161 - [HYGIENE & TOXICOLOGY] PORTAL, Antoine, and JANIN, Jean. A Compilation of Articles on Mephitic Vapors and Methods for Combating Them.

[HYGIENE & TOXICOLOGY] PORTAL, Antoine, and JANIN, Jean. A Compilation of Articles on Mephitic Vapors and Methods for Combating Them. A fine collection of seven volumes, including five first editions, forming a select corpus on the origins of toxicology and urban hygiene under Louis XVI. In a contemporary binding featuring grotesque motifs. Paris, published by Vincent, 1774—Paris, printed by Ph.-D. Pierres, 1782. 2 treatises in 1 in-12 volume (186 x 108 mm), full brown marbled calfskin, plain spine decorated in the grotesque style with a repeated motif of golden volutes, red leather title label, gilt roulette framing the covers, marbled edges. Normal wear and scuffing on the edges, clamps, and caps, with leather missing at the bottom of the spine; rare small foxing spots; a few leaves frayed at the lower margin; narrow margins (for editions in trimmed 8vo format). A collection of 7 volumes on acute mephitism based on the works of Antoine Portal (1742–1832), future chief physician to Louis XVIII and a pioneer of resuscitation, and Jean Janin de Combe-Blanche (1731–1811), a renowned ophthalmologist from Lyon who became an advocate of urban hygiene. The collection opens with a discussion of asphyxiation and first aid: in it, physician Antoine Portal analyzes the toxic effects of carbon monoxide following a tragedy on Rue Saint-Honoré and outlines the first methods for resuscitating victims of suffocation, drowning, and newborns. The second part of the volume is devoted to urban unsanitary conditions and waste management, contrasting the official report by the scholars Laborie, Cadet the Younger, and Parmentier with the revolutionary research of Jean Janin of Lyon aimed at combating the foul odors of cesspools and converting fecal matter into odorless fertilizer. Title details: - PORTAL, Antoine. Report prepared by order of the Academy of Sciences on the death of Sieur Le Maire and that of his wife […] caused by coal fumes... Paris, Chez Vincent, 1774. VIII and 31 pp. (half-title page missing). First edition. - PORTAL, Antoine. Report prepared by order of the Academy of Sciences on the effects of mephitic vapors... Paris, Printed by Vincent, 1775. XVI and 92 pp. Third edition, revised and expanded. - LABORIE, CADET the Younger, and PARMENTIER. Observations on Cesspools & Means of Preventing the Inconveniences of Their Emptying. Paris, Printed by Ph.-D. Pierres, 1778. 109 pp. First edition. - JANIN de COMBE-BLANCHE, Jean. *L'Antiméphitique, or Methods for Eliminating the Pernicious and Deadly Fumes from Cesspools*... Paris, Printed by Ph.-D. Pierres, 1782. XXXII and 70 pp. First edition - JANIN de COMBE-BLANCHE, Jean. Supplement to *L'Antiméphitique*... No place, no publisher, no date [1782]. 8 pp. - JANIN de COMBE-BLANCHE, Jean. A Detailed Account of What Occurred During the Experiments Conducted by Mr. Janin […] in the Presence of the assembled Commissioners of the Royal Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society of Medicine. Paris, Printed by Ph.-D. Pierres, 1782. [1] folio and 25 pp. First edition. - Excerpt from the *Journal Encyclopédique* of June 1 [1782]. Containing a summary of the contradictory observations made against Mr. Janin’s method. A fine set in contemporary binding.