PRODUCTION  OF  LOCAL  ANESTHESIA,  ETC.  291 
and  smaller  tube  shall  reach  the  bottom  of  the  bottle  and  upwards 
nearly  to  the  mouth  of  the  outer  tube.  The  latter  is  pierced 
horizontally,  just  above  the  cork,  by  a  smaller  tube,  by  means  of 
which  it  is  attached  to  a  hand  bellows  by  a  gum  tube.  The  outer 
tube  is  also  perforated  by  a  small  hole  communicating  with  the 
interior  of  the  bottle.  When  a  current  of  air  is  forced  horizon- 
tally into  the  larger  tube  it  impinges  against  the  opposite  side, 
compressing  the  air  in  the  bottle,  and  thus  forcing  the  ether  to 
rise  in  the  small  inner  tube,  whilst  the  main  body  of  the  air  takes 
a  vertical  direction  and  escapes  above  with  great  force,  carrying 
with  it  the  ether,  which  is  thus  very  rapidly,  vaporized,  producing 
extreme  cold.  By  altering  the  size  of  the  opening  of  the  inner 
tube  by  movable  jets,  and  by  having  two  apertures  for  the 
entrance  of  air,  and  two  pairs  of  bellows,  the  operator  can  con- 
tinue the  proportion  of  ether  and  air,  and  can  readily  produce  a 
cold  of  six  degrees  below  the  zero  of  Fahrenheit.  Dr.  Richard- 
son remarks,  (Med.  Times  and  Gaz.,  Feb.  3,  1866) :  "  By  this 
simple  apparatus,  at  any  temperature  of  the  day  and  at  any 
season,  the  surgeon  has  thus  in  his  hands  a  means  for  producing 
cold  even  six  degrees  below  zero ;  and  by  directing  the  spray 
upon  a  half-inch  test-tube,  containing  water,  he  can  produce  a 
column  of  ice  in  two  minutes  at  most.  Further,  by  this  modifica- 
tion of  Siegle's  (Bergson's)  apparatus,  he  can  distribute  fluids 
in  the  form  of  spray  into  any  of  the  cavities  of  the  body — into 
the  bladder,  for  instance,  by  means  of  a  spray  catheter,  or  into 
the  uterus  by  an  uterine  spray  catheter." 
u  When  the  ether  spray  thus  produced  is  directed  upon  the 
outer  skin,  the  skin  is  rendered  insensible  within  a  minute ;  but 
the  effects  do  not  end  here.  So  soon  as  the  skin  is  divided  the 
ether  begins  to  exert  on  the  nervous  filaments  the  double  action 
of  cold  and  of  etherization  ;  so  that  the  narcotism  can  be  ex- 
tended deeply  to  any  desired  extent.  Pure  rectified  ether  used 
in  this  manner  is  entirely  negative ;  it  causes  no  irritation,  and 
may  be  applied  to  a  deep  wound,  as  I  shall  show,  without  any 
danger.  I  have  applied  it  to  the  mucous  membrane  of  my  own 
eye,  after  first  chilling  the  ball  with  the  lid  closed." 
Dr.  Richardson's  paper  then  details  several  surgical  cases 
wherein  his  method  had  been  successfully  employed,  (See  Amer. 
