364 ETHER 



almost immediately cause inebriant narcosis, and kill by 

 paralysis of respiration. It is prescribed as a general 

 stimulant, carminative, and antispasmodic, and is also 

 expectorant, diaphoretic, diuretic, antiseptic, and para- 

 siticide. Next to chloroform it is the most generally used 

 anaesthetic. 



GENERAL ACTIONS. Applied to the skin, ether evaporates 

 and abstracts heat. If evaporation be prevented, redness, 

 irritation, and even desquamation occur. Continued or 

 repeated application produces local anaesthesia, which, if 

 maintained too long, may kill the frozen part, and form a 

 slough. . Swallowed in medicinal doses, it irritates and so 

 reflexly stimulates the mucous surfaces of the mouth and 

 alimentary canal, increasing secretions and movements, and 

 hence developing sialogogue, carminative, and antispas- 

 modic actions. But full doses, especially if undiluted, are 

 so rapidly vaporised and so irritant that they cause gastro- 

 intestinal distension and nausea, occasionally with vomiting 

 in carnivora, and in dogs and rabbits have produced rupture 

 of the stomach. Ether is quickly absorbed from the in- 

 testines, and still more rapidly when introduced by inhala- 

 tion into the lungs, and promptly acts upon the central 

 nervous system. Small doses stimulate ; larger doses, after 

 brief stimulation, paralyse and anaesthetise the centres, 

 first of the brain, next those of the spinal cord, and eventu- 

 ally those of the medulla, killing by respiratory arrest. 

 The glycogenic functions of the liver are said to be stimu- 

 lated, rendering the animal temporarily diabetic. It is 

 removed almost solely by the lungs. 



General anaesthesia can be induced in the horse by 

 administration of ether by the rectum, but is produced 

 more readily by inhalation. Anaesthesia by ether is pro- 

 duced more quickly in cats than in dogs or horses, which are 

 generally made insensible in eight or ten minutes. A 

 donkey is stated to have been fully affected in four minutes, 

 another in five minutes, and a third in three minutes and 

 a half, the last remaining insensible to pain for about half 

 an hour. The effects may be safely maintained for as long 

 as may be necessary. 



Compared with chloroform, ether has the disadvantage 



