SIX DAYS IN SEALED GLASS CASE.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 224, 18 September 1920, Page 19

SIX DAYS IN SEALED GLASS CASE.

— _, i BRITISH SCIiF-STLST .MAKES ■DAICNG | IEX.PE-Rl._l; NT. | Six days sealed up in a glass case is a i daring experiment bearing ou a via lion | which has just been carried out by a middle-aged British University professor, . Joseph ißarcroft, F.-R.S-, reader in physiology at Cambridge University. The question involved was whether it . would be |possible to calculate t'ue quantity of oxygen necessary to an airman at high altitudes. The case in which .Mr. Barcroft was stilt up for six days v„s .-specially erect* d ill a quiet room in the physiological laboratory. It was about seven feet h_.li and about teu I ■ feet broad. The floor, -walls and roof were 'made of glass, hermetically sealed, and \ I divided into two compartments—one fitted j | with a lounge chair and table and th_ other with a simple bed. At the foot of the bed was a pedaling apparatus consisting of the frame of a bicycle, from which the front wheel bad been removed, and a small black wheel with a frame attached, to enable iMr. Bur- : croft to get some exercise and cause a certain amount of work to be d»ne. iDurlng his six days in this case Mr. Barcroft spent his time in work relating to the experiments, in taking exercise on the bicycle and in sleeping. He was kept under observation day and night to ensure his personal safety, college students and others taking it in turn to keep watch. iXltrogen was continually Introduced into the chamber and the air became gradually rarer than oxygen until it approximated that _t an altitude of 10.000 feet, when ilr. IBarcroft, who has had experience of mountaineering, experienced con- , siderable inconvenience from sickness and sleeplessness, and also an indisposition to taike any food. .At The close of the experiment some blood was taken from Mr. ißarcroft's arm. The oxygen the blood contained was separated and it was found to agree with the expectations of the experiment. IMr. "Barcroft confesses to having felt rather shaken up after his release from the glass case, but did not look much the worse for the experience. The experiment is regarded as thoroughly successful and a scientific report of it -will be laid before the next meeting of the British Association, where .Mr. Barcroft will be president of the physiological section.