PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION OF THE METHYL AND ALLIED SERIES. 413 



mixing the compound which lias been produced with an equal quantity of 

 olive-oil. "When this solution is applied on wool, over a burned surface, the 

 cold produced bj^ the evaporation of the hydride gives instant relief ; while 

 the thin layer of fatty substance left behind effectually excludes the air, aud 

 forms a false pellicle or skin, which greatly promotes cure. 



Iodine dissolves readily in the hydride, as is seen in another solution which 

 is before us. The solution thus formed is the best of all solutions of iodine, 

 for a variety of purposes ; when the solution is applied to the skin, the hydride 

 psses away at once, and the iodine is left in a thin and even layer. The solu- 

 tion is also useful for deodorizing; for this purpose pieces of cloth maybe satu- 

 rated in it, and when the iodine is deposited on the fabric it may be suspended 

 in the ail', when the iodine is quickly diffused mechanicallj^ but evenly, through 

 the air. Iodine inhalation, weak solutions of the compound being used, may 

 be readily and elegantly applied by means of this compound. 



If strong solution of ammonia be well shaken with hydride of amyl, and 

 then allo^^'ed to stand, small bubbles of gas are steadily evolved, and after a 

 time the hydride containing a large quantity of ammonia may be decanted 

 off; this ammoniated hydride is au excellent antiseptic, aud can be nsed with 

 advantage by the anatomist for the preservation of animal structures in the 

 fresh state in a closed jar. The same solution charged with camphor can be 

 used by the student of natural history as a preservative of his specimens. 

 Lastly, the ammoniated hydride can be applied medicinally by inhalation in 

 cases where the physician wishes to administer ammonia rapidly, as in 

 scarlet fever and in states of gxeat prostration. The ammonia can be so 

 diluted in this manner as to be rendered agreeable for inhalation. 



I could enumerate other uses of the hydride of amyl, but must pass them 

 by with the further remark that, so soon as its value is known and appre- 

 ciated, it must become as common an agent in medicine as ammonia, or ether, 

 or alcohol. 



Eeview of the Hydrides. 



Reviewing the action of the class of hydrides up to the hydride of amyl, 

 we may consider each body of the scries to be, in a physiological sense, nega- 

 tive in character. Yery stable as chemical compounds, practically insoluble 

 in the blood, boiling at a lower temperature than the living body, producing 

 no irritation, they inflict no injur}- on the living economy unless they are in- 

 haled in such quantities as to exclude air. Then they produce, like amylene, 

 a temporary insensibility, their power in this respect increasing with the 

 increase of the carbon in the series ; but, owing to the insohibility of the 

 agents in the blood, the insensibility is in all cases of very brief duration, 

 and would quickly be a fatal insensibility if, by continuous administration, it 

 were prolonged. 



THE ALCOHOL SERIES. 

 Methylio Alcohol. 



At the Meeting at Dundee I reported at length on the action of methylic 

 alcohol. I have now to add to the Report then made respecting it some 

 observations in relation to its influence on the animal temperatui'e. In its 

 effects, in this particular, methylic alcohol resembles chloroform, but in a 

 more striking degree. In birds (pigeons) I found, when the third degree of 

 intoxication was produced, that in so short a period as ten minutes the tem- 

 perature was reduced four degrees Fahr., and that the decline of tempera- 

 ture continued during the whole period of recovery, reaching at the lowest a 

 decline of eight degrees on Fahrenheit's scale. The temperature begins to 



