mofetten.

1770 W. Hamilton Let. 16 Oct. in Observ. Vesuvius (1772) 165 I have met with these mofetes often, when I have been making my observations.

1848 E. C. Otté tr. A. von Humboldt Cosmos I. 209 Various substances have been ejected during the earthquake, as hot water,..Mofettes [gloss. exhalations of carbonic acid gas]..; mud, black smoke [etc.].

1887 R. Brown Our Earth & its Story I. 225 The amount of carbonic acid which is discharged by these moffettes must be enormous.

1931 G. W. Tyrrell Volcanoes iii. 93 The legend of the poisonous Upas tree arises from mofettes in the famous Death Valley of Java, where tigers and rhinoceroses have occasionally been found suffocated.

1976 A. Rittmann & L. Rittmann Volcanoes (1978) 38 A mofette is similar to a fumarole, but the steam given off has a higher carbon dioxide content and its temperature never exceeds 90°C.

1992 S. Sontag Volcano Lover i. vii. 108 One of the royal pages opened the door of a disused chapel, walked into a mofetta, as pockets of cold poisonous gas secreted by the volcano are called, and died instantly.

1822 J. M. Good Study Med. III. 566 The first, formerly denominated phlogistic air, and sometimes mofette, is thrown forth largely during the decomposition of animal matter.

1823 G. Crabb Universal Technol. Dict. II. Mofette (Chem.), another name for Nitrogen.

1992 W. H. Brock Fontana Hist. Chem. iii. 108 Respiration was a slow form of combustion. The non-respirable part of air, mofette or azote, later called nitrogen, was exhaled unaltered.