“ORGANIC MATTER IN EXPIRED AIR.”
“The decomposing organic matter given off by the lungs and skin is probably the most injurious of the animal excreta, when allowed to act on the system for a length of time. This exhaled organic matter is easily recognized in the air by chemical tests, or by the putrid odor evolved when cotton wool, that has been breathed through, is left to soak in otherwise pure water at a temperature of 70° to 80° Fahrenheit. The experiments of Gavarret and Hammond, in which expired air had its carbonic acid and water vapor removed, leaving only the organic matter, showed that the latter was highly deleterious. Hammond found that a mouse died in forty-five minutes in such an atmosphere. It has also been again and again demonstrated that air containing a given amount of carbonic acid as the result of respiration is far more poisonous than air which contains the same amount of carbonic acid as a product of combustion.”