Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-20
TEST FOR CARBON MONOXIOE
PROF. SKINNER EXPERIMENT.
ING TO FIX PERCENTAGE
Guinea Pigs Used to Demonstrate
Deadly Effects of Its Pres
ence in Gas.

In view of the proposed Legislation
limiting the amount of carbon monoXlde
in Washington gas 10 10 per cent, Prof.
Skinner of the Department of Agricul-
ture has been making some experiments
to determine what is q lethal dose of the
gas. One room in the laboratory where
The work is being carried on was closed,
and Il gas heater. the same that was
present in the Bremermaf home at
the time of the tragedy, WAS allowed TO
run for an hour a sample of the air
was then taken, and it was found to con-
tain l per cent of monoxide. Some
guinea pigs were then turned into the
room for fifteen minutes. and at the end
of that time they were found apparently
dead One of them subsequently recoV-
cred.
Prof Skinner said. in speaking of the
experiment:
There is not much data on which to
go. Massachusetts keeps a very good
system of statistics in most things, and
it kept a record OF deaths from gas. 1t
was shown that in the thirteen years
preceding the introduction of water gas
in the state there We're eight deaths
from gas. In the fourteen years fol-
following the use of water gas, the num-
Der had risen to over 400, These in
cluded both suicides and accidental
deaths.
1T is practically impossible to be killed
accidentally by gas made from coal unless
YOU do as some suicides do, put a tube
in your mouth. You could turn on two
fixtures in an ordinary room and sleep
there for ten hours and probably there
would be no fatal results ! am toler-
ably sure, however, that | per cent of
carbon monoXide in the air under all
favorable conditions would be enough TO
kill man."
DR. Wiley, when asked whether the 10
per cent limit proposed on carbon mo-
noXide would be enough to render it
harmless, said: 1t would be that much
ahead of limit at all Further than
that | would not like to say"
The subject was gone into by the ma
tional board of health in Baltimore when
that body was in existence in 1850. Prof.
Ira Remsen of the Johns Hopkins lnsti-
tute was the consulting che mist and he
turned the work of the actual experiments
over to DR.. David T Day. now of the
geological survey of Washington In
vestigationS We're made principally with
mice and it was found that two-tenths
of | per cent of monoXide was enough
to kill a mouse. The board came to the
conclusion that ! per cent would kill a
man. 1t was found also that water gas
could be cleared of carbon monoXide with
a resulting by-product that would pay
for the work. None of the companies in
large cities where nearly al OF them use
water gas have ever put the process into
practice.
The use of this cleaning process would
necessitate the manufacture Of more gas
as the carbon nonoHide III waite gas runs
from "A to Ia per cent. but it would allow
the of water gas, which is much
cheaper proc SIS. and would easily bring
1t within the 10 per cent limit.
Prof. Skinner said i'll SIP alsing of the
effect OF carbon monuN;de. that ii was not
fair to say that water gas cont aiming -,
per cent of carbon monoXide was six
times as dangerous a coal gas contain
ing per cent. for said he. there is "A
chance that the coal gas would not kill
you. while il is a certainty that the wafer
gas would. 50 there is no proportion for
comparison between them except the
comparison of life and death
Nothing much is known about the ac-
ton of carbon monoxidc on the human
body except that il thinS the blood,