OXYGENNESIS,  FOR  THE  PRODUCTION  OF  OXYGEN,  ETC.  245 
method  for  producing  the  gas  promises  to  be  of  great  value. 
Towards  the  end  of  the  last  and  the  beginning  of  the  present 
century,  vital  air,  as  oxygen  was  often  and  not  inappropriately 
called,  was  used  largely  in  this  country  and  on  the  Continent. 
In  this  country  we  find  the  names  of  Drs.  Beddoes,  Hill,  Thorn- 
ton, and  other  physicians.  Dr.  Hill  used  it  for  more  than 
twenty-five  years,  and  Dr.  Thornton  was  quite  eminent  for  his 
successful  application  of  it.  At  the  present  time  the  desire  by 
medical  men  for  the  administration  of  oxygen  has  revived  both 
here  and  abroad.  Two  papers  have  recently  been  read,  to  be 
followed  by  others  on  the  same  subject,  before  the  Academy  of 
Sciences  at  Paris,  by  Messrs.  Demarquay  and  Leconte.  The 
experiments  and  observations  of  those  gentlemen  appear  to  have 
been  very  numerous  and  carefully  made  both  on  animals  and 
on  man,  in  disease  and  in  health,  and  the  conclusion  they  arrive 
at  is,  that  oxygen  is  a  valuable  curative  agent.  If  so  good,  then, 
as  a  remedy  when  its  value  was  once  known,  what  caused  it  to 
become  and  continue  so  long  neglected  ?  The  explanation  is,  I 
think,  not  difficult.  In  the  first  place,  when  this  body  was  dis- 
covered, too  much  was  expected  from  it.  The  first  furore  for 
its  employment  arose  from  the  simple  experiment  which  showed 
its  power  of  rekindling  an  expiring  match,  and  as  oxygen  is  the 
essential  element  of  our  existence,  it  was  supposed  it  might,  in 
a  similar  way,  rekindle  the  expiring  vital  spark.  The  more 
imaginative  were  elated  at  what  they  considered  a  discovery,  so 
long  dreamt  of  and  so  earnestly  sought  after  by  the  alchemist. 
But  oxygen  is  not  the  elixir  vitae.  It  will  not  restore  grey  hair 
to  its  original  color,  nor  make  an  old  man  young.  The  diffi- 
culties and  expense  attending  its  administration  may  also  be 
considered  other  reasons  for  its  non-employment.  Of  what  use 
was  it  for  a  medical  man  to  order  that  which  the  patient  could 
not  get  supplied  ?  A  physician,  therefore,  having  faith  in  the 
remedy,  was  compelled  to  lay  himself  out  especially  for  it,  be- 
come an  oxygen  doctor,  and  prepare  and  administer  the  remedy 
himself.    These  difficulties  now  no  longer  exist. 
We  have  on  the  table  an  oxygen  inhaler  and  generator,  made 
according  to  the  suggestions  of  Dr.  Richardson.  The  genera- 
tion of  the  gas  is  by  this  method  so  easy  and  and  so  simple  that 
patients  can  prepare  their  own  dose,  or,  if  need  be,  the  nurse 
