ETHER 275 



taste. ■ Spec. gr. .725 to .728 at 59° F. Soluble in about 10 

 times its volume of water at 59° F. Miscible in all propor- 

 tions with alcohol, chloroform, benzine, benzol, fixed and 

 volatile oils. Ether boils at about 37° C. (98.6° F.), and it 

 should therefore boil when a test tube, containing some 

 broken glass and half filled with it, is held for some time in 

 the hand. Ether is highly volatile and inflammable; its 

 vapor, when mixed with air and ignited, explodes violently. 

 The color of light blue litmus paper moistened with water 

 should not be changed when the paper is immersed in ether 

 for 10 minutes. Upon evaporation ether should leave no 

 residue. Ether is a solvent for fats, oils, alkaloids, resins, 

 gutta percha and gun cotton. Ether vapor is heavier than 

 air, and, consequently, etherization should never be done 

 above a light or fire. 



Dose.—K, & C, 5 i.-ii. (30.-60.); Sh. & Sw., 3 ii.-iv. (8.-15.); 

 D.,lllx.-3i. (.6-4.). 



PREPARATIONS. 



Spiritus uEtheris. Spirit of Ether. (U. S. & B. P.) 

 Ether, 325; Alcohol, 675. (U. S. P.) 

 Dose. — Same as for ether, 



Spiritus j^theris Compositus. Compound Spirit of Ether. 

 (U. S. & B. P.) 

 Synonym, — Hoffman's anodyne. Ether, 325; alcohol, 650; etherial 

 oil, 25. (U. S. P.) 



Dose. — Same as for ether. 



Action External. — Ether evaporates rapidly from the 

 skin, and abstracts so much heat in the process that the 

 superficial parts are cooled, benumbed, and even frozen. 

 This action is taken advantage of in spraying ether from an 

 atomizer upon the skin (with or without cocaine injection) 

 to cause local anaesthesia in minor surgical operations, as 

 opening abscesses. The spray should not be applied more 

 than a few minutes, or freezing, damage to the tissues, and 

 retardation of the healing process will ensue. If ether is 

 applied with friction, or if evaporation from the skin is 

 prevented by bandaging, it will act as'a rubefacient. 



