[12] The Sur Raja, at Dowlat; a young man of violent passions, who had but just succeeded to the throne. A. D. 1756.
Q. What became of these prisoners?
A. They were driven into a place about 18 feet square, and 15 or 16 feet in height, with only two small grated windows. 123 of the prisoners died in one night; and (of the 23 who survived) the larger portion died of putrid fevers, after they were liberated in the morning.
Q. Why were 123 persons suffocated in a few hours, from confinement in this close hot prison-hole?
A. Because the oxygen of the air was soon consumed by so many lungs, and its place supplied by carbonic acid exhaled by the hot breath.
Q. Why do persons in a crowded church feel drowsy?
A. 1st—Because the crowded congregation inhale a large portion of the oxygen of the air, which alone can sustain vitality and healthy action: and
2ndly—The air of the church is impregnated with carbonic acid gas, which (being a strong narcotic) produces drowsiness in those who inhale it.
Q. Why did the captives in the black hole die sleeping?