Facts about Gas Poisoning

on this subject, perhaps you will allow me to point out that, although every new coal-gas fatality brings yet louder protests from an anxious public, yet it is obvious that the facts are still not generally understood. Carbon monoxide, the poisonous constituent, has always formed a part of coal-gas since it was first introduced to the public service. The impression that the Companies have recently added dangerous quantities (in the form of water-gas) is totally erroneous. Also the much-maligned Gas Regulation Act of 1920 simply gave power to prescribe a limit for the poisonous constituents, if, after inquiry, it was thought necessary to do so. There never has been a legal limit, so that the Act can in no way be blamed for the recent fatalities. Actually, after due consideration, the best authorities recently decided to adopt no definite limit but to keep close analytical watch upon the gas supplied. The figures for the last twenty years, which are readily available, show that during that period there has been no increase in carbon monoxide percentage which could, in itself, be described as dangerous to life. In almost every case where death has occurred, the leakage of gas into the room has