ll ws remember rightly, Dr. Charles T. Jackson claims the original discovery here, that 

 Sulphuric ether, with a proper admixture of atmospheric air, might be safely inhaled j pro- 

 ducing upon the patient a temporary insensibility, not injurious to the system afterwards; 

 and, under the influence of which, ye'ry many experiments and successful operations in sur- 

 gery have been performed, from time to time, which have already been made public. With 

 ihe'design of improving upon this agent, however, Professor Simpson (of Edinburgh) intro- 

 duced the use of Chloroform; and his success with this article has been very great, in case* 

 where the other has been found objectionable. The author contends that the latter possesses 

 many advantages over the other, and the almost general use into which it has now come, in 

 preference to the former, shows its great value to the profession and to the world. 



Messrs. Little & Co. have here compiled a variety of authenticated instances of the suc- 

 cess of this great agent, in cases of intricate and painful surgical operation, the principal- 

 ones relating to the subject of "natural and morbid parturition." Other instances are 

 ned, however, supported by the highest medical authority, that professor Simpson affirms 

 , in his whole experience, no single case has he known where the slightest bad effects 

 have resulted from the employment of chloroform. In its application during amputations, 

 the removal of cancers or tumors, and a variety of other surgical operations, it is latterly 

 used almost universally ; and our best dentists in America have found it incomparably the 

 most acceptable, least offensive, and safest agent of its class, ever yet adopted in their practice. 



In the appendix attached to this treatise, we find the arguments of Professor Simpson ably 

 supported by the best medical and surgical men in this country among whom is Dr. J. C. 

 Warren, who says, " Without qualification, this article, so happily introduced by Professor 

 Simpson, is the most valuable improvement on etherization hitherto made." Walter Chan- 

 ning, M. D., of Harvard College, Drs. Jackson, and J. W. Warren, Dr. Hitchcock, Lyman, 

 and others who have used it extensively, all join in praise of its excellence and prefer- 

 ence. Out of Boston, Dr. J. C. Bennett, of Plymouth, Mass., was the first to adopt its use ; 

 and, in his extended practice, has probably administered more chloroform than any surgeon 

 out of the city. 



This article is now manufactured by some few chemists in this country, but we learn that 

 Messrs. Little & Co. have made up some three thousand pounds of it in the last year, which 

 has found a ready market. They make it in its purity, and we are informed.that Dr. Bennett 

 alone has used some forty pounds of it, in private practice more than has ever been used 

 by any single physician in the United States. His opinion accords with those of other medi- 

 cal gentlemen above named, and the character of so useful an agent as this, in destroying 

 the pains which humanity has hitherto been subjected to, in cases of surgery, should be more 

 generally understood and inquired into by the community. 



We have been led into the above remarks from witnessing, latterly, a painful operation, 

 which was performed upon a near friend, while under the influence ct chloroform, and from 

 meeting with the work now spoken of, which we have perused with a deep interest. We 

 have no acquaintance with Messrs. Little & Co., and speak of them only from the very high 

 commendations we have heard of them, through the medical gentlemen abovo alluded to; 

 but we commend the work of Professor Simpson to general notice, most cordially. Boston 

 American Union. 



Dr. Bennett hag administered upwards of fifty pounds of chloroform since its first introduc- 

 tion as an anresthetic agent, for the extraction ol teeth, the extirpation of tumors, the ampu- 

 tation of limbs, and in obstetrics, with uniform success ; and is prepared to forward pure 

 chloroform to any part of the United States. 



The doctrine has recently been promulgated that the use of chloroform involves danger, 

 and is so often attended with fatal eflects, that it should be dispensed with in medical prac- 

 tice. From the same source chloric ether is recommended as a safer and better anesthetic 

 agent. This opinion would be entitled to greater respect if the composition of chloric ether 

 were unknown. Accurate analysis, however, shows that " concentrated chloric ether con- 

 tains 33 I -3d per cent, pure chloroform, the remainder being nearly absolute alcohol (con- 

 taining but about 4 or 5 per cent, of water)." It is difficult, therefore, to understand in 

 what its superiority over pure chloroform consists. The fact is, that chloric ether is less 

 volatile than chloroform, and, therefore, it produces its original effects more tardily, and its 

 subsequent influence on the system is prolonged. The alcohol contained in it tends to the 

 induration of the surfaces of the delicate membranes of the lungs, with which it comes in 

 contact in inhalation, and on this grave account, if on no other, its use is objectionable, where 

 chloroform is admissible. The secondary eflects of sulphuric ether are also to be deprecated, 

 while pure chloroform is one of the most innocuous preparations in the materia medica. At 

 all events, on the theory of the most decided enemies of chloroform, its use has not produced 

 worse consequences than have ensued from the exhibition of calomel, antimony, and opium, 

 and yet these, by the same parties, are constantly lauded as the chief reliances of the heal- 



Plymouth, Mass., Feb. 26th, A. D., 1850. 



We take pleasure in stating that we have used chloroform extensively in our practice, and 

 fully concur with Dr. Bennett, in his foregoing opinion, as to the comparative merits of pure 

 chloroform, chloric ether,. and sulphuric ether. The safety of either depends upon the 

 purity of the article, and its appropriate administration. 



B. HUBBARD, M. D. 



F. A. FULLER, Surgeon Dentist. 



