32 



Memorial Number. 



balance of powers through which the functional activity of pro- 

 toplasm is controlled. One can understand that in arriving at 

 these results he must have felt that he was approximating at least 

 a demonstration of the correctness of his general conception of the 

 role of inhibition in functional activity. In this as in all of his 

 experimental work Meltzer was eager to give his results a practical 

 application to the art of medicine. The possibilities of the use of 

 magnesium salts as an anesthetic agent in surgical operations were 

 tested with some success on human beings and more important still 

 its efficacy in controlling the spasms of tetanus has had a wide and 

 promising application. 



His last extensive series of researches dealt with anesthetization 

 and artificial respiration through pharyngeal and intratracheal in- 

 sufflation. Something like twenty-eight papers, most of them in 

 collaboration with pupils or assistants, were devoted to this subject. 

 His interest in this topic seems to have been stimulated by the fact 

 that in his use of magnesium sulphate for anesthetic purposes the 

 chief danger lay in the inhibition of the activity of the respiratory 

 center. To meet this difficulty he undertook a study of the 

 methods of artificial respiration. The initial paper in 1909 by 

 Meltzer and Auer described a method of artificial respiration by 

 continuous insufflation of the lungs through a tracheal catheter. 

 It was found that by this means not only could an animal be kept 

 alive without the action of the respiratory movements to fill and 

 empty the lungs, but that it furnished also a convenient and effi- 

 cient method for anesthetization. The use of this method in 

 animal experimentation and especially its use in human surgery 

 of the thorax and facial region was apparent and on many occa- 

 sions Meltzer sought to make known its advantages and to ask for 

 an adequate trial of its merits at the hands of the practical sur- 

 geons. The method has found some acceptance and the applica- 

 tion of the principle involved will no doubt be extended in the 

 future as the technique of thoracic surgery improves. It was 

 in recognition of the importance of this work that the American 

 Association for Thoracic Surgery asked him, a physician and 

 laboratory worker, to serve as their first president. It was 

 natural that this work should have led him to consider the whole 

 matter of artificial respiration in its relations to resuscitation after 



