254 
G. ARCHIE STOCKWELL. 
taught or implied, but the process is practically one, and con¬ 
sists, both in its early and late stages, of paralysis of the 
various sections of the nervous system. It must be admitted, 
however, that the drug has another physiological action, one 
quite different from the foregoing, that develops as the results 
of doses insufficient to induce paralysis of any portion of the 
nervous system, and which is stimulant purely and not to be 
considered as a stage of excitment; but this has nothing in 
common with anaesthesia. 
I have before remarked that ether is a stimulant to both 
the respiratory and circulatory systems, which assertion, taken 
in connection with statements just made as to its paralyzing 
effects, may at first glance seem paradoxical. This is more 
apparent than real, however, as it is through this very par¬ 
alyzing action upon the sympathetic system, disarranging the 
balance between the vaso-motor and vaso-inhibitory nerves, 
that this stimulation obtains. Thus the seeming gulf is 
bridged, and all discrepancies reconciled. 
Ether, then, stimulates by a specific paralyzing influenc e 
both circulation and respiration, up to a certain point, beyond 
which it is dangerous to pass, and which need not be passed 
if the drug is understandingly administered. This I think I 
have sufficiently shown. Nevertheless, that it is not often 
properly administered, must be admitted, since as a rule, in 
the United States, “ cramming ” and “ drenching ” methods, 
as they are very properly dubbed by our brethren of the 
British Isles, generally obtain ; it is such that have brought 
discredit upon ether abroad. It is an almost universal method 
in hospitals, and in no small degree in private practice, to 
relegate the administration of the anaesthetic to an inexpe¬ 
rienced junior, or a student, and from the very first to crowd 
the inhaler, saturated to its utmost with the drug, down upon 
the nose and mouth and there forcibly hold it in spite of the 
struggles of the patient, not only until anaesthesia results, but 
uninterruptedly throughout the operation except as stertor 
supervenes. It is simply a smothering process, dangerous and 
demoralizing to the patient, disgusting to observers, mislead¬ 
ing in the estimate conveyed to students as to the safety of 
