256 
G. ARCHIE STOCKWELL. 
that obtains, so long as they continue, admit of the utilization 
of but very little of the ether vapor, and thus anaesthesia is 
delayed, the anaesthetic uselessly wasted, and precious mo¬ 
ments lost: and it must be believed also that this is not without 
a pernicious effect on the one undergoing anaesthesia, since it 
is not the contrary, and there is no middle ground. On the 
other hand, nothing tends more to secure the prompt and 
successful effect of ether than the avoidance and prevention 
of the strangling interference with the mechanical act of res¬ 
piration. It takes but a moment in either man or animal 
to educate, so to speak, the lungs and respiratory passages? 
and allow to empty themselves of residual air by a gradual 
process of expiration, and this secures the confidence of the 
patient, encourages easy breathing, and thus tends to diminish 
the danger of shock ; moreover it mitigates, even if it does 
not wholly do away with, reflex muscular spasms and excite¬ 
ment. Finally, when the ether has filled the lungs, the inhaler 
may be pressed close to the mouth and nose, when anaesthe¬ 
sia quickly follows. By this method vastly less ether is con¬ 
sumed, and the much-boasted superiority of chloroform as 
regards rapidity of anaesthesia is proven illusory. 
The fact is, too much ether is generally employed. The 
agent is ignorantly or carelessly wasted, or both, and this is 
favored by the general assumption that the drug, under any 
and all circumstances not due to some morbid condition pre¬ 
existing in the patient, is always inoccuous and hence safe. 
Such premise is false both in theory and fact. The con¬ 
dition of full anaesthesia, regardless of the agent employed, is, 
physiologically considered, most grave, for by suspending 
more than half of vitality it so closely approaches death as to 
be, under certain conditions, constantly recognized as one of 
the stages of final dissolution ; when we consider it fully, it 
becomes a cause for wonder that the boundary line between 
life and death can be so closely approached and yet so rarely 
passed. Familiarity therewith, and a distant view of accidents, 
owing to their comparative infrequency, lead medical men 
to plunge their patients into anaesthesia with little regard for 
its true nature and gravity ; it is forgotten that a condition 
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