VOL.7. NO. 7
CORRESPONDENCE
1693
nascent oxygen to go on t o completion due to the escape of the gas.3 It is quite possible to assume, however, as others have done, that there i s an equilibrium of such nature that the amount of oxgyen present d o e s not exceed the solubility of the gas in the solution in question. OTTOREINMUTH, Associate B i t o r a It should be noted that the oxidizing effects produced preclude the possibility that the decomposition takes the murse: MnOai +Mnf + 40 One may assume the improbable formation of Muno,, the anhydride of a strong acid, in dilute aqueous solution, with subsequent d&composition, MnsO, S 2Mn0 50 or one may postulate a self-oxidation-reduction on the part of the permanganate ion. such as:
+
+
It is also possible t o write such an equilibrium as you have suggested,
+
Mn0,Mn++ 40--, if an equilibrium of that kind really seems plausible to you.
City Gas Chief Source of Carbon Monoxide Deaths. City illuminating or manufacturinr! .eas . is the chief source of deaths from carbon monoxide ooisonine. . the mmmittee on poisonous gases of the American Medical Association has recently reported. S beating homes may involve a large increase of "The increasing use of city K ~ for supcrfatalities both of indiv!cl~r;tl.;and of entire families unlecs an rfficirnt in~l,~.ctiuo vision and control of household gaq appliances is estahlichrcl." the committve s a t e d in its report. "City gas of high calorific value contains much less carbon monoxide than pas of low calorific value. I t is in the interest of publiFhealth and safety that the amount of carbon monoxide in city gas should be reduced. To this end the price of gas should be based on the heat unit instead of the cubic foot. Scientific investigation for the development of less poisonous gas deserves liberal financial support." The committee recommended that victims of carbon monoxide poisoning be treated with immediate artificial respiration by the prone pressure method. Pulmotors, lung motors, and similar mechanical devices should be discarded in favor of the prone pressure method. Inhalators, on the other band, were recommended to be used to supply the victim with a mixture of oxygen and 5 to 7 per cent carbon dioxide, or with oxygen alone if the carbon dioxide is not available. Such a patient should be kept warm and prevented from making any physical exertion, even so little as sitting up, until he is fully restored to normal condition. Heart strain may result from allowing a partially resuscitated person Po walk about or otherwise exert himself.-Science Setmice Find Three Vitamins in Malted Milk. Cheering news for those who make malted milk the mainstay of the working or schwl day is to be found in the report of E. J. Quinn and L. B. Brahec of Columbia University t o the American Home Economics Association. These investigators have found malted milk a good source of vitamins A, B, and G. However, a sample of a chocolate-flavored variety had not so high a vitamin content as the unflavored or "straight" malted milk. The extensive use of malted milk for invalid and infant feeding led the investigators to examine samples for vitamin content. Vitamin A is known as a preventive of eye disease, vitamin B prevents beri-beri, and vitamin G prevents pellagra.-Science Snrice ~
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