38 ILLINOIS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



2. On account of its peculiar action upon the brain cells, 

 ether is in itself a shock producing factor, and so in this pro- 

 cess we have adopted nitrous oxide, which prevents oxygen 

 reaching the brain. Crile has demonstrated that an operation 

 under ether produces three times the amount of shock that the 

 same operation does when performed under nitrous oxide, 

 and he also shows that the blood pressure under ether falls 

 two and one-half times greater than under nitrous oxide 

 anaethesia. 



3. The psychic effect of taking ether is much greater on 

 account of the rather disagreeable odor, and the sense of chok- 

 ing and suffocating occasioned by it, while nitrous oxide is 

 entirely odorless and only a few inhalations will produce un- 

 consciousness. 



4. Ether is known to destroy the white cells of the blood, 

 which, as you know, are the natural protectors of the body 

 from bacterial infection. Hence, to a certain extent, ether 

 promotes infection by breaking down the natural resistance to 

 infection. 



5. Many surgical operations are known as tw*o step op- 

 erations, in that they have to be performed at two sittings. 

 Ether anaesthesia is so disagreeable that the patient usually 

 approaches the second operation with the utmost apprehen- 

 sion, while the Anosi Method is so far from being disagree- 

 able that the patient has no fear of the second anaesthesia. 



6. To overcome the depressing effect of ether, major op- 

 erations under local anaesthesia or under spinal anaesthesia 

 were suggested, but it was found that even if these operations 

 were entirely free from pain, the consciousness of the patient 

 that violence was being done to the body, was sufficient to 

 produce considerable shock. 



7. Having produced unconsciousness by the method most 

 agreeable to the patient, the Anosi Method includes block- 

 ing off the field of operation with a local anaesthetic so that 

 the impulses of the operation are prevented from reaching the 

 brain. In this combination we avoid the psychic stimulation 

 of the brain cells by unconsciousness, and also protect the 

 brain from the shock due to disturbance in the operative field. 

 The method also involves the handling of the operative field 

 with the utmost care on the part of the surgeon. 



With an operation conducted with prevention of shock or 

 violence, post-operative nervous exhaustion is almost elimi- 

 nated and, by blocking off the incision with a solution of 



