1/7/2023 0 Comments Canary birds singing![]() ![]() Their reactions served as an early warning of danger. Compared to mice - or to miners - canaries would get a double dose of toxic gases. And he knew that as birds breathe, they get a dose of air both as they inhale and as they exhale. When a canary began to weaken, or stopped singing, miners knew to get out of the mine - and quickly.īut why use a bird as an alarm instead of, say, a mouse? Haldane understood a bird’s breathing anatomy. He reasoned that a singing bird would be a good indicator of carbon monoxide - the gas can build to deadly levels in mines, and it has no smell. So, how did this practice start? Miners began using canaries in 1911, based on the advice of Scottish scientist John Haldane. For at least 75 years, miners in Great Britain carried a live canary in a cage every day as they went down into the mines.
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