title: Angelo Mosso's experiments at very low barometric pressures.
abstract: In 1898, Angelo Mosso (1846-1910) used his low-pressure chambers to carry out some remarkable experiments that are not well known. Paul Bert (1833-1886) had previously demonstrated that the deleterious effects of high altitude were due to low PO2, but this conclusion was disputed by many of the eminent scientists of the day. Mosso believed that the physiological effects of high altitude were caused by a low PCO2 (acapnia) and he made a series of low-pressure chamber experiments to test this. In some studies he added oxygen to the air in the chambers so that he could study the effects of extreme hypobaria; in one experiment he survived a barometric pressure of only 192 mm Hg equivalent to an altitude of about 10,800 m. Some of his experiments were observed by his daughter Mimí who wrote a colorful account in her book dedicated to her father "Un cercatore d'ignoto" (A seeker of the unknown).
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences and Imaging, University of Chieti, Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Camillo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Di Giulio
authors.forename: John B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: West
mesh_terms: D000531:Altitude; D001274:Atmospheric Pressure; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D007558:Italy; D010827:Physiology / Q000266:history*