The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1885-05-15
MIXED ANEsTHETIcs.
Tho Tendency to Experiment with Pro-
prietary and Mixed Compounds.

MNEO ANSS ~ he IICS.
The Tendency to Experiment. with Pro-
prietary and Mixed Compounds.
There seems to be a tendency on the
part of some practitioners of medicine
and of dentistry to experiment with
mixed anesthetics, or, worse still, with
proprietary and secret compounds,
highly Endorsed by the secular press, by
the reverend clergy, and by the editors
of religious journals. The gentlemen
write of the relative superiority and
safety of given compound as glibly as
though their lives had been chiefly oc-
cupied in investigation of the various
agents employed to produce anesthesia;
and they mean, apparently, that their
trumpets shall give forth no uncertain
sound. Thus, one reverend gentleman
assures the world that certain prepa-
ration is Infinitely superior to all other
anesthetics." While the rationale of
the action of the various an@sthetics
upon the animal economyis still largely
an unsettled problem to those of great
est experience in their use. it would
seem that 'infinite superiority" could
hardly be admitted on The testimony of
nOnrmedical man. Stranger still,
however, is the willingness of profess
sional man to accept the responsibility
OF administering, for the production of
general an9sthesia, an agent of the
composition OF which he is not fully in
formed. and as to the peculiar action of
which he is ignorant.
Il is well known that the various
anasthetics produce their effects upon
the economy by entirely different
methods, and that, when sigps of dam
ger appear, the remedies and treatment
required differ accordingly. The pro-
cedure which in one case is the best is
only not indicated in another case, in
which the Inconsistencies has resulted
from the employment of a different
agent, but would be absolutely harmful
and dangerous. How, then, in the pres.
ence of untoward symptoms following
the inhalation of a mixed anRsthetic, or
of one the composition of which was
unknown to the administrator, could
intelligent relief be afforded? ChlOrO-
form, ether and nitrous oxide are all for
sale in the open market, and a pure
article of either can be procured. Their
properties, advantages and disadvan-
tages, methods of action, modes of adj
ministration, the condition contra-indi-
eating the employment of one or the
other, signs of danger, and procedure
in threatened trouble, all have carefully
studied, the facts reported, the theories
deduced discussed, and some general
conclusions, founded on the facts and
the theories regarding them, have been
widely accepted.
BY almost common consent chloro-
form for minor operations has been dis
carded, because of the conviction that
it is more dangerous to life than ether
or nitrous oxide. Ether is seldom en-
ployed in the dental office, on account
of its persistent odor, the length of time
required for complete recovery from its
effects, and the nausea which it fire.
quently causes. Nitrous oxide has come
to be used almost exclusively by the
dentist, on account of the facility with
which anesthesia is produced by it and
the transient duration of its effects, but
chiefly because for short operations it is
deemed the safest of all anesthetic
agents. That it or any other anes-
thetic is absolutely free from danger
under all circumstances can not be as
firmed; but that pure nitrous oxide gas
is the safest general ana sthetic known
is beyond controversy.
In view of the conceded fact that
general anasthesia is not absolutely
free from danger to life, such an inter-
ference with vital functions rs is in
Guided in the condition brought about
by any anesthetic should not be under
taken by any one except by approved
methods. and with agents which have
been the subject of the most searching
investigation, and the rationale of
whose action has been ascertained, at
least to the extent which makes intelli-
gent effort at resuscitation possible
Dental Cosmos.