A hundred years ago | A new anaesthetic

A demonstration of ethylene, an anaesthetic of American discovery, was given recently by one of the chief anaesthetists at the Manchester Royal Infirmary with such success as to assure its adoption in future in cases of a certain kind. The drug represents a further step in the search for the ideal anaesthetic, but is as yet only supplementary to other methods of anaesthesia. Its value lies particularly in its applicability to cases not met by the ordinary forms of anaesthesia, principally those in which the patient is at one or the other extreme of life, or in diabetic, consumptive, or other cases in which the administration of the anaesthetics in common use is attended by a certain amount of poisoning of the system. The drug has the advantage of giving immunity from certain distressing after effects — “The Manchester Guardian”.