere to 1 per 
cent, of CO and 99 per cent, of air. At the end of 
thirty minutes, the mouse showed no signs of being 
affected. I then gave it fresh air for one minute, 
and increased the atmosphere to 2 per cent, of CO, 10 
and the mouse died in ten minutes with a total re- 
laxation of all the muscles. 
Result. 2 per cent, of CO and 98 per cent, of air ; 
ten minutes’ inhalation ; death. 
No. 7. I placed a mouse in an atmosphere of 
2.5 per cent, of CO and 97.5 per cent, of air, and 
the mouse died in five minutes. 
Result. 2.5 per cent, of CO and 97.5 percent, of 
air ; five minutes’ inhalation ; death. 
No. 8. I placed a mouse in an atmosphere of 10 
per cent, of CO and 90 per cent, of air, death 
resulting in three minutes. 
Result. 10 per cent, of CO, and 90 per cent, of 
air ; three minutes’ inhalation, death. 
In the absence of the missing tests, I have in- 
cluded experiments Nos. 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, simply 
to illustrate the fact that the smaller the animal, 
the less the power of resistance to CO. 
SULPHURETED HYDROGEN. 
I note again the results obtained by scientific 
authorities whom we are accustomed to quote, on 
the effect of sulphureted hydrogen on animal life. 
Watts’ Dictionary of Chemistry, p. 203, says: “An 
atmosphere of one-tenth of 1 per cent, of this gas 
proves fatal to lower animals.” 
Public Health Reports and Papers, vol. iii, p. 75, 
76, says : “ It is poisonous, and its action on arterial 
blood is a common lecture-table experiment.” 
The Encyclopedia Britannica, article Chemistry, 
vol. v, p. 500, says: “It cannot be breathed with 
impunity, frequently giving rise to nausea and ver- 
tigo, even when much diluted.” 
The American Encylopedia, vol. ix, p. 130, says: 11 
“ Thenard found that a small bird would die in air 
containing fifteen one-hundredths of i per cent, 
and a horse in air that contained one-quarter of i 
per cent.” 
The results of my experiments on the effect of 
H2S on animal life are as follows: 
No. i. a. I placed a rabbit in a glass cylinder 
and pumped in an atmosphere of i per cent, of 
HaS and 99 per cent, of air. 
b. I placed another rabbit in another glass cylin- 
der and pumped in an atmosphere of 1 per cent, of 
H2S, and 99 per cent of air, simultaneously with No. 
i, using two Shaw gas-testers as mixers for the 
operation, both connected with the same bag of 
H,S. Death occurred simultaneously in cylinders 
Nos. 1 and 2, at the end of one minute, preceded 
by violent convulsions which lasted about ten 
seconds. 
Result. 1 per cent, of H2S and 99 per cent, of air ; 
one minute’s inhalation ; death. 
No. 2. a. I placed a rabbit in a glass cylinder 
No. 1, and pumped an atmosphere of 0.5 of 1 
per cent, of H2S and 99.5 per cent of air. 
b. I placed another rabbit in a glass cylinder No. 2, 
and pumped in an atmosphere of 0.5 of 1 per cent of 
H2S and 99.5 per cent, of air simultaneously with 
No. 1, using two Shaw gas-testers as mixers for the 
operation, both connected with the same bag of 
li2S. Death occurred simultaneously in cylinders 1 
and 2 at the end of three minutes, preceded by 
violent convulsions which lasted about fifteen 
seconds. 
Result. 0.5 of 1 per cent, of H2S and 99.5 per 
cent, of air; three minutes’ inhalation; death. 
No. 3. a. I placed a rabbit in glass cylinder No. 
1 and pumped in an atmosphere of 0.2 of 1 per 
cent, of H,S and 99.8 per cent, of air. 12 
b. I placed another rabbit in a glass cylinder No. 
2, and pumped in an atmosphere of 0.2 of 1 per 
cent, of H2S and 99.8 per cent, of air, simultane- 
ously with No. 1, using two Shaw gas-testers as 
mixers for the operation, both connected with the 
same bag of H2S ; death resulted simultaneously in 
cylinders Nos. 1 and 2 at the end of ten minutes. 
Result. 0.2 of 1 per cent, of H2S and 99.8 per 
cent, of air; ten minutes’ inhalation ; death. 
No. 4. I placed a rabbit in a glass cylinder and 
pumped in an atmosphere of 0.1 of 1 per cent, of 
HaS, or the 0.001 part, and 99.9 per cent, of air; 
death resulted in thirty-seven minutes. 
Result. 0.1 of 1 per cent. H2S, or the 0.001 
part, and 99.9 percent, of air; thirty-seven minutes’ 
inhalation ; death. 
Note.—In all of the foregoing tests the rabbits 
were seized with convulsions from ten to fifteen 
seconds after immersion in the poisonous atmosphere, 
which lasted on an average about twelve seconds. 
No. 5. I placed a rabbit in a glass cylinder and 
pumped in an atmosphere of 0.025 °f 1 Per cent, 
of HaS and 99.975 per cent, of air. At the end 
of two hours the rabbit showed no signs whatever 
of being affected, so I released it. 
Result. 0.025 1 Per cent, of H2S and 99-975 of 
air; two hours’ inhalation; unaffected. 
EFFECT OF ILLUMINATING OR COAL AND WATER GAS 
ON ANIMAL LIFE. 
The frequent occurrence of accidental deaths 
from illuminating gas has caused me to make a series 
of experiments on this subject, with a view to deter- 
mining just how much risk we run in having a small 
escape of gas in our bed-rooms, for instance, and 13 
the results obtained ought to act as a warning to all 
who are in anyway careless in turning off the stop- 
cocks before retiring, or who carelessly turn the gas 
low near a draught, and find it blown out the next 
morning and the room filled with gas. 
No. i. I placed a rabbit in a glass cylinder and 
pumped in an atmosphere of 75 per cent, of illumi- 
nating gas (water and coal gas) and 25 per cent, of 
air. The rabbit was immediately seized with vio- 
lent convulsions and death ensued in two minutes. 
Result. 75 per cent, of illuminating gas (water and 
coal gas) and 25 per cent, of air; two minutes’ in- 
halation ; death. 
No. 2. I placed a rabbit in a glass cylinder and 
pumped in 25 per cent, of illuminating gas (water 
and coal gas) and 75 per cent, of air; on the third 
inhalation the rabbit was seized with violent con- 
vulsions and urinated freely; at the end of one 
minute the convulsions ceased, and at the end of 
four minutes death ensued. 
Result. 25 per cent, of illuminating gas (water and 
coal gas) and 75 per cent, of air ; four minutes’ inha- 
lation ; death. 
No. 3. I placed a rabbit in a glass cylinder and 
pumped in 15 per cent, of illuminating gas (water 
and coal gas) and 85 per cent, of air; without any 
struggling it sank into a comatose state ; at the end 
of three minutes it struggled feebly ; at the end of 
four minutes urinated, and at the end of six minutes 
died. 
Result. 15 per cent, of illuminating gas (water and 
coal gas) and 85 per cent, of air ; six minutes’ inha- 
lation ; death. 
No. 4. I placed a rabbit in a glass cylinder and 
pumped in 10 per cent, of illuminating gas (water 
and coal gas) and 90 per cent, of air; at the end 14 
of thirteen minutes the rabbit was seized with a con- 
vulsion and died in five seconds. 
Result, io per cent, of illuminating gas (water 
and coal gas) and 90 per cent, of air; thirteen min- 
utes’ inhalation ; death. 
No. 5. I placed a rabbit in a glass cylinder and 
pumped in an atmosphere of 5 per cent, of illumi- 
nating gas (water and coal gas) and 95 per cent, of 
air; at the end of ten minutes the rabbit was seized 
with severe convulsions, which lasted twenty sec- 
onds ; at the end of twenty minutes it commenced 
to gasp, and at the end of thirty minutes death 
ensued. 
Result. 5 per cent, of illuminating gas (water and 
coal gas) and 95 per cent, of air; thirty minutes’ 
inhalation ; death. 
I did not analyze the illuminating gas for its con- 
stituents, but the gas used was Philadelphia City 
gas, and I believe that it contains about 30 per 
cent, of CO. 
I have other experiments on hand on CH4, car- 
bureted hydrogen, or fire-damp; also on the effect 
of carbon dioxid, or choke-damp, on lights, the re- 
sults of which it will afford me pleasure to make 
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