642 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 

 TABLE OF ANESTHETIC GASES AND VAPORS. 



NAME OF 

 SUBSTANCE. 



Hitrous oxide 



Carbonic oxide 



Carbonic acid 



Bisulphide of carbon 



Hydride of methyl (marsh 

 gas) 



Methylic ether 



Methylic ethyl ether 



Chloride of methyl 



Bichloride of methylene.. 

 Chloroform 



Tetrachloride of carbon. . 



Hydride of ethyl 



Ethylic ether (absolute 



ether) 



Chloride of ethyl 



Ethylene (olefiant gas).. . 



Bichloride of ethylene 



(Duich liquid) 



Chlor-ethylidene 



Bromide of ethyl (hydro- 



homic ether) 



Hydride of amyl 



Amylene 



Hydrocyanic acid 



Coal-gas 



PHYSICAL QUALITIES. 



Supports common combustion; sweet, 

 and not irritating to breathe. 



Burns in oxygen; not irritating to 

 breathe. 



Extinguishes flame ; irritating to 

 breathe. 



Vapor burns ; odor disagreeable un- 

 less well purified. 



Burns in air; inodorous, not irritat- 

 ing. 



Burns in air ; almost inodorous when 

 pure. 



Burns in air ; ethereal odor ; rather 

 pungent. 



Burns in air ; rather pungent. 



Vapor burns ; pungent odor. 



Vapor extinguishes flame ; pungent 

 odor. 



Vapor extinguishes flame ; odor fra- 

 grant, not pungent. 



Burns in uir ; inodorous. 



Burns in air ; pungent to breathe. 

 Burns in air; ethereal odor; rather 



pungent. 

 Burns in air ; pleasant to breathe. 



Vapor burns; ethereal odor; rather 



pungent ; smoky. 

 Vapor burns ; ethereal sweet odor ; 



pungent. 



Vapor rather pungent, but pleasant. 

 Vapor burns in air ; inodorous when 



pure. 

 Vapor burns in air ; pungent; smok}'. 

 Vapor painful to breathe ; special ; 



suflfocating odor. 

 Gas at first slightly irritating, but 



quickly narcotic. 



evolved from the fumes of the Lycoperdon gigantewn, or common 

 puff-ball. The fumes as thus evolved have been employed for centu- 

 ries past by the common people for narcotizing bees before taking the 

 honey from the hive. A portion of the substance being burned under 

 the hive, the bees, inhaling the fumes, fall into a deep sleep, during 

 which time they are unconsciously deprived of their industrious earn- 

 ings. I was so struck with the perfect action of these fumes after 

 being shown one of these experiments, that, in 1854, I introduced the 

 fumes for anaesthetic purposes. Purified by being passed through 

 water, they produced the most rapid narcotism, under which many 

 operations were performed painlessly on the inferior animals. The 

 question was the character and chemical nature of the agent in the 

 fumes which produced the ansesthesia. The late Dr. John Snow, so 

 well known for his immense labors on anaesthetics, and the late Mr. 

 Thornton Herepath, one of our most promising chemists, were each 

 separately engaged in discovering the concealed gas or vapor. Snow 

 and Herepath simultaneously, but by quite different methods of re- 

 search, arrived at the fact that the narcotic present was carbonic oxide, 



