464    ANAESTHETIC  PRINCIPLE  OF  THE  LYCOPERDON  PROTEUS. 
gar  in  the  filter,  but  being  absolutely  without  nitrogenous  ma- 
terials for  their  growth,  even  when  the  sugar  is  in  solution,  they 
remain  in  their  pristine  state. 
ON    THE    ANAESTHETIC    PRINCIPLE  OF    THE  LYCOPERDON 
PROTEUS  AND  CERTAIN  OTHER  FUNGI. 
By  Thornton  Herapath,  Esq. 
The  smoke  of  the  puff-ball,  it  is  well  known,  has  been  long 
employed  in  some  parts  of  the  country,  by  apiarists,  for  stupefy- 
ing bees.  In  a  paper  "  On  the  Anaesthetic  Properties  of  the 
Lycoperdon  proteus,  or  common  Puff-ball,"  which  was  read  before 
the  Medical  Society  of  London  in  1853,  Mr.  R.  W.  Richardson 
called  particular  attention  to  this  fact,  and  stated  that  the  fumes 
of  the  burning  fungus  produced  the  most  perfect  ansesthesia,  not 
only  in  insects,  but  also  in  dogs,  cats,  rabbits,  and  probably  in 
all  the  larger  animals,  and  might  consequently  be  applied  as  a 
substitute  for  the  vapor  of  chloroform  and  ether  in  producing 
insensibility  to  pain  in  surgical  practice.  With  the  assistance  of 
Dr.  Willis,  he  said,  he  had  removed  a  large  tumor  from  the 
abdomen  of  a  dog  that  had  been  placed  under  the  influence  of 
the  narcotic,  without  any  sign  of  pain  being  exhibited  by  the 
animal  during  the  operation.  From  this  gentleman's  experiments 
it  appeared,  that  when  a  moderate  quantity  of  the  fumes  was 
inhaled  slowly,  the  narcotism  came  on  and  passed  off  slowly,  the 
animal  exhibiting  all  the  symptoms  of  intoxication,  with  convul- 
sions and  sometimes,  vomiting ;  but  that  when  they  were  ad- 
ministered in  larger  quantity,  life  was  invariably  destroyed.  The 
consideration  of  these  and  other  facts  induced  Mr.  Richardson  to 
conclude,  that  the  peculiar  effects  that  were  produced  by  the  in- 
halation of  the  smoke  of  the  puff-ball  were  caused  by  a  volatile 
narcotic  principle  contained  in  the  fungus,  which  was  liberated 
by  the  action  of  heat,  but  was  not  absorbable  by  water,  alcohol, 
or  a  strong  alkaline  solution.  What  the  exact  nature  of  this 
principle  was,  however,  he  confessed  himself  to  be  unable  to  de- 
termine. About  eight  or  nine  months  ago  I  carefully  repeated 
Mr.  Richardson's  experiments,  and  after  making  several  futile 
attempts,  at  last,  I  believe,  succeeded  in  isolating  the  narcotic 
constituent  of  the  smoke. 
