The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1912-12-02
LEARNING MORE
ABOUT THE Use
OF ANAESTHETICS
Practically Mathematical Accu-
racy Attained Through
Two New Devices
IMMUNITY FROM PAIN.
WHILE STILL CONSCIOUS
Ingenious Apparatus Will En-
able the Layman to An
aesthetic Himself

NEW YORK. December a.
Practical mathematical accuracy
in the use OF anaestneucs through
the invention OF two new d.
vices was announced at meeting
Of the New York Society OF Anaes-
thetics. at which many members OF
the Clinical Congress were present.
One of the inventors demonstrated
that his appliance affords immunity
from pain without affecting con-
sciousness: another showed how
anaesthesia may be self-administer-
ed; third stated that death can no
longer occur when the agents now
approved are scientifically used.
Nitrous oxide C''laughing gas"),
although one OF the oldest OF anaee-
thetics, has been found to be the
most reliable. and valuable employed,
Tetther alone SSrS IN conjunction With
oxygen, carbon dioxide or ether. Sew
eral forms OF apparatus were exhib-
tied by which these substances may
be mingled in almost any desired
proportion, two OF them so simple
that any one could use them after
instruction.
The inventors OF these two ma
chimes said TO World reporter that
within a short time, possibly few
months, they will be so perfected that
practical painkiller may be at the
disposal OF every one who can aford
to pay for II and keep II supplied
with the necessary chemical pro-
ducts and take the trouble 20 learn
how 10 use IT, One form OF apparatus
s now designed for self-administra-
ton under an anaesthetist's instruc-
ton. 1t is a nickel-plated stand
easily taken apart so as 10 be carried
IN a suitcase. From II are suspended
bottles containing the various apaes-
thetics, whose supply is regulated by
stop-cocks, graduated so rs TO indi-
cate the exact quantity In the CEN
ter OF the apparatus IS graduated
disc with a movable pointer showing
the flow of all. The various suUUfy-
tubes meet here. mingl;ng the desired
amount OF the anaesthetics with air.
han can be instantaneously increased
Or diminished while the whole now
can also be Immediately shut on. A
rubber mask at the end OF rubber
tube r. applied TO the patients nose
and mouth.
Or. II. f. Tompkins, inventor of
one form OF this apparatus. gave 4
striking demonstration OF rs use. He
nut himself under the influence or
the mixture 80 as TO render himself
practically insensible 70 pain, but
without affecting his mental con-
sciousness or lucidity. While he ex-
planned the use OF the machine end
MANIPULATED IL his colleagues bent
back his fingers, pinched him. pricked
him and used other means known to
physicians for provoking the sensory
nerves. Through the ordeal he never
moved his eyeballs. and he said he
hardly felt any sensation whatever.
In demonstrating his FORM of APP
paratus DIR. Arthur T. Gueiei OF In
dianapolis, said that experience had
shown him that such analgesia, or
comparative insensibility TO pain,
could be produced 30 that any minor
may be performed while
the patient Is awake and watching
the procedure. He told OF hands cut
/ of. fingers removed and other surgi-
cal operations where the method was
successfully utilized. No more pain
than would ordinarily be felt from a
moderate pinch was experienced. In
dentistry, especially, he said, It's ad-
vantage has been established.
That carbon d.oxide Is far better
respiratory stimulant than oxygen
was the contention OF Prof. Yandell
Henderson OF New Haven. who ex-
hibited an apparatus by which air
may be supplied with adjustable per-
centages OF carbon dioxide. This Is
not intended to supersede the pull
motor in asphYxia or suspended
breathing. In cases OF shock, how.
ever, carbon dioxide has been found
TO be superior TO oxygen. But its use
could not be controlled until Prof.
Henderson's invention appeared.
! Or. r. NJ. Prince OF Birmingham,
! Ala. reported in paper that he OBJ
served $500 cases in which nitrous
oxide and oxygen were In the anaes-
thetic, with not one fatal outcome.
He said that any one could put per-
son TO sleep with anaesthetics, but
that scientific knowledge was requir-
ed 10 anaesthetiZe. HE condemna-
ton OF the use OF ether and his state
ment that II Is no longer used In Ala
bama aroused the criticism Of sur
geons from Baltimore and Boston,
who proclaimed their faith and that
Of their colleagues In the drug.