602  The  Medical  Uses  of  Compressed  Gases.  {A%J™;isSarm" 
inhalation  of  oxygen  would  be  of  the  greatest  value,  the  haemoglobin 
being  at  once  changed  to  oxyhaemoglobin  and  the  blood  in  the 
arteries  being  restored  to  its  bright  scarlet  color. 
The  anaesthetic  properties  of  nitrogen  monoxide  were  discovered 
by  Sir  Humphrey  Davy.  It  was  first  used  in  dentistry  by  Dr. 
Wells,  of  Hartford,  Ct.,  and  more  recently  as  a  remedial  agent  by 
some  of  the  most  eminent  physicians  of  the  country,  Dr.  J.  E. 
Blake,  and  A.  McLane  Hamilton  being  prominent  among  them.  It 
is  also  being  extensively  used  by  medical  quacks  under  the  name 
of  compound  oxygen.  It  should  be  stated  that  in  many  cases  the 
latter  gas  has  given  better  results  than  those  from  oxygen.  It  is 
stated  that  one  of  the  best  known  of  New  York  City  physicians  has 
used  more  than  20,000  gallons  of  nitrogen  monoxide  in  his  practice 
during  the  past  two  years,  chiefly  in  the  treatment  of  nervous 
diseases.  He  regards  it  as  a  sheet  anchor  in  nervous  prostration, 
insomnia,  melancholia,  etc. 
While,  as  before  stated,  the  use  of  these  gases  therapeutically  is 
not  new,  the  use  of  them  in  a  compressed  form  is  more  recent,  as 
previous  to  the  use  of  the  apparatus  devised  by  the  S.  S.  White 
Dental  Mfg.  Co.,  of  this  city,  which,  through  their  courtesy,  I  shall 
have  the  pleasure  of  showing  you  this  afternoon,  oxygen  had  to  be 
made  by  the  physician  himself,  necessitating  the  use  of  expensive 
apparatus,  and  the  loss  of  valuable  time.  Even  if  procured  from 
those  who  manufacture  it  for  calcium  lighting  (with  but  one  excep- 
tion in  this  city),  it  would  taste  of  illuminating  gas  (carburetted 
hydrogen)  on  account  of  the  same  pump  being  used  to  compress 
both  gases. 
As  the  use  of  these  compressed  gases  shall  become  more  frequent 
by  the  medical  profession,  pharmacists  can  add  to  their  stock  these 
cylinders,  and  be  ready  to  supply  them  at  a  moment's  notice  as  they 
would  any  other  remedy,  as  is  already  done  by  a  member  of  our 
college. 
In  using  the  apparatus  the  compressed  gas  is  first  conducted  into 
a  rubber  bag  or  a  metallic  gas  receiver,  from  the  former  of  which 
it  is  inhaled  under  ordinary  pressure,  the  gas  passing  through  a 
bottle  partly  filled  with  water.  If  to  be  used  as  an  enema,  the  gas 
is  displaced  from  the  receiver  by  water  flowing  from  a  can  placed 
about  22  inches  above  the  receiver,  and  is  passed  through  a  bottle, 
containing  warm  water,  to  the  patient. 
