62 Richardson's Etlier-Spray . [Jan., 



" By this simple apparatus, at any temperature of the day, and at 

 any season, the surgeon has thus in his hands a means for producing 

 cold even six degrees below zero ; and by directing the spray upon 

 a half-inch test-tube containing water, he can produce a column of 

 ice in two minutes at most." 



The use of ether spray, we are told, is efficacious in all minor 

 operations where the medical practitioner considers the risk of 

 administering chloroform too great to justify its application ; for 

 the removal of small joints, such as the finger or toe end ; for the 

 eradication of cancer when not too deeply seated ; for all superficial 

 tumours, abscesses, boils, and excrescences, such as piles, &c, for 

 some of which the operations are very agonising. In fact, in nine- 

 teen out of twenty cases icliere the knife has to he employed it is 

 quite effective, and renders the dreaded use of chloroform unnecessary. 

 It is daily used at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, where they see 100,000 

 patients annually, and at other metropolitan hospitals : and in some 

 cases it is apphed in the more serious operations of removing the 

 larger limbs, in hernia, &c. Where a leg or arm has to be removed, 

 Dr. Richardson, or whoever may administer the spray, plays around 

 the lirab as the knife enters, but here difficulties arise which diminish 

 its usefulness. The red colour of the flesh is no longer there, and 

 the vessels cannot be easily detected ; the process of amputation is 

 greatly retarded, and, generally, it is not at present a favourite 

 auxiliary in the operation. We trust, however, that these difficulties 

 may disappear, for it has enormous advantages over the chloroform 

 process, which often leaves after-effects as dangerous as the operation 

 itself, and the complete stoppage of circulation which it causes must 

 also be of great advantage to the operator. 



But one of the most valuable results is where Dr. Richardson 

 applies the vapour of a medicated ether internally, as in cases of 

 internal hemorrhage, especially after confinements. Our readers 

 are well aware how frequently such cases have baffled the ablest 

 medical men, and how many poor creatures have- bled to death 

 whilst the medical attendant has looked on helplessly. By the 

 new process the wound is reached and attacked by a styptic 

 vapour which effectually stops the hemorrhage. 



If, however, our readers desire to be more fully informed as to 

 the present advantages of the application of Richardson's ether- 

 spray, they must consult the medical journals, for we are unable to 

 afford the necessary space to inform them further, and the subject is 

 one with which we can hardly deal in a detailed manner in this 

 periodical. One word, however, concerning the inventor and his 

 treatment by the medical profession. 



The first thought which naturally occurs to practical men, is that 

 the invention must necessarily bring something far more tangible 

 than fame to the discoverer. In the medical profession, however, 



