The relative importance of gastrointestinal absorption and aspiration of kerosine (8008206) and other common liquid chemicals was studied in rats, chickens, and rabbits. Animals were dosed with liquids by gastric intubation, intratracheal instillation, aspiration, or subcutaneous, intraperitoneal, or intravenous injection. The effects of mineral-oil and olive-oil diluents were examined. The kerosine was mixed with a blue dye to aid visual detection. Chickens tolerated up to 30 milliliters (ml) of kerosine by gastric intubation. The oral median lethal dose (LD50) in rabbits was 28,350 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg), compared to 27,000mg/kg for glycerine (56815), LD50s in rats were 13,660mg/kg for ethyl-alcohol (64175), 9,750mg/kg for acetone (67641), 5,840mg/kg for isopropyl-alcohol (67630), 3,730mg/kg for lactic-acid (50215), and 3,310mg/kg for acetic-acid (64197). The ratio of oral to intratracheal LD50 for kerosine was 140 to 1. Rats survived 44 gastric intubations of kerosine over 4 months, but died of pulmonary hemorrhage within a few minutes when the kerosine was aspirated. Mineral-oil increased intestinal absorption, while olive-oil decreased the rate of absorption. The blood concentration of absorbed hydrocarbon did not cause pulmonary damage. Aspiration of 0.1ml kerosine produced hydrocarbon concentrations of 300 to 500 parts per million. The author concludes that pneumonia in clinical cases of kerosine intoxication is due to aspiration and not blood concentrations from gastrointestinal absorption. Treatment should not include gastric lavage or emetics since the oral toxicity of kerosine is low. The author recommends oxygen, prophylactic antibiotics, and dilution with vegetable oil or ice cream.