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260 DENTAL MEDICINE. ;

strument being employed for pumping the vapor of the anaesthetic
through a tube which passes into one nostril; wings, to close the
outer surface of the nostril containing the tube and the opposite
surface of the septum nasi, are attached to the tube, so that air
may pass through the passage unoccluded by the tube. The in-
ventor of this method claims that by its use perfect anaesthesia
can be maintained throughout an operation about the face, of any
length, without interfering with the operator's actions ; also, that
in operations about the mouth and palate the patient can be main-
tained at that point of anaesthesia which may be considered de-
sirable, and that the supply can be regulated.
Dr. Axel Yversen, of Copenhagen, suggested etherization by
the rectum, the vapor being conducted to the rectum by a rubber
tube (attached to a bottle containing the ether, in a water bath of
120°), terminating in a recurrent catheter, the free or recurrent
end being closed by pressure of the thumb during the inflation of
the bowel; the expiratory act being performed by removing this
pressure and the water bath. The principal advantage this
method appears to possess is that it permits operations on the
face without the ordinary obstacles of the common method.
Dr. Thomas Fillebrown suggests a new apparatus for main-
taining anaesthesia without a face-piece, and with the mouth
open. The apparatus consists of a bellows, connected by rubber
tubing with the long tube of a 12-ounce wash-bottle, with a stop-
cock to regulate the flow of air. From the bottle extends a half-
inch rubber tube to the patient. The bellows is inflated, and the
stop-cock opened so as to allow the air to bubble up freely-
through the ether, and to become saturated with ether vapor.
The etherized air is then discharged through the second tube a
few inches from the patient's face. It is claimed that such an
application of ether will maintain complete anaesthesia for any
length of time, and not interfere in the least with any operation
in or about the mouth ; nor will the surplus vapor discharged
into the air sensibly affect either the operator or the assistants
also, that the anaesthesia can be maintained from one-half hour
to one hour and a half without intermitting the operation at all
on account of the anaesthesia; that this method is not wasteful.
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