152 
ON  METHYLATED  SPIRIT. 
suppose  that  they  differ  much  from  those  of  ordinary  sulphuric 
ether.  It  is  polymeric  with  alcohol  for  C4  H6  02  —  2  (C2  H3  0,) 
and  is  described  as  being  of  ethereal  odor.  The  explanation  or 
theory  of  its  production  is  the  same,  and  its  application  and  uses 
in  the  arts  may  also  be  the  same.  Could  it  be  procured  in  suf- 
ficient quantity,  it  might  even  be  found  preferable  for  many  pur- 
poses, especially  in  medicine,  as  it  would  necessarily  prove  a 
much  more  diffusible  stimulus,  and  more  useful  as  an  anti- 
spasmodic. 
But  thinking  it  desirable  to  ascertain  this  point  with  some 
degree  of  certainty,  and  whether  its  internal  employment  would 
be  perfectly  safe,  I  resolved  to  try  it  upon  myself.  I  took  the 
ether  as  now  made  from  the  methylated  spirit,  and  found  that  its 
effects  were  precisely  the  same  as  those  of  the  ordinary  ether 
made  from  alcohol.  The  dose,  as  stated  by  Dr.  Christison,  is 
from  half  a  drachm  to  a  drachm,  gss.  to  3j.  Having  first  taken 
the  ordinary  ether  from  alcohol  to  ascertain  its  effects,  I  took 
doses  of  the  ether  from  methylated  spirit,  varying  from  gss.  to 
giij.,  and  found  the  effects  to  correspond  so  nearly  with  those  of 
the  other  as  to  be  unable  to  note  any  difference  between  them ; 
the  pulse  remained  unmoved,  about  80,  and  the  flavor  given  to 
the  breath  was  precisely  that  of  ether  and  ether  alone  ;  no  trace 
of  the  ordinary  flavor  of  the  pyroxilic  spirit  was  perceptible,  and 
the  effects  were  those  of  ether  alone.  The  effect  of  the  three- 
fluid  drachm  dose  was,  as  might  have  been  expected,  more  power- 
ful ;  the  pulse  was  slightly  quickened,  the  heat  of  the  skin  a 
little  augmented,  and  the  flavor  of  the  ether  in  the  breath  con- 
tinued for  a  longer  period ;  bat  there  was  no  other  effect  per- 
ceptible. There  was  no  pain  of  the  head,  no  tinnitus  aurium, 
no  tendency  to  nausea,  nor  any  unpleasant  symptom  whatsoever. 
Thus,  so  far  as  its  employment  as  a  remedial  agent  is  concerned, 
I  have  no  difficulty  in  affirming  that  it  is  quite  as  safe,  and  to 
the  full  as  useful,  as  ether  from  alcohol  has  hitherto  been  found ; 
though  until  I  had  tried  it  on  myself,  I  could  not  have  spoken  of 
it  so  decidedly  as  I  now  venture  to  do.  In  like  manner,  I  have 
no  doubt  but  that  it  will  be  found  equally  valuable  in  the  arts  as 
the  other ;  the  experiments  in  photography  are  not  yet  perhaps 
sufficiently  decisive  to  determine  in  what  it  maybe  employed  and 
in  what  it  may  not ;  but  the  great  reduction  in  price  renders  it 
