448  Scientific  and  Technical  Abstracts.     j Amj^" iSiarm" 
Cupressus  Sempervirens  in  the  Treatment  of  Hemor- 
rhoids.— The  cypress  has  vaso-constrictive  properties  analogous  to 
hamamelis ;  these  are  even  more  marked  and  more  constant  than 
those  of  the  latter.  The  fluidextract,  tincture  or  soft  extract  may 
be  given  internally  in  doses  which  represent  from  10  to  30  grains 
twice  a  day.  For  local  application  the  tincture  or  fluidextract  may  be 
made  into  a  lotion,  the  soft  extract  may  be  used  in  an  ointment  or  in 
suppositories.  Good  results  have  followed  this  treatment.  (Leclerc, 
Bull.  Soc.  Titer  ap.,  1920,  p.  184.) 
J.  F.  C. 
Cotton's  Process  Ether. — Some  time  ago,  J.  H.  Cotton 1 
claimed  that  there  were  present  in  anaesthetic  ethers  two  classes  of 
extraneous  substances :  one  class  including  substances  favorable  to 
the  production  and  maintenance  of  anaesthesia  and  which  were 
really  synergists,  while  the  other  class  consisted  of  undesirable  im- 
purities, which  cause  post-operative  nausea,  irritation  of  the  respira- 
tory tract,  and  other  symptoms  generally  recognized  as  ''ether  sick- 
ness." He  said  that  by  supercharging  purified  ether  with  the  bene- 
ficial synergists — ethylene  and  carbon  dioxide — he  could  produce  a 
condition  of  analgesia,  without  loss  of  consciousness,  with  less  ether 
than  was  necessary  for  surgical  anaesthesia. 
This  new  ether  has  been  reported  on  by  J.  E.  Lumbard,2  who 
found  that  pure  ether,  99.8  per  cent.,  simply  acted  like  a  very  weak 
ether,  while  ordinary  96  per  cent,  ether  produced  satisfactory  anaes- 
thesia on  the  same  patients.  The  ideal  ether,  he  thinks,  would  there- 
fore be  a  superior  grade  of  ether  from  which  toxic  properties  had 
been  eliminated,  afterwards  recharged  with  the  synergists  in  suitable 
proportion,  just  as  Cotton  claims.  Such  an  ether  he  has  tried  in 
over  400  cases,  and  he  concludes  that  it  certainly  acts  like  a  stronger 
ether,  at  least  during  the  stage  of  induction,  in  which  there  is  ap- 
parently less  irritation  of  the  mucous  membranes  and  less  secretion 
of  mucus.  During  the  stage  of  maintenance  little  difference  was 
noted,  unless  possibly  that  a  smaller  amount  of  ether  was  used.  Re- 
covery seemed  less  disturbed  than  when  using  ordinary  ethers,  and 
post-anaesthetic  effects  were  minimized.    There  is  greater  tendency 
1  Amer.  J.  Surg.,  April,  1919,  p.  34. 
2 1  bid. ,  October,  1020. 
