Abstract
OF late years much attention has been given to the remarkable power of charcoal to absorb gases of all kinds, and during the war extensive use has been made of this property in the construction of masks for removing noxious gases from the air inhaled lay the wearer. As a matter of justice to the memory of a man whose interesting work in the chemistry of vegetable products is apt to be forgotten, I should like to remind readers of NATURE that the first practical application of charcoal for such purposes was made by Dr. John Stenhouse, lecturer in chemistry at St. Bartholomew's Hospital. In 1854 Stenhouse devised a charcoal respirator consisting of a perforated zinc case filled with granular wood charcoal, and adapted to fit over the mouth and nose. Respirators of this kind were in use by nurses and dressers in St. Bartholomew's, and, I believe, some other hospitals, down to the time when Lister's antiseptic system rendered such protection from the offensive emanations of sores unnecessary. When I worked in Stenhouse's private laboratory in 1862–63 he gave me one of these respirators, and I made use of it long afterwards with great advantage when experimenting on the gases from aqua regia and other irritating substances.
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TILDEN, W. Absorption of Gases by Charcoal. Nature 103, 24 (1919). https://doi.org/10.1038/103024b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/103024b0
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