He referred to the elaborate experiments of Dr. Watson of Jersey City, which showed the following mortality on rabbits:
| Sulphuric ether, | 16.66 |
| Chloroform, | 62.50 |
| Bromide of ethyl, | 50.00 |
| Alcohol, chloroform and ether, | 75.00 |
| Alcohol, chloroform and ethyl, | 66.66 |
And on dogs:
| Sulphuric ether, | 00.00 |
| Chloroform, | 00.00 |
| Bromide of ethyl, | 100.00 |
| Alcohol, chloroform and ether, | 60.00 |
| Alcohol, chloroform and ethyl, | 80.00 |
In these experiments the doctor found it necessary to resort to artificial respiration on dogs as follows:
| Sulphuric ether, | None at all. |
| Chloroform, | 2 times. |
| Alcohol, chloroform and ether, | 3 times. |
| Alcohol, chloroform and ethyl, | 5 times. |
The author referred to a number of experiments he had made on frogs, in which vivisection was made, and the heart exposed and chloroform applied direct, from which they died in from ten to twenty minutes, and when bromide of ethyl was used in fifteen to thirty minutes, but when ether was used, and even much freer than either of the others, they did not die at all.
In repeated experiments, he said, he had found the use of electricity unreliable in resuscitating the heart under these circumstances.
After referring to the mortality reports which showed 405 deaths from chloroform against seventeen from ether, he said: “I feel that every time I use chloroform as an anæsthetic I am trifling with a dangerous compound, and that it will only require time and perseverance in its use until I will share the fate of many others, whose misfortunes ought to be a timely warning to us against its dangerous effects; and if not heeded an accident will be all the more inexcusable.”
He condemned the use of so-called “vitalized air” as being an uncertain and unstable compound: being one of the nitro-oxygen series mixed with chloroform, its effects were uncertain and often very injurious, which, he said, “should be reason enough to deter any conscientious physician from using it or even recommending it.”