We are studying this Guemara in Bava Kamma 50 b, and we don´t know what does it means "leheblo belo lechabato". The pit's foul air can kill an animal? How is it scientifically possible?
Tizku LeMitsvot!
Thank you very much.
Dr. Isaac Betech Nissan (T.O.V.) Phone (52 55) 5589 87 66 Fax (52 55) 5589 91 01 e-mail: isaacb@tovnet.com www.tovnet.com Fuente de Concordia #73 Col. Tecamachalco. C.P. 53950 Mexico City, MEXICO
Here is how we described it the Background to the Daf (Bava Kama 50b):
HEVLO - its air that is hard to breathe (i.e., the limited space inside the Bor creates a situation where the somewhat rarified air of the pit, combined with the dust that rises due to a person or animal's fall (see Shabbos 95a), makes it hard to breathe inside the pit).
The panic-driven shortness of breath of the person or animal that fell probably intensifies the effect of the limited space.
There are other theories as to the scientific explanation for the toxic effect of the air of the pit, but we have not found them to be satisfactory.
Y. Shaw
Thank you very much for your e-mail. Tizke LeMitsvot again and again. It has been very useful for us. May we have another question?
What do you mean with " rarefied air of the pit"... More CO2? Less oxygen? Or something else?
Yes, we meant basically as you write -- less oxygen, plus a high concentration of dust particles. Other factors, such as the concentrated heat in a pit, may also contribute. Some have suggested that toxic gases may also be involved, but we are not aware of any toxic gases that are produced naturally from the earth that kill immediately (for example, while radon, which comes from the natural decay of uranium in nearly all soils, is carcinogetic, it is not immediately fatal upon inhalation).
Y. Shaw