IV. COMPARISON BETWEEN THE RESPIRATORY LESIONS OF INFLUENZA AND THOSE INITIATED BY THE INHALATION OF POISONOUS GASES
Immediately preceding the advent of the influenza epidemic in New Haven, there had been completed in this laboratory the experimental studies of the effects of a large number of different toxic gases upon the respiratory tract. This was begun with the support of the Bureau of Mines, and subsequently, after the formation of the Chemical Warfare Service, the work received the support, not only of this branch of the Army, but also of the Surgeon General’s Office. Exceptional opportunities for animal experimentation were offered. Every stage of the inflammatory process in the respiratory tract was studied, from the most acute, a few hours after the exposure of the animal to a high concentration of gas, to the very chronic types that resulted from sublethal concentrations and led to lesions encountered at the sacrifice of the animals many months later.
The criticism will unquestionably be introduced, that with the anatomical picture of the respiratory lesions initiated by irritating gases freshly in mind, an analogy between them and those of the pulmonary lesions of influenza may not be impartially drawn. However, such fundamental and striking similarities exist between the two processes (128) that the argument is simplified.