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used together ^Yith a short time of exposure. It would be interesting to investigate 

 if it were possible to provoke an acceleration of the assimilation; this phenomenon 

 none of the above mentioned students have managed to demonstrate through their 

 experiments, except Kegel whose theories must however be looked upon as doubtful. 



The following theories concerning the modus operandi of ether are to be 

 added to those alreadj' mentioned: 



Claude Bernard is of opinion that the action of the ether narcosis depends 

 on a change of the protoplasme, which becomes semi-coagulated: ". . . Je pense 

 que cette modification consiste en une sorte de coagulation. L'éther coagule le 

 protoplasme de l'élément nerveux : il coagule le contenu de la fibre musculaire et 

 produit une rigidité musculaire analogue à la rigidité cadavérique . . . Mais ce 

 n'est pas seulement sur l'irritabilité du protoplasma des éléments organiques, 

 sensitif et moteur que les agents anésthésiques portent leur action; ils atteignent 

 aussi le protoplasma des éléments organiques qui agissent dans les synthèses 

 chimiques, dans les phénomènes de germination, de fermentation, dans les phéno- 

 mènes de nutrition en un mot" [Bernard p. 265 — 267]. 



Also Townsend thinks that the effects, characteristic of the etherization, are 

 caused by a change of the protoplasme. Dubois observed that Echeveria exudes 

 drops of water when transferred to an atmosphere of ether, and the same pheno- 

 menon he noticed in several other plants and parts of plants. As he did not 

 understand this phenomenon to be due to death, he concluded that the plants are 

 brought to a state of dryness by the anaesthesia, which entirely suspends any 

 developement of the plant. The results of his researches he sums up as follows: 

 ". . . ce qui ressort le plus clairement de nos observations et de nos experiences, 

 c'est que l'anesthesia générale n'est qu'un mode particulier de la vie latente dans 

 lequel l'eau joue, comme dans les autres, le rôle principale" [Dubois 1891, p. 561 — 

 567]. Later this theory has been repeated and enlarged by Aymard fils, who 

 regarded in addition to the above mentioned theory that the shortening of the 

 resting-period caused by anaesthesia is likewise owing to a withdrawal of water 

 from the tissues, which is in this case only temporary. He succeeded in inducing 

 a quicker germination of Convallaria majalis by water-absorbing compounds as 

 CaClo e. t. c. [Aymard p. 38]. This hypothesis has however been annulled not 

 only by Johannsen, who demonstrated that the narcotization has the same effect 

 on a plant placed in water as on a plant in the air, but also by Overton, who 

 proved that both external and internal plasmatic membranes are highly permeable 

 to ether and chloroform, which accordingly cannot cause a withdrawal of water 

 from the cells [Overton p. 42]. According to Overton the ether and chloroform 

 when in contact with the cells are dissolved by the lecithin and Cholesterin in 

 the plasmatic membranes, and by this process the physical and consequently the 

 osmotic state of the cells changes. This phenomenon produces a disturbance of 

 the normal functions. Taking for granted that the anaesthetic effects of a sub- 

 stance is determined by the quantity of the substance absorbed by the cells and 



