The physiological, pathological and therapeutical effects of compressed air / by Andrew H. Smith.

  • Smith, Andrew H. (Andrew Heermance), 1837-1910.
Date:
1886
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The physiological, pathological and therapeutical effects of compressed air / by Andrew H. Smith. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

    110/130 (page 98)
    THERAPEUTIC USES OF COMPRESSED AIR. Compressed air is used remedially in two ways. The first is by placing the patient in a suitably con- structed chamber, and condensing the air about him. The second is by causing the patient to breathe from a vessel containing air under pressure. By the first of these methods, to which alone our attention will be directed, we have the conditions re- produced, which we have already considered in con- nection with caisson work, except that the pressure employed is very much less—usually not more than ten pounds to the square inch. The physiological results are such as we have already studied, but on a scale reduced in proportion to the lessened pressure. Pathological results ought not be encountered so long as proper care is exercised in the manage- ment of the apparatus and the selection of cases. It is the united testimony of many observers that the therapeutical effects are, under due limitations, of the greatest practical value. It is unnecessary to describe the many forms of cabinets devised from time to time with a view to the remedial application of compressed air. All are es- sentially alike in that they present a sufficiently strong receptacle, with a capacity for the reception of from one to ten persons, and so constructed that it can be