Introduction
Ethyl Oxide or Ethylic Ether (sometimes called Sulphuric Ether), C4H10O. Preparation for use, Inhalation of vapor, dilute with alcohol.
Mind
Emotional. The effects may be described in the same terms as apply to the effects of alcoholic liquids, and exhilaration and excitement of the mind, which gradually passes into a state of narcotism, with stupefaction. Violently excited. He became furiously excited and it required several persons to control him; he was forced upon a bed, but on being awakened he again became very much excited; indeed, so much so that cold water was dashed over him. She became much excited and talked strangely; afterwards was seized with delirium and carried home in that state; she remained so, except at short intervals, for three days; friends afraid to leave her. Every indication of great cerebral excitement. There was altogether so much excitement that his attendant was alarmed. Became delirious about an hour after she got home; this lasted all night. In attempting to walk upstairs in the evening of the third day, she stopped suddenly, screamed so as to alarm the family, and complained of faintness and the pain in her head; some aberration of mind was now manifest, and in the course of the night she became delirious, screaming and evincing alarm at imaginary dangers; more comfortable next morning under remedies prescribed, but during all the day she gave decided proofs of mental incoherence, which continued to increase; when any subject was introduced, she spoke rationally upon it for a moment, and then referred to some other, frequently to the experiment with Ether; her nights became sleepless, and were spent in screaming and loud talking upon all subjects, until she sank rapidly into a comatose condition. She conversed incoherently at intervals, introducing strange topics, and had sometimes been observed to laugh immoderately without any assignable cause, for several days before I saw her; when I visited her, she was capable to conversing upon any subject, introduced in so rational a manner that the hallucination might have been overlooked by an uninterested observer; I noticed, however, that she conversed with clearness only so long as the subject was kept before her mind with some care. He pretty soon fell into a state of intoxication, during which he talked extravagant nonsense, danced about the room, laughed, and appeared to be very much pleased; but his condition was far removed from narcosis in its ordinary sense. The sensations induced are almost universally described as pleasurable, and much resemble those resulting in the early stages of alcoholic intoxication. By some, pleasant dreams, indescribable but delightful sensations, rapid flights through the air, gorgeous visions, and unearthly music. Most agreeable and even most sensual dreams; women sometimes pass into a state of ecstasy; some see God and angels; others fancy themselves again with the companions of their childhood. He immediately lost consciousness, and had a host of lively illusions, principally consisting, it seems of theologico-mystical conceptions, in which, however, as is the case in opium and hashish smoking, there was a complete disregard of matter, time, and space; he believed he had travelled through whole world and had lived for an infinity of time, and yet, when he awoke, his candle showed that he could scarcely have been narcotized a quarter of an hour; the Ether bottle was empty, although he did not remember taking it more than once in his hand. When he repeated the experiment, the dream-world into which he lulled himself was not so splendid, not so rich in colors and images, as that of the first narcosis; and however often he endeavored to conjure it back, by larger and larger doses, it would not reappear. The character of his hallucinations was, from the first, and has always remained, exclusively mystic, free from any erotic or other admixture, and has thus remained dependent on his prevailing disposition. The little child dreams of his playthings; the sportsman is following the hounds or catching imaginary salmon; the gamekeeper we have known to dream of a conflict with poachers; the laborer that he is getting drunk in a pot house of which he is an habitue; in females, especially of a warm temperament, emotions have been manifested which are ill adapted for general inspection; in some it was evident by their movements that they were under the influence of the highly developed sensations of the venereal organs. A Provencal talked about his native country. A horse- jockey dreamed that some one was trying to steal his horse. A woman in labor fancied herself in the conjugal abode, and called to her side a student, whom she took for her husband.
Frightful dreams; a man fancied he heard the ringing of his own funeral knell. She said: I felt, when the tooth was coming out, as if I was having a horrid dream. She gave a scream during the operation. She had a dream, and thought she was at the bar of judgment pleading for mercy, and that God Almighty was punishing her for her sins. As with other narcotics, so even more with Ether, the disposition to hallucinative action appears to present individual differences; and a susceptibility of this kind, such as our patient has possessed, in a more or less distinct form, from the first day till now, may well be attributed in part to an alienated direction of his disposition or development-to a slight psychosis; this he has himself acknowledged. Loquacity. He muttered like a man intoxicated. Greater inclination towards silence than formerly. When the numbness seizes the subject, a great tendency to gayety is generally shown; there is spasmodic, jerking laughter, which is followed by copious tears. The greatest variety of the effects upon self-consciousness, and of the degree in which the recognition of surrounding objects is retained, are reported; with many, the hilarity induced quite equals that produced on the inspiration of Nitrous Oxide. Anxiety. Very low-spirited, and fearful of some disease; and was still nervous and desponding after two months. Fright and delirium. Intellectual. The intellect is both tranquillized and fortified. Judgment was retained unimpaired to such a degree that he lost none of the sensations he wished to analyze; moreover, when the anaesthesia was most complete, so that he could prick himself without feeling it, he willed to walk, and did not. The intellect is often disordered, but the subject does not always lose self-consciousness. In one case, the experimenter retained full possession of his faculties; while giving way to convulsive laughter, he himself compared it to the barking of a dog, and was quite aware that he was acting foolishly. For some time, much confused. Answered questions with a weak voice, though remembering nothing which had passed. Semi-consciousness; the patient raised himself to a sitting posture and looked about him with a vacant stare, the conjunctiva being very red and suffused. Although he seemed to be aware that people were talking to him, he had no consciousness of what was really passing around him. She lost consciousness in three or four minutes after inhaling; felt no pain. She became stupid, with a weak pulse and heavy stertorous breathing; her strength failed more and more, and she died fifteen hours after the operation. A state of almost profound stupor. In many, as total a temporary suspension of all the mental faculties and cerebral functions as in the most profound sleep, nothing being remembered, after the few first inhalations, until the period of returning consciousness. At the first trial, after breathing fifteen or twenty minutes, she became comatose for two hours; at the second trial, she became comatose in four minutes, recovering rapidly.
Head
Confusion. In a great majority of cases, the only effects afterwards are, slight muzziness of the head, sometimes amounting to headache, odor and taste of Ether in the mouth and nasal passages. Vertigo. Vertigo and conscious loss of muscular power preceding insensibility. Dizziness. Dizziness, just enough to amount to slight vertigo when the standing posture has been attempted. Giddiness and debility made it difficult for her to walk (after three days). Slight degree of giddiness at times during the day. General Head. Head drops on one side, Head was thrown back, as if to relieve slight stiffness of the muscles of the neck. Determination of blood to the brain and eyes. Symptoms of meningitis, etc., persisted in spite of all treatment, and he died (fifth morning). Heat hot. Pain about the head. She complained of some pain in the head. The inhalation was attended with very painful sensations in the head and partial blindness, which lasted three days. She complained of great pain in her head, which was relieved by free cupping. Intense pain in the head. Aching of head and dizziness for a few minutes, when senses returned. Headache more or less considerable for some hours, and even for a day or two. Headache, more or less violent. Forehead. Great pain in the forehead (second day). Temples. Temporal arteries enlarged. Action of the temporal artery very strong.
Born in 1837in Westminster, Vermont. . He was an orthodox doctor who converted to homeopathy
Dr. Allen compiled the Encyclopedia of Pure Materia Medica over the course of 10 years.
In 1881 Allen published A Critical Revision of the Encyclopedia of Pure Materia Medica.