32 
PHYSIOLGICAL  PROPERTIES  OF  ORGANIC  RADICALS 
an  external  application  he  had  found  it  more  suited  for  painful 
and  irritable  ulcers  than  the  iodide  of  methyle,  which  answered 
best  for  those  of  indolent  character.  He  had  used  it  for  inhala- 
tion in  many  cases  of  pulmonary,  disease,  and  believed  it  would 
prove  more  valuable  for  this  purpose  than  any  remedy  yet  intro- 
duced. Medical  men  had  hitherto  been  disappointed  in  almost 
all  the  means  tried  for  the  treatment  of  pulmonary  disease  by 
inhalation.  This  proved  that  it  was  either  an  improper  mode  of 
treatment,  or  that  they  had  not  yet  met  with  the  right  kind  of 
remedies.  He  believed  the  latter  to  be  the  true  cause  of  past 
disappointment.  Iodine  had  been  much  tried,  but  laid  aside,  on 
account  of  its  irritating  effects ;  and  it  had  not  occurred  to  any 
one  that,  in  order  to  give  it  for  inhalation,  it  would  first  be  ne- 
cessary to  find  a  compound  possessing  the  requisite  degree  of 
volatility  and  absence  of  irritative  properties.  Iodide  of  ethyle 
was  in  his  opinion  such  a  compound,  and  had  much  resemblance 
to  chloroform.  He  believed  that  it  would  be  found  applicable 
for  treatment  in.  the  way  of  inhalation  of  other  diseases,  besides 
those  of  the  lungs,  and  he  mentioned  one  of  dropsy  from  disease 
of  the  heart,  treated  under  his  care  in  the  infirmary,  where  it 
produced  a  most  beneficial  effect.  The  bromide  of  ethyle  he  had 
found  similar  in  its  effects  to  the  iodide  of  ethyle,  more  pleasant 
to  the  taste  and  for  inhalation,  but  a  very  expensive  medicine, 
from  the  difficulty  of  preparing  it.  The  cyanide  of  ethyle  he 
had  found  possessed  the  poisonous  properties  of  cyanogen,  and  he 
had  not  therefore  used  it  as  a  medi.cine.  The  acetateof  the  oxide 
of  amyle  and  the  iodide  of  amyle  had  also  irritating  properties, 
which  rendered  them  unfit  for  use  as  remedies.  His  researches 
tended  to  show  that  organic  radicals  might  be  made  to  take  the 
place  of  some  of  the  inorganic  radicals,  such  as  sodium  or  potas- 
sium; that  iodine,  and  probably  other  medicinal  agents, were  equal- 
ly capable  of  producing  in  such  combinations  their  external  benefi- 
cial effects,  and  that,  so  combined,  their  volatile  properties  ena- 
bled them  to  be'  introduced  into  the  system  through  anew  chan- 
nel hitherto  but  little  used  for  such  a  purpose — viz.,  the  lungs, 
upon  which  internal  organs  their  local  action  might  also  be  ob- 
tained in  a  more  advantageous  manner — London  Pharm.  Jour, 
from  the  Proceedings  of  the  Brit.  Assoc. 
