ETHER.
Ethyl Oxide or Ethylic Ether (sometimes called
Sulphuric Ether), C4H10O.
Preparation for use
, Inhalation of vapor,
dilute with alcohol.
Authorities.
1,
L. Simon, Jr. pathogenetic effects from pure experiment or observed in
patients previous to surgical operations, Journ. de la Méd. Hom., 3,
31; 2, E. V. Atlee, effects on a
servant-girl, Boston Med. Intelligencer, April 6th, 1824; 3, effects, Brit. and For. Med.-Chir. Review,
April, 1847; 4, Buchanan, effects,
Med. Gazette, April 23d, 1847; 5,
general effects, Brit. and For. Med.-Chir. Review, April, 1847; 6, effects, ibid.; 7,
Smith, effects, Lancet, May 27th, 1847; 8,
Third, effects on a gentleman when taken for extraction of tooth, Med.
Gazette, Feb. 26th, 1847; 9, Waller,
effects on a man, ibid.; 10,
Richardson, a girl, aged 18 years, took it for extraction of tooth, Med.
Gazette, April 2d, 1847; 11, R.
Spencer Wells, general effects, London Med. Gazette, 1847, pt. 2, p.
547; 12, Copeman, effects on a
medical gentleman who wished to have a tooth extracted, Amer. Journ. of
Med. Sciences, Oct., 1847, from Provincial Med. and Surg. Journ.; 13, Amussat, general effects, Amer. Journ. of
Med. Sci., July, 1847 (from Comptes Rendus); 14,
James H. Pickford, general effects, Edinb. Med. and Surg. Journ., July,
1847; 15, James Crawford, effects,
London Med. Gazette, 1847, pt. 1, 1050 (from an East Indian paper); 16, Braithwaite, general effects, Retrospect,
Jan. to June, 1847; 17, Flagg,
Tucker, et al., general effects, Committee’s Report in London Med.
Gazette, 1847, pt. 1, p. 172; 18,
effects on a young lady, ibid.; 19,
effects on a young man, ibid.; 20,
Miss A. D. took it for extraction of tooth, ibid.; 21, Miss J. R. took if for the same purpose,
ibid.; 22, Alex. Fairbrother; a
girl, aged 15 years, took it for amputation of thigh, London Med.
Gazette, 1847, pt. 1, p. 364; 23, W.
Philpot Brookes; a woman aged 21 years, took it for extraction of tooth,
ibid.; 24, effets on John Combes
when taken for amputation of thigh, ibid.; 25,
effects on William Guy when taken for surgical operation, ibid.; 26, Symptoms in the case of Mrs. Parkinson,
London Med. Gazette, 1847, pt. 1, p. 610 (from London Times); 27, Somerset Tibbs; E. J. took it for
extraction of teeth, ibid.; 28, J.
Willot Eastment, effects on a boy, aged 11 years, who took it for
amputation of thigh after an accident, and died in three hours, ibid.,
p. 631; 29, effects on a man with a
cancerous tumor, London Med. Gazette, 1848, pt. 1, p. 432 (from Gazette
Médicale); 30, J. Miller, E. A.,
aged 15 years, took it repeatedly, and died in twelve days, ibid. (from
Phila. Med. Examiner); 31, effects
on a girl, aged 11 years, ibid.; 32,
Paul F. Eve, effects of 1 oz., Amer. Journ. of Med. Sci., July, 1849
(from Southern Med. and Surg. Journal); 33,
Ranking, effects, Abstract, 5, 380; 34,
F. D. Lente, effects on a boy, aged 8 years, when taken for an
operation, N. Y. Journ. of Med., Nov., 1856; 35,
effects on a man, aged 25 years, when taken for extraction of teeth,
ibid.; 36, effects on a man, aged 30
years, when taken for the same purpose, Ranking’s Abstract, 25, 148; 37, Robbs, effects on a woman, aged 21 years,
when taken several times before an operation for malignant tumor on
thigh, Amer. Med. Times, Nov. 9th, 1861; 38,
Mendoza, effects on a woman, aged 60 years, when taken for amputation of
leg, ibid.; 39, Sir James Alderson,
effects on Sir Frederick Pollock, aged 86 years, of its habitual use,
New York Med. Journ., Feb., 1870 (from Practitioner); 40, Hutton, effects on a young man when taken
for removing a splinter of iron, Amer. Observer, 10, 309 (from Phila.
Med. Reporter); 41, C. A. Ewald,
effects on a man, aged 32 years, of its habitual use, London Med.
Record, April 7th, 1875 (from Med. Clinic of Med. Counsellor Frerichs).
MIND.
►
Emotional. ► The effects
may be described in the same terms as apply to the effects of alcoholic
liquids, an exhilaration and excitement of the mind, which gradually
passes into a state of narcotism, with stupefaction, [4]. ►
Violently excited, [29]. ► He became furiously excited, and it
required several persons to control him; he was forced upon a bed, but
on being awakened he again became very much excited; indeed, so much so
that cold water was dashed over him, [32].
► She became much excited and talked
strangely; afterwards was seized with delirium and carried home in that
state; she remained so, except at short intervals, for three days;
friends afraid to leave her, [21].
► Every indication of great cerebral
excitement, [19]. ► There was altogether so much excitement
that his attendant was alarmed, [8].
► Became delirious about an hour
after she got home; this lasted all night, [20]. ► In
attempting to walk upstairs in the evening of the third day, she stopped
suddenly, screamed so as to alarm the family, and complained of
faintness and the pain in her head; some aberration of mind was now
manifest, and in the course of the night she became delirious, screaming
and evincing alarm at imaginary dangers; more comfortable next morning
under remedies prescribed, but during all the day she gave decided
proofs of mental incoherence, which continued to increase; when any
subject was introduced, she spoke rationally upon it for a moment, and
then referred to some other, frequently to the experiment with Ether;
her nights became sleepless, and were spent in screaming and loud
talking upon all subjects, until she sank rapidly into a comatose
condition, [30]. ► She conversed incoherently at intervals,
introducing strange topics, and had sometimes been observed to laugh
immoderately without any assignable cause, for several days before I saw
her; when I visited her, she was capable of conversing upon any subject,
introduced in so rational a manner that the hallucination might have
been overlooked by an uninterested observer; I noticed, however, that
she conversed with clearness only so long as the subject was kept before
her mind with some care, [31]. [10.] ► He
pretty soon fell into a state of intoxication, during which he talked
extravagant nonsense, danced about the room, laughed, and appeared to be
very much pleased; but his condition was far removed from narcosis in
its ordinary sense, [41]. ► The sensations induced are almost
universally described as pleasurable, and much resemble those resulting
in the early stages of alcoholic intoxication, [5]. ► By
some, pleasant dreams, indescribable but delightful sensations, rapid
flights through the air, gorgeous visions, and unearthly music, [11]. ►
Most agreeable and even most sensual dreams; women sometimes pass into a
state of ecstasy; some see God and angels; others fancy themselves again
with the companions of their childhood, [1].
► He immediately lost consciousness,
and had a host of lively illusions, principally consisting, it seems, of
theologico-mystical conceptions, in which, however, as is the case in
opium and hashish smoking, there was a complete disregard of matter,
time, and space; he believed he had travelled through whole worlds and
had lived for an infinity of time, and yet, when he awoke, his candle
showed that he could scarcely have been narcotized a quarter of an hour;
the Ether bottle was empty, although he did not remember taking it more
than once in his hand. When he repeated the experiment, the dream-world
into which he lulled himself was not so splendid, not so rich in colors
and images, as that of the first narcosis; and however often he
endeavored to conjure it back, by larger and larger doses, it would not
reappear, [41]. ► The character of his hallucinations was,
from the first, and has always remained, exclusively mystic, free from
any erotic or other admixture, and has thus remained dependent on his
prevailing disposition, [41]. ► The little child dreams of his
playthings; the sportsman is following the hounds or catching imaginary
salmon; the gamekeeper we have known to dream of a conflict with
poachers; the laborer that he is getting drunk in a pothouse of which he
is an habitué; in females, especially of a warm temperament, emotions
have been manifested which are ill adapted for general inspection; in
some it was evident by their movements that they were under the
influence of the highly developed sensations of the venereal organs, [33]. ►
A Provençal talked about his native country, [1]. ► A
horse-jockey dreamed that some one was trying to steal his horse, [1]. ►
A woman in labor fancied herself in the conjugal abode, and called to
her side a student, whom she took for her husband, [1]. [20.] ► Frightful dreams; a man fancied he heard
the ringing of his own funeral knell, [1].
► She said; I felt, when the tooth
was coming out, as if I was having a horrid dream. [She gave a scream
during the operation.], [18]. ► She had a dream, and thought she was at
the bar of judgment pleading for mercy, and that God Almighty was
punishing her for her sins, [22]. ► As with other narcotics, so even more
with Ether, the disposition to hallucinative action appears to present
individual differences; and a susceptibility of this kind, such as our
patient has possessed, in a more or less distinct form, from the first
day till now, may well be attributed in part to an alienated direction
of his disposition or development-to a slight psychosis; this he has
himself acknowledged, [41]. ► Loquacity, [1].
► He muttered like a man intoxicated,
[29]. ►
Greater inclination towards silence than formerly, [31]. ► When
the numbness seizes the subject, a great tendency to gayety is generally
shown; there is spasmodic, jerking laughter, which is followed by
copious tears, [1]. ► The greatest variety of the effects upon
self-consciousness, and of the degree in which the recognition of
surrounding objects is retained, are reported; with many, the hilarity
induced quite equals that produced on the inspiration of Nitrous Oxide, [5]. ►
Anxiety, [17]. [30.] ►
Very low-spirited, and fearful of some disease; and was still nervous
and desponding after two months, [35].
► Fright and delirium, [17]. ►
Intellectual. ► The
intellect is both tranquillized and fortified, [39]. ►
Judgment was retained unimpaired to such a degree that he lost none of
the sensations he wished to analyze; moreover, when the anæsthesia was
most complete, so that he could prick himself without feeling, it, he
willed to walk, and did walk, [1].
► The intellect is often disordered,
but the subject does not always lose self-consciousness. In one case,
the experimenter retained full possession of his faculties; while giving
way to convulsive laughter, he himself compared it to the barking of a
dog, and was quite aware that he was acting foolishly, [1]. ► For
some time, much confused, [18]. ► Answered questions with a weak voice,
though remembering nothing which had passed, [38]. ►
Semi-consciousness; the patient raised himself to a sitting posture and
looked about him with a vacant stare, the conjunctiva being very red and
suffused, [12]. ► Although he seemed to be aware that
people were talking to him, he had no consciousness of what was really
passing around him, [12]. ► She lost consciousness in three or four
minutes after inhaling; felt no pain, [20].
[40.] ►
She became stupid, with a weak pulse and heavy stertorous breathing; her
strength failed more and more, and she died fifteen hours after the
operation, [38]. ► A state of almost profound stupor, [2]. ►
In many, as total a temporary suspension of all the mental faculties and
cerebral functions as in the most profound sleep, nothing being
remembered, after the few first inhalations, until the period of
returning consciousness, [11]. ► At the first trial, after breathing
fifteen or twenty minutes, she became comatose for two hours; at the
second trial, she became comatose in four minutes, recovering rapidly, [37].
HEAD.
►
Confusion. ► In a great
majority of cases, the only effects afterwards are, slight muzziness of the head, sometimes amounting to
headache, odor and taste of Ether in the mouth and nasal passage, [3]. ►
Vertigo. ► Vertigo and
conscious loss of muscular power preceding insensibility, [11]. ►
Dizziness, [35]. ► Dizziness, just enough to amount to
slight vertigo when the standing posture has been attempted, [39]. ►
Giddiness and debility made it difficult for her to walk (after three
days), [30]. ►
Slight degree of giddiness at times during the day, [27]. ► General
Head. [50.] ► Head drops on one side, [33]. ► Head
was thrown back, as if to relieve slight stiffness of the muscles of the
neck, [31]. ►
Determination of blood to the brain and eyes, [17]. ►
Symptoms of meningitis, etc., persisted in spite of all treatment, and
he died (fifth morning), [32]. ► Head hot, [10],
[12]. ►
Pain about the head, [35]. ► She complained of some pain in the head, [31]. ►
The inhalation was attended with very painful sensations in the head and
partial blindness, which lasted three days, [30]. ► She
complained of great pain in her head, which was relieved by free
cupping, [2]. ► Intense pain in the head, [10]. [60.] ► Aching of head and dizziness for a few
minutes, when senses returned, [20].
► Headache more or less considerable
for some hours, and even for a day or two, [3]. ►
Headache, more or less violent, [1].
► Forehead. ► Great pain in the forehead (second day), [32]. ►
Temples. ► Temporal
arteries enlarged, [8]. ► Action of the temporal artery very
strong, [19].
EYE.
►
Eyes full and somewhat suffused, [31].
► Eyes injected (bloodshot), [18], [19].
► Lids. ►
Eyes half open and turned upwards (after third day), [30]. ►
Eyelids closed, [12]. [70.] ►
Eyes sometimes open, sometimes shut (during operations), [1]. ► Eyelids
begin to tremble in a manner very characteristic, [33]. ►
Conjunctiva. ► Vessels of
the conjunctiva injected, [10]. ► Slight injection of the conjunctivæ, [41]. ►
Conjunctivæ much injected, [12]. ► Conjunctiva of eye was sensible, [26]. ►
Ball. ► Rolling of the
eyeballs during the spasms, [1]. ► She complained of difficulty in turning
her eyes downward, but rolled them about in an unnatural manner (after
third day), [15]. ► Pupil. ►
Pupils dilated, [10], [14]. ►
Pupils dilated and fixed, the eyes turned upwards (after ten minutes), [29]. [80.]
► Pupils dilated, fixed, and did not
act during the whole time, [22]. ► The pupils became widely dilated, this
state being apparently not preceded by contraction (in seven minutes,
when 150 cubic centimetres (about four ounces) of Ether had been used), [41]. ►
Pupil oscillates, with a tendency to turn upward and inwards, [33]. ►
Contracted pupil, [9]. ► The iris seems to be generally expanded,
sometimes contracted, [3]. ► Vision. ►
Impaired vision (after third day), [30].
► Dimness of sight, [1]. ► She
complained of obscure vision, describing it as a mist or thin cloud
before her eyes, [31].
EAR.
►
Hearing was obtuse, [31]. ► Sounds are indistinct and seem far off,
yet they resound violently in the ears, [1].
[90.] ►
Deafness, [1].
FACE.
►
Countenance was wild and a little vacant at intervals, sometimes
indicating slight surprise, [31]. ► At first, an expression of extraordinary
pleasure on his face, and he inhaled the Ether-vapor with real
eagerness; he afterwards assured us that he had had a pleasant narcosis,
[41]. ►
Face flushed, [8], [23]. ►
The expression is sometimes calm, but generally the face is flushed and
animated, [1]. ► Face injected, [29]. ► The
countenance is livid, [14]. ► Face pallid, [26]. ► The
face often becomes either pale or morbidly flushed, [3]. ►
Distortion of the features, [17]. ► Cheeks. [100.]
► Cheeks flushed; after half an hour
they resembled two pieces of scarlet velvet, [10]. ► Lips.
► The lips often swell and become
blue, [1]. ►
Lips slightly congested, [26]. ► Lip and tongue are blue, [14]. ► His
lips became purple, [8].
MOUTH.
►
Mouth often opened, [31]. ► Mouth was slightly dry, and she was
observed to drink oftener than usual, [31].
► Some heat in the mouth, [11]. ►
Saliva. ► Profuse
salivation (after a few days), [40].
► Slight frothing at the mouth, [18]. ►
Taste. [110.] ► Bad taste in mouth, [1]. ►
Disagreeable taste of Ether in her mouth in the evening, [22]. ► Speech.
► Evident difficulty in using the
organs of speech; the pronunciation was indistinct, and performed with
some apparent effort; afterwards speechless, [31].
THROAT.
►
Pricking in the throat, [1].
STOMACH.
►
Appetite. ► Loss of
appetite, [41]. ► The appetite for solids is visibly
diminished when any considerable amount has been inhaled shortly before
a meal, [39]. ► Loathing of ether, [1]. ► Hiccough.
► Violent hiccough set in after
twenty-five minutes, but ceased, as did also the dilatation of pupils,
as soon as the inhalations was discontinued, [41]. ► Nausea and
Vomiting. ► Nausea, [7]. ►
Nausea and sickness, [3]. [120.] ►
Nausea and vomiting in the evening, [22].
► Sickness, [7]. ► She
complained of sickness and distress of the stomach, [21]. ►
Vomiting, [1]. ► Vomiting soon after return of
consciousness, although no food had been allowed for seven hours;
stimulants were immediately rejected by the stomach, [34].
RESPIRATORY APPARATUS.
► Slight bronchial irritation, [3]. ►
Inhalation is accompanied by a sensation of stinging or heat in the
bronchia, which excites coughing, [33].
► Cough, [1], [38]. ► Violent coughing, [17]. ►
Violent cough and spitting, [9]. [130.] ►
Spitting of blood, [18]. ► She raised blood from her lungs, it was
supposed about a pint; bleeding soon ceased (second morning), [20]. ►
Breathing rapid for a short time, when effect first produced, and then
became natural, [26]. ► Respiration is quickened, and the face
becomes red; then the inspirations slacken, but are extremely deep;
finally, they become imperceptible; the face then regains its quiet
expression and natural color, [1].
► Respiration was hurried (after five
minutes); deep and slow, but free from stertor (after ten minutes), [29]. ►
Full and frequent respirations, [31].
► The respirations were deep, and
increased from eighteen to twenty-five in a minute, [41]. ►
Respirations short; the expirations prolonged and forcible, [33]. ►
Respiration becomes slow and labored, [3].
► Sonorous breathing, [32]. [140.] ► Stertorous breathing, [7], [18]. ► Sighing, groaning, [17]. ► Each
expiration was accompanied by a loud hah! [12].
► The air expired by the patient, at
the end of eight days after the last experiment, still had a strong
smell of Ether, [41]. ► Laborious breathing, [17], [19].
► Breathing laborious two or three
times, [22]. ►
The respiration, bearing a due relation to the frequency of the pulse,
becomes labored and stertorous, [14].
► Difficulty of breathing, [11]. ►
Difficulty of breathing for several days (after two days), [36]. ►
Breathing became very difficult, so exceedingly labored, that it would
have been almost impossible to perform any operation, [12]. [150.] ► Dyspnœa, [16].
CHEST.
►
Pulmonary and cerebral congestion, [7].
► With some difficulty I led him to
the outer door, when he exclaimed, “Cover my chest; cold, cold,
cold,” [12]. ► Tightness across the chest, [12]. ►
Irritation and pain in the chest (after twenty-five inhalations in two
days), [1].
HEART AND PULSE.
►
Præcordium. ► Heart and
lungs greatly oppressed, [2]. ► Heart’s Action. ►
Excitement and invigoration of the action of the heart, which seems to
continue throughout, [4]. ► Protracted failure of the heart’s action,
[7]. ►
Pulse. ► Rapid pulse, [9]. ►
The pulse is at first, accelerated, and afterward falls, but rarely to
the natural standard; respiration seems to follow the same rule, [3]. [160.]
► The circulation at first became
rapid, then slow and feeble, [14].
► First effect upon the circulation
is to accelerate it; the pulse subsequently falls, and in the third
period loses power as well as frequency, [33].
► Small, frequent pulse, [41]. ►
Pulse full, hard, and bounding, [10].
► The pulse, hitherto weak and low,
became full and strong, and remained so as long as the narcosis
continued, increasing in frequency at the same time from 72 to 80, [41]. ►
Pulse commenced sinking rapidly, [34].
► Pulse very feeble and weak in the
evening, [22]. ► When felt, the pulse was found to be
soft, full, and very slow; it suddenly ceased to beat, and the patient
was dead, [29]. ► The pulse, as we ascertained by the
sphygmograph, was not once changed, nor was there any alteration in the
urine, [41]. ►
Pulse rose to 150 while inhaling, [19].
[170.] ►
Pulse 100, with much throbbing of the carotids (third day); 140 (tenth
day), [30]. ►
Pulse natural in the morning, 76; rose to 84 previous to inhalation
(probably from the appearance of the surgeons and expectation of
operation); during inhalation, rapidly increased to 140, but before
inhalation ceased, it became small and feeble, [26]. ► Being
much excited, her pulse rose to 130 (before inhalation); 70 (after
inhalation), [18]. ► Pulse 120, [12].
► Pulse 98, small and tense, [31]. ►
Pulse 90 (before the operation); 75 (in the ethereal state), [25]. ►
Pulse 84 (before the operation); varied from 60 to 70 (during the
ethereal process), [24].
EXTREMITIES IN GENERAL.
► Frequent trembling of the limbs, [41]. ►
Convulsive movements of the limbs, [10].
► Spasmodic rigidity of the limbs, [1].
SUPERIOR EXTREMITIES.
[180.] ►
His arms were stretched; his fingers extended, [12]. ► Arms
fall relaxed, [33].
INFERIOR EXTREMITIES.
► A slight imperfection in her gait
terminated in paralysis of the lower extremities, after some time, and
she became helpless, [31]. ► Severe cramps in the legs, [12].
GENERAL SYMPTOMS.
►
His whole aspect was so indicative of misery, that he would have been
put down as one of the wretchedly poor, were it not for the unusual
contrast between his aspect and his distinctly formed speech, and for
the fact that (as was at first thought) there was a remarkably strong
smell of alcohol in his breath; the patient, however, explained that he
did not smell of alcohol but of ether, and the peculiar sweetness and
mildness of Ether vapor was then easily recognized, notwithstanding its
strength, [41]. ► His appearance altogether was so
distressing, as to excite great alarm in the minds of the bystanders, [12]. ►
General appearance like one going into a state of epilepsy, [18]. ►
To appearance, the energies of mind and body were nearly extinct, [2]. ►
The individual, to the common eye, seems to be sinking into the sleep of
death, [3]. ►
Perfect quick, [33]. [190.] ►
Agitation of the system, [17]. ► An affection of the nervous system
approaching apoplexy, [16]. ► Hysterical excitement in women for some
hours, and even for a day or two, [3].
► In the evening (after several
hours) he complained of some difficulty about his chest, when, all at
once, he fell from his chair, exhibited great restlessness, tossing
about of the arms and legs, with great difficulty of breathing, but no
loss of consciousness, declaring all the time he could not get his
breath for the Ether, and that he should die; his hands and feet were
said to be cold; various restoratives were applied in vain; it was
evident that it was a case of violent hysterics, unusually well marked
in a male; he would laugh and joke, then express fears of impending
suffocation, with jactitation, declaring that as vapor of Ether was
heavier than air, he ought to be held up and allow it to run out of his
lungs; several doses of Morphine had no effect; it was only after
several hours that he could be quieted; he had never previously
exhibited any tendency to hysteria, [36].
► She was in a state of
unconsciousness, and became quite unmanageable; she required two persons
to hold her; I lanced her gum, without any sign of pain, and she
recovered her sensibility immediately; she again inhaled, and, when
under the influence of the Ether, some excitement returned, and on
drawing the tooth with the claw, she cried “Oh!” but, on
coming to herself, stated she had had no pain, [23]. ► He
appeared to have much suffering, throwing his body almost out of the
chair, [19]. ►
Muscular tremors, [41]. ► Trembling of the whole frame when
consciousness returned, [20]. ► Subsultus till twelve hours before death
(after three days), [30]. ► General shocks, involving all the muscles
of the trunk, [1]. [200.] ►
Violent nervous attack, [38]. ► Convulsions, [7]. ►
Convulsions supervened, attended with slight stertorous breathing, and
other symptoms of an alarming character; he gradually recovered, but
suffered from the effects for some time afterwards, [8]. ► Limbs
and trunk were strongly convulsed for five minutes; limbs relaxed (after
ten minutes), [29]. ► Incipient convulsions, [9]. ► After
the operation, she bent her body backwards and sank out of the chair;
she began to cry, and consciousness returned, but in a short time she
again lapsed into a state of unconsciousness, with convulsive movements
of the muscles; she again got better and attempted to walk, but could
not; the convulsions returned; there were convulsive movements of the
muscles of the left side of the face; the angle of the mouth was drawn
upward; after half an hour the convulsions became stronger, spasmodic
twitchings of the muscles of the face more frequent and more violent, [10]. ►
Slight spasm (tenth day), [30]. ► Opisthotonos, [10]. ► He was
perfectly cataleptic; after applications of cold, and administering
brandy and water, these cataleptic symptoms were succeeded by severe
hysteria, with about the same degree of consciousness as is usual in
that disease, [12]. ► Muscles universally relaxed, [14]. [210.]
► General muscular relaxation,
affecting the limbs, also the eye, the ball moving about and evading the
needle or the cataract knife; also the muscles of the perineum during
labor, [1]. ►
The voluntary muscles become relaxed; the jaw falls down; the arms hang
down; the eyes roll upward under the upper lid, [3]. ► The
muscles lose their power of retraction (during amputation); they are
also pale and discolored, [1]. ► Temporary depression of the vital powers,
[3]. ►
Weakness, [35], [41]. ►
Weakness, and disposition to faint on the slightest attempt to walk,
lasting several days (after two days), [36].
► General prostration, [17]. ► Felt
nothing for several minutes, but on a sudden appeared to lose all
muscular power, [12]. ► He attempted to rise, but tottered like a
drunken man, and suffered a degree of exhaustion and giddiness which
lasted until he was taken to bed, [12].
► Objective. ► Staggered about the room (soon), [12]. [220.]
► Disposition to faint and fall down,
[35]. ►
They exhibit all the marks of intoxication; they fall, without the power
of raising themselves, become insensible to all operations performed on
them, and either recover soon when the experiment ceases, or sink if it
be prolonged, [13]. ► Syncope, [16].
► The state of the brain during this
period was peculiarly distressing; there were alternate manifestations
of excitement and depression of the sensorial powers, at one time
resembling syncope, and again like violent intoxication, until the boy
died, [28]. ►
M. Jobert and others have attempted to indicate three stages in its
effects; first, that of incoherence, agitation or delirium, as the case
may be; second, acceleration of the pulse, with loss of sensibility and
loss of voluntary power; third, exhaustion and coldness of the surface, [6]. ►
The average duration of the state of sleep or insensibility may be
stated to be about the same as the period required to induce it, or a
little less, say from two to four minutes; the period, however,
occasionally exceeds this, extending sometimes to half an hour or even
an hour; the awakening is sudden and complete, [3]. ► Several
persons who were to be operated on next day, were subjected to
preparatory inhalations, by which they were completely narcotized;
sensation, voluntary motion, and consciousness were abolished, yet, when
repeated at the operating time, the experiment was a failure, [1]. ►
Great uneasiness, [38]. ► Remarkable restlessness, in the period of
reaction, ceasing in twenty-four or forty-eight hours, [1]. ► Evident
restlessness, mostly of the head and upper extremities, [31]. [230.] ► So much restlessness, that it was
impossible to perform the intended operation, [1]. ► Subjective.
► In some refractory subjects,
sensibility was heightened instead of being depressed, [1]. ► The
next day she inhaled it ten minutes prior to the operation, which lasted
half an hour, and during which she manifested great pain, declaring
afterwards that she felt every cut made; she was conscious from this
time until her decease forty hours afterwards, but spoke in a low, faint
voice, [37]. ►
Perception of external objects fails, [33].
► Skin was not sensible on being
sharply pinched, [22]. ► Complete and instantaneous abolition of
tactile sensibility; this effect is not constant, but is pretty general;
it is accompanied by a diminution of voluntary contractility; it affects
the most deeply seated parts of the nervous system, [1]. ► The
functions of the brain and nervous system are suspended, sensation is
annihilated, and the patient, to all intents and purposes, for the time
being, is a senseless corpse, [14].
► Loss of sensibility; but
drunkenness, attended by vomiting and other symptoms not consequent on
inhalation, supervened in both cases, [15].
► The instant the knife touched her,
she cried out, put her hands down to the part, and betrayed other marks
of uneasiness; after half a minute to a minute, the operation was
proceeded with, and signs of apparent suffering were not to be mistaken,
so much so, that it induced some gentlemen present to imagine that the
operation was felt, and the patient was aware of it; after the operation
was completed, and on awakening to a state of consciousness, and being
asked if she suffered any pain, she expressed no knowledge of any, [22]. ►
One person becomes as impassible as the subject on the dissecting-room
table; another talks incoherently or mirthfully, replies to questions or
obeys instructions; others utter exclamations of pain, which they
afterwards retain no reminiscence of having felt; and others, again,
declare they have suffered pain, but felt themselves powerless for its
expression; finally, in not a few, ungovernable, violent convulsive
actions, quite adverse to the performance of any delicate operation,
take place; with some, an utter oblivion is induced; while others,
whilst undergoing all the apparent tortures of a prolonged dissection,
are revelling in the realms of memory and the fields of imagination, [5]. [240.]
► Ill, and much dejected (third
evening), [20]. ► General malaise, [41]. ► After
repeated experiments, a general malaise replaces the agreeable feeling
experienced at first, [1]. ► His sensations were so dreadful, that he
would rather undergo any amount of pain than submit to the same again,
which he could compare only to a state of utter helplessness and
impending dissolution, [12]. ► He felt irresistibly disposed to lie down
and get his head upon the ground, [12].
► He seemed to take leave of the
external world, but experienced a dreadful sensation of universal
tremor, and yet a perfect fixedness of the limbs, [12]. ►
Sensation of numbness, beginning at the toes, and affecting, in
succession, the legs, arms, loins, and genitals; it extends to the head,
and is then accompanied with a sense of heat, as from intoxication, [1]. ►
By a few, a sense of great oppression, resembling nightmare, [11]. ►
The distressing symptoms continued for more
than an hour, [12].
SKIN.
►
The skin of the face, as well as that of the chest, of a violet-red
color (after ten minutes), afterwards livid, [29].
SLEEP.
[250.]
► After inhalation, all the usual
phenomena of the deepest sleep supervene almost suddenly, gliding often
into the profoundness of sopor, and verging occasionally upon, if not
actually lapsing into, coma, [3].
FEVER.
►
Chilliness. ► Much
distressed with a sensation of cold, [12].
► Cold and chilly in the evening, [22]. ►
Shivering; chattering of the teeth, [1].
► Cold extremities, [1]. ► Heat.
► Skin hot (third day), [30]. ►
Agreeable feeling of heat, accompanied by formication and a kind of
tremor similar to that felt on touching a large bell in a state of
vibration, [1]. ► Sweat. ►
Perspiration, followed by chill, [1].
SUPPLEMENT: ETHER.
Authorities.
42,
W. H. Hewitt, Lancet, 1847 (1), p. 239, Jemima S., æt. nineteen years,
inhaled it for six or seven minutes for the purpose of having a tooth
extracted; 43, Anne C. æt. fourteen
years, inhaled it two minutes for the same purpose; 44, R. Stewart, ibid., p. 397, death of a
woman after the third inhalation; 45,
M. Cardan, ibid, p. 441, effects on a woman in the sixth or seventh
month of pregnancy; 46, Berridge,
Organon, vol. ii, 1879, p. 260, a man, æt. twenty years, inhaled pure
Ether.
MIND.
►
Hysterical (after first inhalation), [44].
► Hysteria preceded the
insensibility, and occurred at intervals during the day, [42]. [260.] ► Disorderly hilarity, [45]. ► On
recovering, she exclaimed, “Oh, why did you take me from that
beautiful place? Let me go back. Oh! how beautiful! It is heaven!”
and a variety of other rapturous expressions, evidently showing that she
had had a dream, and was unconscious of any operation having been
performed upon her, [42]. ► When recovering, on asking her why she
had kept the mouth so tightly shut, she said she had had a dream, and
thought she was drowning, and that somebody was forcibly trying to open
her mouth, [43]. ► Insensibility, [42], [43].
HEAD.
►
headache for many hours (after second inhalation), [44].
EYE.
Power of vision lost (after second
inhalation), [44].
GENERALITIES.
►
After ten or twelve respirations, the infant made some struggles and
convulsive movements, very painful to the mother; these movements became
more violent, and succeeded each other with greater rapidity, in
proportion as the Ether became absorbed; but as the mother grew
insensible at the same time, she evinced only a vague kind of
consciousness. When the mother recovered herself from the effects of the
Ether, she complained of pain in the uterine region, such as might arise
from blows and bruises, [45]. ► The heart of the fœtus beat with extreme
rapidity, so that the individual pulsations could scarcely be
distinguished; it might be said, indeed, to be in constant tremor. The
rapidity of the pulsations appeared to be in pretty direct relation to
the motions or struggles of the child. The placental bruit lost its
simple character, and took place in fits, which varied according as the
struggles of the fœtus were more or less rapid, [45]. ►
Faintness and apprehension at once, [46].® 2000
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