St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-03-06

II VIII give US lOunQatlOn upon winch
to base some subsequent conclusions.
Carbonic acid is what desire to dis
cuss principally and to explain. Watt,
in treating upon aqueous vapor, says:
The carbonic acid, or anhydride, con-
tanned in the air varies also consider
ably in amount. though by no means to
so large an extent as the aqueous va
por. The following well known scien-
lists, authors and Investigators have all
favored Us with different methods for
air analysis:
Liebig, Drummer, r. Angus Smith. De
Saussure, Pettenkofer, DR.. Frank
land, Levy, Blockman, Ballo,
Schatfer, Wolpert. Lnnge. and
LeckendOrf. De SauSSure, Drummer
and Levy found air in the country to
contain so parts of carbonic acid in
10000. Levy found that in the air col
lected above the ocean during the day
to contain $40, and the air collected at
night to contain $50 of carbOnic acid in
10000 parts. Levy also found that air
above the land slightly changes its
amount of carbonic acid at various sea
sons OF the year and at different times
in the day.
These various changes depending
upon different meteorological aItera-
tons, but as yet experiment has not de-
The air, according to De SauSsure and
Schlangentweit, contains at certain ele-
vatlOnS above the earth more carbonic
acid than is found in the lower belts
of the atm0Shere.
Buck on Hygiene and Public Health,
vol. /, page Gil.
Analysis of air by DR.. Angus Smith:
In Scotland Smith found :36; in the
suburbs or Manchester. 2.9l; in the
streets of London, 3.41 in 10000 parts.
Public garden, Boston, Mass, by StOrer,
300 parts i'll 10000. Hand Book of Hy-
giene and Sanitary Science, by Wilson,
page 25S. Pure air by numerous analy-
SEES of Dr.. Angus Smith, ,3.33 parts in
10000. Carpenters Physiology. page
40. DIR. Roscoe found the usual pro-
portion of carbonic acid in the air of
London, England, to. be 81 parts in
10000.
DR.. FARMLAND analysed samples of
air taken by himself in the valley of
Chamoun!, on the summit of Mount
Blanc and and at the Grands Mulets,
with the following results:
Chamouni, elevation 5000 feet, 6.3
parts.
Mount Blanc, elevation 1912 feet, 6.l
parts.
Grand MuIets, elevation 1000 feet,
Ill parts. 4-:.
The increase arises from the decrease
in vegetation i'll the higher atmospheric
regions. 1t is.a question whether the
atmosphere is slowly undergoing, or has
IN the past undergone, any perceptible
change IN the amount OF carbonic acid.
Owing to the absence of certain and ac-
curate data, the proposition is still de-
batable. lie Blanc and PecIet argue
that the normal amount is on the in
crease. while Reid and Arnott
give q much lower limit. We
do. however, know that there
are great number of causes
continually at work, some OF which tend
to lncreaSe-the amount Of atmospheric
carbonic acid. while there are others
which tend to effect q diminutiou of
this constituent.
The principal causes which tend to
increase atmospheric carbonic acid are:
The respiration OF animals and the com
Dustlon Of vegetable carbonized ma
terial
EXhalations also of carbonic acid
caused by volcanic and other intra-ter-
reStriai agencies. Causes of diminution
are continually at work. They consist
mainly in ~ the decomposition of car
b0nic acid, i. G., the reduction of carbon
and regeneration of oxygen which Iiv-
ing vegetables effect in sunlight. (2)
The fxation of carbonic acid as carbon
ate OF lime. o. The fiXation of car
bonic acid by inorganic chemical proc
eSSeS.
Theair of towns and cities and close in
habited spaces becomes. as we readily
see often0yercharged with carbonic acid.
The amount of carbOnic acid present in
dwellings, school rooms and other places
has been made the subject of expert
L. 1 Tl,4N
Smith. Hills, Lungc and Zeckendorf.
The main results were found as follows:
FirSt-That i'll rooms which were not
thoroughly ventilated the carbonic acid
may rise from 11.00 TO 1000 parts in
10000.
Second Thatin well ventilated rooms
the amount should not rise above S.00in
10000 parts.
Wenkler and Hemple in their work
show that the composition of the air
varies from day TO day.
The causes which produce these fluc-
tuatiOnS, they state. are at present but
imperfectly understood. Air has been
taken from the Alpine heights and from
an elevation of 21,000 feet. it has been
compared with that from the plains
of Egypt, it has been collected
and examined in London, Paris
and New York and other great
cities; still the proportion of oxygen
and nitrogen remain unaltered. The
carbonic acid, Oh the contrary, being
much influenced by loca! causes, varies
considerably. De Saussure found pure
air TO vary from 81 to G.2 in 10000 parts.
Lunge and Zeckendorf, in describing
their method and the reaction in the
use Of their reagent for determining
carbonic acid, state The 1.-The testing of
nurn mir iS ont of nl1nStiOI, :;
Adopting the Pettenkofer method in
some of their examinations of air taken
from Zurichberg-they found sol of
carbonic acid in 10000 parts.
Prof. John Muter, of London. en-
ploys the Pettenkofer method in max
ing air analyses. Muter says pure air
contains about 400 of carbonic acid in
10000 parts. From DR.. j. q. Pinkham's
report OF the sanitary condition of the
public schools of Linn. Massachusetts,
| have coilated more figures.
The analyses of the ar were made by
Prof. VIM. b. Hills, of the Harvard
medical college.
In Red Rock Street school house. in
the lower room, the carbOnic acid was
4.26-4.1 l-4.S2 and go parts in 10000.
In the same school house, upper room,
the air contained $40 in 10000 parts
In the Chase Avenue school house,
lower room, 4.33 parts. 500 carbonic
acid III 10000 parts. In the Baltimore
Street school there were $50 parts
carbomc acid: jackson street school
$50; George Street school 1910 parts
in 10000.
With reference 10 American anihori-
ties, we are fully aware there is a pau
city.
Therefore. OF necessity we are COM
PEELED to draw more largely from foreign
sources If any disparity exists, it
surely is i'll our favor No one who is
familiar at all with sanitary laws
and the analysis of air will for
a moment contend that the average
specimen of pure air will contain much
less than 400 carb0nic acid i'll 10000
parts.
There are, however, exceptions. and
to those exceptions desire for few
moments n ooIi VnI,r 1ftnntion In O,,,