486 OBSERVATIONS ON ETHER AND CHLOROFORM. 
mention them only to shew that the agent is comparatively inno- 
cent in its action, and not productive of those consequences which 
have been attributed to it. For ordinary occasions, from two to 
four ounces will answer every intention so far as the horse is con- 
cerned, and from half a scruple to half a drachm will be sufficient 
for the dog. 
Let me now speak of its action, so far as my limited opportunities 
have enabled me to comprehend it. It is said to be in its opera- 
tion analogous to alcohol. This assertion is certainly incorrect. 
A moderate quantity of wine or spirit is, in my own case, followed 
by headache and nausea on the subsequent day to the indulgence. 
The inhalation of etherial vapour produced no such effect. Al- 
cohol notoriously quickens the pulse ; but on animals I Lave found 
ether to either leave the heart’s action unchanged or to improve its 
character, frequently diminishing the number of pulsations. Al- 
cohol, according to every observation — and certainly nothing ad- 
mitted into the Pharmacopoeia has been so largely tested — tends to 
increase inflammation; whereas, if my senses do not deceive me, 
no substance is endued with such decided and such speedy anti- 
phlogistic properties as ether. It is for these last that I principally 
employ it. In gastritis, gastro-enteritis, enteritis, diarrhoea, and 
dysentery, in all their complications and in all their various stages, 
I have used it, and if not with ultimate success, yet always with 
such results that the post-mortem caused me no self-reproach. 
Over the urinary organs I have found ether to possess a marked 
control. During calculus in the bladder of a dog I gave it, and so 
decided was its operation, that, after taking but a small quantity, 
the animal was so much relieved that the owner reported it to be 
“ quite cured.” In a case of constringency of the neck of the blad- 
der of a horse, in which the symptoms were so violent that they 
were supposed to proceed from stomach staggers, relief was ob- 
tained. In fits I have found ether act almost as a charm ; and its 
operation has been equally effective if administered as a clyster, 
when its exhibition by the mouth would have been attended with 
danger. In short, though I generally combine ether with such 
other agents as in my judgment are suited to the symptoms pre- 
sented, I am induced to consider it as applicable to every case of 
abdominal disease. Of course, you will regard this opinion only 
as the conjecture of a man who confesses his means of arriving at 
certainty to have been imperfect ; but I state it in sincerity as my 
conviction at the present moment, and, while doing so, I ask the 
members of my profession to test how far it can be substantiated. 
It is my wish to have the properties of that which I am disposed 
to look upon as one of the most speedy and most active alleviators 
of suffering put to an ample trial, that, if it does possess those qua- 
