Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1880-01-24
CURING BIZ COMPRESSED AIR.

CURING By COMPRESSED AIR.
AerOpathic Treatment and an Inn
proved Way OF AdminiSteFing
AmRsthetics.
Paris Correspondence Edinburgh Scotsman
1t was my good fortune to meet the other dav
ut breakfast N. Paul Bert, name perfectly well
known to men Of science and of surgery and med
Bert has given his attention is the application
of the prOtOxide aZote as an anRsthetfc, l. in
an tncantious moment, expressed my curiosity
received letter appointing this morning for an
operation at the establishment of DR.. Fontaine
The operator was to be Pean, q surgeon Of
European celebrity. At 1890 I was at the
rendezvous. handsomely furnished salon pre-
cedes the room in which the "Aeropathy, 3
which constitutes the motive Of the establish
ment, is carried on. In effect it is place for
curing people by the air-pump. You enter large
room In which there is row of circular vessels,
or cells, about feet high and feet in
tight doors, and with four lunettes or circular
lights Of thick glass. Looking into one Of these
it appears like little parlor-cell, carpeted and
chair and table. Into this you are invited to
walk. You are locked in. You take with you
book: You do not change your clothes, you
simply sit down and wait events. AS soon as
the chamber is alright cock is turned and the
pressure is increased inside to as many atmos-
pheres as may have been deemed desirable
ton and compressed in water. Thus the whole
body is subjected to an atmosphere OF COM
pressed air. The ears begin to feel the pressure,
but it is instantly relieved by swallowing the
spittle or by simply blowing the nose The pa
tents remain in this agreeable bath for two
hours, and fl ON the number of we'll thumbed
novels saw on the table should say that, on
the whole, there are few remedies so attractive.
Remarkable results have been achieved, espe-
cially with asthmatic patients, by this process.
From ten to thirty seances are necessary to
effect cure.
Twas now shown that one Of these cells had
been prepare d for the operation had come to
witness. mattress had been laid on tressels,
with pillows, &C., leaving ample room under it
for reservoir OF considerable size. NJ. Paul
Bert was already on the scene, and after short
time stout bonnie arrived, who in a few min
Q utes had unpacked neat box containing sur
gical instruments in painful variety, cotton
veol sponges and pair of Inda-rubber arm
ltts for the surgeon. The latter's assistant ar
ranged the instruments, wrapped his arms in
linen, hung dozen carefully selected threads
over his button, and then examined all the ar
engagements as coolly as if he were going to cut
up cabbage or fish.
Meantime the great surgeon arrived, tall,
fne-looking man Of about fifty, in black dress
clothes, perfectly at his ease and we learned
that he had selected for my delectation the
operation Of cutting tumor out OF the breast
OF woman. There was little delay in bring
iGg the gas. The reservoir of caoutchouc had
been filled, but it leaked, and il was, after dis
cussion, decided that india-rubber was not the
proper material for bottling up the proxide.
This gas is frequently used In its ordinary form
by simple inhalation by dentists and others. Ad-
ministered b1'ut, the patient becomes black In
the face as If aSphyXtated. DR.. Pean declared
that though he had tried to operate on patients
to whom It had been administered in this way,
their aspect so Hnnerved him that he could
not operate. The process of NJ. Paul Bert en-
tirely removes this difficulty. When the pro-
toxide is administered in an atmosphere OF 25
degrees pressure these appearances and spasms
do not occur. NJ. Paul Bert explained that this
for all surgical operations was preferable to
chloroform. The ratio between the aesthetic
effectiveness OF chloroform and deadlineSS-i. e.,
absolute killing poWer-iS to I between the
prOtoXide efficiency as an anieSthetic and death,
l to 5. Two men carried a large india-rubber
bag formed like bellows and placed it under
the operators table in the cell. The great sur
geon enters, orders the lamp to be Lit Inside and
draws on his ind1a-rubber sleeves. NJ. Paul Bert
holds in his hand the inhaler 1t is like the Or
binary fnhalerS. made 10 fit over the nose and
mouth, but instead Of wool or cotton round its
edge 1t has an air cushion of india-rubber. This
is blown up by a little tube attached to the re-
SeryOiT.
little old woman not much over four feet
two, appears, with thin, wrinkled, but fine-cut
features, 1nclOSed In white frlled cap. She
walks in steadily, her thin lips, however, tightly
compressed Gets up and lies down quietly. In
go the surgeon and his assistant and man to
hold the lamp. was politely invited to enter,
but happily declined. / selected one of the VIM
doWs, through which could perfectly see under
fine light the whole operation. The five people
are Shut into the ciOc'te; it is screwed up; cock
is turned the air PUSHES In. 1t wanted exactly
eighteen minutes to II. In three minutes the
gauge outside showed that the pressure inside
was twenty five degrees. The woman shut her
eyes and put her hand a moment over her face.
/ could see she was praying. At 11:46 NJ. Paul
Bert passed the inhaler over her face The at
mospheric pressure facilitates the breathing, and
this is the point OF NJ. Berts improvements In
about sixty seconds she gives a long breath.
Her hands are drawn down and held by the as
sistant. In exactly eighty seconds he lets them
go, they lie flaccid. AT HAS the strong fingers
holding the knife made the first incision. At
this time she was breathing with perfect regu-
larty, 80 to 81 a minute. There was no discol-
grafton OF the skin, no sign OF aSphyxia- She
moaned little, but she lay there apparently
uDfeeling while that sklful hand was cutting
deep and then probing and then quickly tying
up and Sk1lfully binding. At 1902 it was done
and five minutes later the inmates OF the cell
came out. The woman lay sleeping inside. No
care was given during the whole time to the
Woman's respiration or her pulse. SO safe is
this an2sthetic, applied under these conditions,
that the surgeon Is not obliged to trouble HIM
self about that. The inconvenience are the
pneumatic apparatus which is of such size
that it can scarcely be carried about, and the
slight inconvenience to the operator of inhaling
the compressed air, but could see that it did
not in any way affect the steadiness or the Skill
OF DIR. PeaQ,