PROFESSOR’S HEROISM

Evening Star, Issue 19197, 13 March 1926, Page 17

PROFESSOR’S HEROISM

1 «p I PRUSSIC GAS EXPERIMENTS I With the recent appointment of Pro- ’ fessor Joseph Bancroft, one of the most J eminent of British physioloists, as prq- ' fessor of physiology at Cambridge Uni- . versity, there was revealed a story_ of quiet "heroism. The London ‘Evening News ’ relates how Professor Bancroft ; risked death by conducting prussic gas . experiments on himself; lost Ills left ' “ pulso ” after living in a glass caso for , six days; proved in war time that men . are immune from prussic acid gas, and thus saved the country a waste of over , £1,000,000. ’ Once he lived for six days in a her- \ metically-soaled glass box, to settle a thirty years’ physiological discussion as to whether it is possible to calculate the amount of oxygen in a man’s blood from a knowledge of the amount of oxygen in his breath. The question had become one of great importance in connection with people who are exposed to rare atmospheres—airmen particularly. In a specially constructed glass room of two chambers—a bedroom and a siting room—Mr Barcroft shut himself up for a week. In this period the air gradually became rarer in oxygen until it approximated in composition to that found at altitudes of 16,000 ft, or higher than any mountains in Europe. During the experiment introgen was let into the case from time to time from a large gas cylinder, displacing the oxygen in the air. The carbolic acid and water were removed by chemical means. A lixod bicycle was part of the internal furnishings of the case, and on this gthe professor took periodic spells of pedalling.' While the professor was inside the case nineteen i Cambridge undergraduates, working in relays, kept a ceaseless vigil outside, while ilrs Barcroft —a daughter of Sir I’obcrt Ball, the astronomer—and throe of the “patient’s” friends came to see him daily. Food was supplied through a patent trapdoor. The professor had three novels to road, ‘ Three Mon in a Boat ’ being one of them. An analysis of the air mid observations upon his own condition also kept tho self-appointed prisoner employed. Ho suffered a little from sleeplessness, and on the last day, when the atmosphere contained least oxygen, ho endured much from headache and “mountain sickness.” and had a distaste for food. At the end of tho period his wrist was opened, while he was doing a measured amount of work on the bicycle, and blood was extracted from the' artery. Oxygen was then pumped from it and measured. It was found to agree very closely with the ciilculatod amount which would he predicted by a complete know-ledge of the breath of tho patient. The wound_in tlm professor’s arm did not heal quite satisfactorily, and in consequence tho radial artery no longer readies to the wrist, whore in the ordinary way the pulseheat is felt. When he emerged from i tho case it was found that his skin had turned a bluish shade, and it is a curious fact that when he wont to Peru with an expedition a few years ago he found that the skin of the silver minors living at a height of 13.000 ft was of practically the came color. In tho war Professor Barcroft was one of tho “ big brains ” behind England’s gas tactics. Ho was appointed director of the Porton experimental station. “During tho war.” said an intimate friend of Mr Barcroft, “ there was a dispute amongst scientists as to tho efficiency of prussic acid gas in warfare. Mr Barcroft contended that it was of no use. Dogs and eats subjected to it were instantly killed; but, as the professor proved, it had little or no effect on human beings. The French had been bombarding the Gormans with shells filled with prussic acid, but the results were nob those expected. They had erected a great factory for the manufacture of these shells, and _we were on the point of building a similar centre in this country, to cost over a million pounds. A chamber at the Porton station was filled with prussic acid gas. and the professor and a dog entered the room together. The animal was dead within Imin 35sec, but Mr Barcroft came out unscathed. Before he went into the chamber the professor’s respiration and heart had been tested. When he came out ho imraediatelv mounted a bicycle and rode up a hill and back again. When reexamined there was no appreciable difference in his condition. As a result, the idea of the factory was abandoned. He received a letter from Mr Lloyd George, then Prime Minister, thanking him for his action on behalf of the national service.