The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1901-07-22
Or. Parker Of Detroit Has a
: New Theory Concerning It.
POISON IN sTAGNANT AIR.
Dscsmpussd 10 Unused Part Of III, Lungs
and Produces Substance Wh'cl Kills MI.
Experiments on Dogs and Hens.

That badness is merely a matter
of breathing is theory which has
been promulgated by DR.. Delos T.. Par
ker, OF Detroit Mich. DR. Parker who
is lecturer on materia medica in the De-
troit College OF Medicine has made a Sc
ries of interesting experiments in sup
port of his hypothesis. the results of
which he gives at length in the Medical
Record.
DR. Parker believes that air which Is
drawn into the lungs and allowed TO re-
main in the air cells there is decomposed
by the moist warmth OF the body. throw
ing OFF a poison, "trichotoxicon. into the
blood, which causes the hair 10 fall out.
The reason why badness is so much
more common among men than among
women, he says, is that the habit of wear
ing corsets forces women to use the upper
part OF the lungs I'm breathing. and II is
there that the hair poison is chiefly gem
Grated
In order TO prove his theory Dr. Parker
had bald headed men exhale their breath
into vessel free from air, and IL was
transferred into bottles partly filled with
water. After permitting II 10 remain
in the bottles long enough 10 impregnate
the water with the hair poison the water
was injected under the skin OF dogs. hens
and pigeons. The result was that the
hair OF the dogs and the feathers of the
hens and pigeons fell out while the in
jections were continued and grew again
when they ceased
MILLIONS or AIR CELLS.
Millions of tiny hollow spaces known as
"air cells" occur In the lungs They vary
i'm size from one two-hundredth TO one
seyentieth of an inch In diameter.
III they could all be opened and spread
out they would cover an area from 100
TO 130 times greater than the area OF the
skin. These air cells are gathered into
groups less than an inch I'm diameter. and
each group is connected with the bron-
chial tubes
Owing 20 this arrangement air may be
taken into and expelled from some OF
the groups OF air cells while Il remains
motonless or stagnant In others.
When the ribs which enclose the upper
portion OF the chest are raised and low
cred In breathing air IL taken into. and
expelled from every part OF the lungs
because all the ribs are connected. and
raising the lower ones, thus expanding
the entire cavity. Women usually em-
poy this method OF breathing. but when
the lower ribs are raised IL does not fol-
low that the extreme upper ribs must
move. too.
Dr. Parker also points out that In or
dlnary breathing only one-sixth of the air
in the vngs is driven out with each
breath. The air expelled from the lungs
contains very small quantities OF organic
matter, as well as hydrogen. and marsh
gas has been established by research.
From birth 10 death the lungs are nearly
entirely empty OF stagnant air containing
these substances
sEDENTARY LIFE MAKES Badness
Persons who lead sedentary lives are es-
pecially likely 20 become bald because
lack of exercise reduces the amount OF
oxygen obtain by the blood and tends
10 prevent full breathing The habit OF
bending over desks which contracts the
upper parts of the lungs and keeps them
contracted has the same effect. In old
age badness becomes common because
the ribs grow more rigid and are less
easily moved.
he obtained from middle aged man who
had long been bald, n large bag full Of
expired hair. This was transferred 20
a bottle partly filled with water. and
placed In an Incubator, where II was kept
for ten davs at temperature of gs de-
grees. Injections of the impregnated
water were made daily In a fox terrier |
and a hen.
After fourteen injections the dog com |
menced TO lose its hair and the hen its !
feathers. After fifty-two injections large |
bare patches were visible both sub
jects.
Neither. subject showed any sign OF dis |
turbed health during the progress OF the |
experiments. The dog played as usual |
and seemed to be IN good spirits while |
the hen continued to lay eggs. Their |
weight remained unchanged After the |
injections ceased n new coat OF hair COW |
cred the bare patches in the dog and |
the hen got her feathers back.
NEW SERIES or EXPERIMENTS.
Convinced that his theory was correct. |
DIR. Parker determined TO make n new /
set Of experiments In October OF last
year. First he obtained the breath OF /
a man who was not bald, then he filed /
a flask with the breath OF a man who /
was bald. and finally one containing or
dnary atmospheric air. All these were
placed IN the Incubator TO allow decom-
position TO take place. In this expert
ment he used one fox terrier, five hens
and five pigeons, all fully grown.
Injections into the dog from the two |
TASKS OF expired air, one from "A bald |
man and the other from a man not bald.
had the same effect as In the first ex-
pertinent. Similar treatment OF the hens
and pigeons was followed by the same
results. Only those which were treated
with the liquid from the first two TASKS
were affected.
CONCLUSIONS REACHED.
DR. Parker concludes from these expert.
ments that when human breath is kept |
long enough 20 allow decomposition OF the 4
organic matter which n contains 10 take
place II creates n poison which IN the
blood OF certain animals acts upon the
hair and similar tissues and has no other
effect Summing up the results OF his In
vestigations Dr. Parker says:
1T seems not unreasonable to conclude
that badness, OF the type under con-
sideratlOn II caused by an auto-infcction
IN which trichotoxicon r. taken UP by the
blood from tho air-ceils of the lungs.
where ~ has been elaborated during de-
OF organic matter normally
present IN respired air"
Though Or. Parker does not suggest II.
a ~. f.r |