Reasoning from his view of the pathology of the disease, Bert has proposed the inhalation of oxygen in order to displace the free nitrogen from the blood by diffusion. Experiments upon animals demonstrated that the sounds produced in the heart by the presence of free nitrogen speedily disappeared when the animal was made to inhale oxygen, the nitrogen diffusing into this gas much more readily than into common air. But, though immediate death was averted by this expedient, paralysis nevertheless occurred, and the post-mortem examination showed the presence of bubbles of nitrogen in the vessels of the cord.
DISEASES OF THE MEDIASTINUM.
BY EDWARD T. BRUEN, M.D.
Inflammation of the Mediastinum.
SYNONYMS.—Mediastinitis. Fr. Médiastinite; Ger. Mediastinitis.
Lesions caused by inflammatory processes in the mediastinum may, theoretically, occur in the duplicatures of the pleura, separating the pleural from the mediastinal cavity. This condition may terminate in resolution or in effusion of plastic lymph, as in a case reported by Wildemann, in which the anterior mediastinum was filled with layers of solid exudation, the pericardium inflamed, and its cavity distended by six ounces of pus. The effusion appeared to have been occasioned by long-continued pressure on the sternal region. The process is practically unrecognizable during life, or at least possesses no described clinical features.
Abscess of the Mediastinal Space.