The Benton weekly record. [volume] (Benton, Mont.) 1880-1885, 1880-04-16
a. CHHEaaHs sCDUagA Aaa Hz.
Some Anecdotes Illustrating Sir
muznpIarey Davy's Abaring.

The same moral and physical coufag
which DaFy displayed in his youth, By de
! llberately taking out his pocket-knife an
excising q part of his leg which had bee
bitten by a mad dog, and cauterizing til
wound with his own hands, was exhibited
IN his chemical investigations. His dis
coyery that nitrous gas, the yapor Of aqua
FORTS, is not injurious to the health, re
/ suited from experiments on his own life
/ He obtained the gas in a state Of purity
and, though very well aware of the danger
he ran if the received theory of its deadly
powers were true, which he doubted, he
resolved to inhale it in its pure form
Gradually increasing the dose, he ultimate
ly succeeded in breathing four quarts o1
the gas from and into silk bag. He ex-
perienced a sense Of giddiness, accompanied
with loss of sensation and yolition, a state
analogous to intoxieation, ATTEND, ''as he
says, "by highly pleasurable thrilling in
the chest and limbs. The objects around
became dazzling and my hearing more
acute. Toward the last inspiration the
sense of muscular power became greater,
and at last an irresistible propensity to ac-
ton was INDUCED in. My gesticulations
tf,rTss-.~ious : Ts, and violent. In ten minutes
nld recovered my NATURAL sGaLe OF HIS, =, >,
And what are we to say of the daring OF
the following experiment, at which he was
again operator and subject? He was
curious to know what effect drink would
have on person under the influence Of
this gas. He drank a bottle of wine in
about eight minutes. II perceived" says,
he "a sense of frlness in the head and
of speech, and was unable to stand steady.
In an hour / sank into a state of insensi-
bility, in which | remained two hours and
a half. | was awakened by severe head
ache and nausea, and my bodily and men
tai debility were excessive In this state
I breathed five quarts Of gas for minute
and a half, but it must have been impure,
for it had no effect.'' He then respired
twelve quarts Of pure nitrous oxide for
two and half minutes. After the third
respiration the headache vanished. Bril-
liant ideas passed through his mind. He
jumped and danced across the room, but
languor and depression succeeded, which
gradually wore off toward evening.
In his treatise Concerning Nitrous
Oxide" he records its amusing effect on
several of his friends. One of them danced
about like q spinning top, and got so pug
nacious that he struck at whoever happen
ed to be near him. Its influence on such
chosen souls as Coleridge and Southey was
by no means brilliant. They jumped and
skipped about the room, laughing idiotical-
ly, every CLEAN of intelligence fading
from their faces.
The experiment upon himself, by which
Dayy proved that hyCrocarbonate acts as Il
sedatve, was fearfully daring. 1t was no
foolhardy bravado that was tue motive
power with him, but the love of scientific
investigation. He says he was anxious to
compare effects with those of nitrous oxide.
Emboldened by his first experiment, from
whiah he felt no excessively painful re-
suits, he introduced four quarts of gas into
a silk bag. After a forced exhaustion of
the lungs, and the nose being accurately
closed, he made three breathings Of hy-
drocarbonate. The first produced feel
ing of nrmbness; the second took away
the power of vision and edfeebl9d the other
senses: the third sent him away in sWoon,
and just left him power to throw away the
tube from his lips. After short interval
he recovered little, and was able to Whis
per, ssI don't think shall die" Placing
his finger on his wrist, he found his pulse
beating with excessive quickness. In
about minute he twas able to walk, but
for an hour was weak and giddy, and con-
scious of a painful pressure upon his chest.