32 VETERINARY SURGICAL THERAPEUTICS. 
is also slower than with chloroform. The animal remains stultified 
for a longer time. These disadvantages are compensated by a smaller 
liability to injurious effects. 
Although less dangerous than chloroform, ether is not harmless, as 
pretended by some. In human surgery, though less used than chlo- 
roform, it counts numerous fatal cases. If Ollier, out of 40,000 anzes- 
thetic operations at the Hotel Dieu, of Lyons, has not one single 
death to record, it is because of his ‘‘happy luck” (sérze heureuse). 
Fig. 27.—Inhaler for etherization or chloroforming. 
In Lyons itself, from 1857 to 1878, there have been six deaths due to 
ether. (Vallas.)' The statistics of Giirlt, which we shall consider 
later, show that, with ether, cases of death have been fifteen times 
less numerous than with chloroform. 
Aneesthesia, by introduction of vapors of ether into the rectum, 
tried first on animals (Dupuy, Thiernesse), was highly recommended 
for man by Pirogoff (1847), and recently by Daniel Molliere (1884), 
It has been recommended by Cagny for horses, especially to produce 
in them a certain degree of sleepiness so as to diminish some of the 
dangers of casting, or permit the execution of simple operations in 
the standing position. The modus operandi is simple. A bottle full 
of ether has on its mouth an India rubber tube which is introduced 
into the rectum. The bottle is put into a water bath at 50°. The 
evaporation begins at once; the vapor enters the rectum and is ab- 
sorbed by the mucus. Thirty to fifty grammes of ether are sufficient. 
Experiments have failed to confirm the advantages claimed for this 
method. Often, instead of the semi-anesthesia which one intends 
(}) Lepine, Semaine Medicale, 1878, p. 301. 
