Page:Treatise on poisons in relation to medical jurisprudence, physiology, and the practice of physic (IA treatiseonpoison00chriuoft).pdf/626

 *ing narrative of an attempt made to empty one of these pits in presence of the Duc. de Rochefoucault, the Abbé Tessier, himself, and other members of the Academy of Sciences, who were appointed by the French government to examine into the merits of a pretended discovery for destroying the noxious vapours. The pit chosen was ten feet and a half long, six wide, and at least seven deep; and repeated attempts had been previously made without success to empty it. For some time the process went on prosperously; when at last one of the workmen dropped his bucket into the pit. A ladder being procured, he immediately proceeded to descend, and would not wait to be tied with ropes. "But hardly," says Hallé, "had he descended a few steps of the ladder, when he tumbled down without a cry, and was overwhelmed in the ordure below, without making the slightest effort to save himself. It was at first thought he had slipped his foot, and another workman promptly offered to descend for him. This man was secured with ropes in case of accident. But scarcely had he descended far enough to have his whole person in the pit except his head, when he uttered a suppressed cry, made a violent effort with his chest, slipped from the ladder, and ceased to move or breathe. His head hung down on his breast, the pulse was gone; and his complete state of asphyxia was the affair of a moment. Another workman, descending with the same precautions, fainted away in like manner, but was so promptly withdrawn that the asphyxia was not complete, and he soon revived. At last a stout young man, secured in the same way as the rest, also went down a few steps. Finding himself seized like his companions, he re-ascended to recover himself for a moment; and still not discouraged, he resolved to go down again, and descended backwards, keeping his face uppermost, so that he was able to search for his companion with a hook and withdraw the body." It was impossible to go on with the operation of clearing out; and the pit was shut up again. The first workman never showed any sign of life; the second recovered after discharging much bloody froth; all the persons in the vault were more or less affected; and a gentleman who, in trying to resuscitate the dead workman, incautiously breathed the exhalations from his mouth, was immediately and violently seized with the convulsive form of the affection.

The same kind of accident has been observed at Paris in the vaults of cemeteries, owing to the same cause,—the disengagement of hydrosulphuric acid and hydrosulphate of ammonia during putrefaction. A remarkable instance is related by Guerard. Analogous accidents have happened in this country in clearing out drains.

In none of the French investigations on this singular subject has any allusion been made to the question, whether the health sustains any injury from long-continued exposure to the gas in very minute proportion. It is probably injurious however. At one time, while in the practice of not using any precautions against inhaling the gas