The physiological, pathological and therapeutical effects of compressed air / by Andrew H. Smith.

  • Smith, Andrew H. (Andrew Heermance), 1837-1910.
Date:
1886
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The physiological, pathological and therapeutical effects of compressed air / by Andrew H. Smith. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    will come up again in considering the pathology of the Caisson Disease. Effect upon Temperature.—In none of the reports upon the effects of high pressure as employed for engineering purposes, have I been able to find any records of temperature. J. Lange,* however, found that under the comparatively slight pressure which is used as a remedy, the temperature of the body suf- fered a slight decrease. This is, no doubt, due to an increased absorption of oxygen, which has been shown by Mr. Savory, and also by experiments of my own to produce this effect. During the work in the New York caisson when the pressure was about 32 lbs., I took the temperature of seven of the men an hour and a half after entering the caisson, and found that it averaged 99.6° F ex- actly one degree above the normal standard. At first I accepted this as the result of the increased inter- stitial change so strongly insisted upon by Dr. Jami- net, but subsequent observation led me to interpret it differently. The temperature of the body in health is kept at about 98.6° F., by the constant evaporation from the surface. But in the caisson, as already mentioned, the air was always nearly or quite saturated with moisture, so that evaporation from the surface must have been practically suspended. With the tempera- * Vivenot.