Excerpt from The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, 1842, Vol. 25 It should also be observed, that the heat thus generated is in proportion to the quantity of oxygen abstracted from the atmosphere, which enters into combination with the carburetted hydrogen of the flame of candles, coal-gas, oil, or other inflammable matter, from which light is produced. That every cubic foot of carburetted hydrogen consumed unites, on an average, with two cubic feet of oxygen (that portion of the atmosphere required to support animal life) and that the product of this combustion is about two and a half inches of water and one of carbonic acid gas, which, when inhaled in its pure state, proves instantly fatal and the greater the proportion we inhale, in addition to the vapors evolved from the lungs and skin, the more pernicious the effect. Supposing, for example, that the perfect lighting of an ordinary-sized apartment requires fifteen cubic feet of carburetted hydrogen per hour, this would form about a pint and a half of water, and fifteen cubic feet of carbonic acid gas; for whenever carburetted hydrogen gas is burned with oxygen, or atmospheric air, these are the products of the combustion, whether the carburetted hydrogen is obtained from wax, tallow, oil, or coal. If, therefore, this lighting continues in an unventilated apartment for seven hours, one gallon of water is produced, the greater part of which will be deposited on the walls, windows, furniture, polished metal, or other cold surfaces with which it comes in contact; and to some articles of this nature it is known to prove highly prejudicial, in addition to the injury to health occasioned by an increased quantity of moisture, mixed with the air we breathe. As one of the principal functions performed by this air for the preservation of health, is to carry off with it a considerable quan tity of vapor, in order to prevent its undue accumulation in the lungs, it is, therefore, evident, that after it has been already so loaded it cannot properly perform these functions, and that consumption and other com plaints are thus frequently induced. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.