198 



for me, rose from 00 to 120, and continued at that point during the 

 operation. 



Aldehyde, used by Monsieur 1'oggiale, although it IS said to be 

 stronger than chloroform, is also conceded to be more suffocating 

 than ether, the odour of which it has. It is probable, therefore, 

 thai ether is the less objectionable of the two agents. It produces, 

 says Professor ►Simpson, much bronchia] constriction and coughing. 



Nitrate of ethyle, upon the same authority, is also rapid and pow- 

 erful in its effects; yet produces excessive noise and fullness in the 

 head, with subsequent headache and di/.ziness. 



The bisulphn/ret of carbon, a rapid and powerful anaesthetic, has 

 "a peculiarly offensive smell of putrid cabbage." 



Benzoin. The vapour of this liquid* of rather a pleasant aromatic 

 odour, is said to he less powerful than that of chloroform. In the 

 hands of Mr. Snow it produced in the patient certain convulsive 



tremors. The four last agents are "not comparable," says Professor 



Simpson, ''with chloroform or sulphuric ether, either in their man- 

 ageahleness or in their effects." 



By a rough estimate of the quantity consumed in operations, chlo- 

 roform is eight times as strong as ether; and a drachm of the one 

 or an ounce of the other, is a fair allowance for inhalation at the 

 commencement of the process. As it evaporates, the fluid may be 

 replaced if necessary. 



The absolute necessity of interposing something between the lips 

 and the inebriating agent, when the latter, like chloroform, irritates 

 the skin, was quite over-estimated in the case of common ether; and 

 the public attached as false a value to the inhaling apparatus, as to 

 the stethoscope in a kindred science. In administering ether, an 

 inhaling apparatus is occasionally convenient. The more compli- 

 cated form, in all its modifications, contains as its chief element the 

 double valve originally suggested by Dr. Gould; and a tube furnished 

 with it may be dilated or constricted so as to represent almost all the 

 principal inhalers in use. 



For brief and repeated inhalation, and to avoid the odour of sul- 

 phuric ether, as well as to retard its evaporation, an inhaler is con- 

 venient; but for common purposes, a bell-shaped sponge is quite 

 efficient, and is bo be tinned from time to time during an expiration, 

 to bring the gravitating ether to the top. 



With the introduction of chloroform the invention of apparatus 

 received new impetus. Its stimulant, and even vesicating proper- 

 ties contraindioate the direct application of this fluid to the skin. 



