The Continuous Inhalation of Oxygen in Cases of Pneumonia Otherwise Fatal, and in Other Diseases

ALBERT N. BLODGETT
1890 Boston Medical and Surgical Journal  
It is a recognized fact that several of the most common and most fatal maladies to which the practitioner of medicine is called, are fatal on account of interference with the function of respiration. These diseases kill, by either preventing the access of a sufficient amount of respirablc air to the lungs, or by diminishing the respiratory area within the lungs. This may be caused by exudation of foreign material, or from closure of the lumen of the respiratory passages through inflammation, or
more » ... from other causes. It is only within the latest times, that the attention of the practitioner of medicine has been effectually called to the possibility of treating these conditions by the direct employment of oxygen, for the purpose of offering to tho impaired respiratory function the means of fulfilling its mission to the animal economy, by extending to it an atmosphere containing a richer supply of this all-important element, and thus enable it to carry on its indispensable duty, though it be forced to do so by means of diminished or diseased respiratory apparatus. The following paper is not intended to discuss this subject in an exhaustive manner, nor is it intended to enter into any examination of the ways or methods in
doi:10.1056/nejm189011201232101 fatcat:2bz5wq73gzgmlfukyo23rx72wm