262 
G. ARCHIE STOCKWELL. 
thetic, unquestionably stands first in regard to safety. The 
deaths justly accredited to it are not greatly in excess of those 
properly chargeable to nitrogen protoxide, and at the same 
time it must be remembered that the latter is commonly em¬ 
ployed for a momentary and fleeting effect upon healthy or¬ 
ganisms—as in dentistry—while the former is used for pro¬ 
longed effect in diseased and debilitated conditions where the 
nervous system has been subjected to repeated assaults in the 
way of irritation and strain, or in conditions of sudden shock, 
as in trauma. Under such conditions, it will readily be seen 
that comparison as to safety, based upon existing evidence, is 
unfair; that the balance of safety in favor of nitrous oxide 
may pertain to conditions of application rather than to the 
agent itself. 
A mixture of nitrous oxide and ether vapor has been sug¬ 
gested as doing away with the unpleasantnesses that some¬ 
times obtain to the latter solus , but this has not been borne 
out by personal experience. So also the “ triple,” or “ A.-C. E.- 
mixture,” has in some indescribable manner obtained the repu¬ 
tation of affording all the advantages pertaining to both ether 
and chloroform, with none of their disadvantages. Given, as 
it must be, with plenty of air, and under the conditions 
demanded by chloroform, it invariably gives the typical trace 
of the latter, proving that to it, and it alone, the mixture owes 
its anaesthetic influence. If administered freely, it often in¬ 
duces very rapid and dangerous fall of blood pressure, such as 
has been observed from the administration of spirit of chloro 
form or chloric ether. It is, then, simply a dilute chloroform , 
and by no means the best dilution, since the addition of the 
ether is antagonistic; besides being unphysiological, it is an 
unchemical and every way unscientific combination. What¬ 
ever there may be of either good or evil pertaining to 
ether, chloroform, or alcohol, should be kept apart; and the 
habit of uniting the one, and at the same time attempting to 
prevent the undue influence of the other, must always remain 
a matter of uncertainty and doubt, especially since ether and 
chloroform are in a considerable degree physiologically an¬ 
tagonistic ; the danger to respiration and circulation would be 
