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accomplished all at once, but in a gradual manner--the valve being
opened only for a few seconds, then closed again, until one or two
strokes from the pump of the condenser had supplied the place of the
atmosphere ejected. For the sake of experiment I had put the cat and
kittens in a small basket, and suspended it outside the car to a button
at the bottom, close by the valve, through which I could feed them at
any moment when necessary. I did this at some little risk, and before
closing the mouth of the chamber, by reaching under the car with one of
the poles before mentioned to which a hook had been attached.
"By the time I had fully completed these arrangements and filled the
chamber as explained, it wanted only ten minutes of nine o'clock. During
the whole period of my being thus employed, I endured the most terrible
distress from difficulty of respiration, and bitterly did I repent the
negligence or rather fool-hardiness, of which I had been guilty, of
putting off to the last moment a matter of so much importance. But
having at length accomplished it, I soon began to reap the benefit of
my invention. Once again I breathed with perfect freedom and ease--and
indeed why should I not? I was also agreeably surprised to find myself,
in a great measure, relieved from the violent pains which had hitherto
tormented me. A slight headache, accompanied with a sensation of fulness
or distention about the wrists, the ankles, and the throat, was nearly
all of which I had now to complain. Thus it seemed evident that a
greater part of the uneasiness attending the removal of atmospheric
pressure had actually worn off, as I had expected, and that much of
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