It is curious to remark how often, as unconsciousness comes on, the ruling idea is one of noise and motion combined. Some patients think they are seated in or running after an omnibus; but many more imagine themselves in a railway carriage, travelling faster and faster, till they suddenly seem to enter a dark tunnel and then all is a blank to them. Sensual emotions are not unfrequently excited in both sexes. A man, who had been married about three months, stated, on awaking, that he had been dreaming of his wife; and an unmarried hysterical girl certainly gave evidence, by her movements, that she was quite aware of one of the duties of married life; and moreover in this case, the idea was still present when she was able to speak, for she addressed the administrator in terms far fonder than the occasion warranted; while another girl, who had behaved in a similar manner, said, “I hope I have;not said anything naughty, “. In half a minute the respiration became hurried, and the pulse accelerated. In one minute the pulse had risen from 84 to 110, but was not more compressible than at the commencement. There was twitching of the eyelids, and he said he felt jolly, but lazy, and in a longing mood. At the end of two and a half minutes he felt numbness in the feet, and hot and flushed about the face and ears. At three and a half minutes the pulse was 108, tolerably firm; respiration 40. He now cried, in an excited voice, “I have something to explain give me some air!”, The inhalation was continued altogether seven minutes, when lividity of the face began to set in. Except a little compression of mind, accompanied by flushing of the face, which continued about a quarter of an hour, he felt much as usual. I could not take one full inspiration of this gas without producing giddiness, and I could not count after the sixth inspiration. I took twenty inhalations before losing sensation. I could use my hands and was perfectly conscious, for I endeavored to push away from the outlet-valve Dr. N.’s finger, as he was obstructing the passage of inspired air. I then held my nose, and, after three expirations more, I felt as if all my members were what is commonly called asleep, especially in the right arm, in which the circulation was accidentally impeded. In two more, I could not see, but could hear Dr. N. counting, and was conscious of my respiration being hurried and blowing, but not troubling me. I then lost all sensation, and experienced a most singular feeling of elevation (as if I was in rapid motion in the air). I could not now control my pharyngeal muscles, so that air passed through my nostrils. I recovered almost instantly, but had trouble in talking, my words coming thick and throaty. I have since taken the gas several times, and experienced the same pleasurable sensations, only occurring more rapidly. Two inspirations of the gas (purified) are sufficient to thicken my voice and cause dizziness. After the sixth or eighth, I know nothing. Three inspirations, caused the peculiar feelings in the periphery, which I supposed due to the arrest of capillary circulation. When the tube dropped from my mouth, I sat as in a trance for half a minute, making;no respiratory effort, when all of a sudden I was told that I began to smile and to expire the contents of my lungs at the same instant. I was conscious of smiling, but did not know whether I expired or inspired air after the tube dropped form my hands.
Palpitation of heart; afterwards felt and heard in head; then giddiness; then rapid rush of thoughts; through the mind; loss of muscular power; then unconsciousness, with dilated pupils and livid face; woke as from a dream, but could not remember what the thoughts were about; felt rather faint; slight headache and nausea; face covered with perspiration. He found that he was more irritable and restless than usual; that he slept less, and previous to sleep the mind was long occupied by visible imagery.
Appetite and pulse were not materially affected, though there were uneasy feelings about the precordia analogous to the sickness of hope. After the giddiness, rapid rush of thoughts through the mind; afterwards unconsciousness; woke as from a dream, but could not remember what the thoughts were about. From three to four quarts was the usual dose. It sometimes produced slight vertigo, and a feeling of languor; these, however, went off in a few minutes, and, in about a quarter of an hours, the pulse was usually lowered from 8 to 12 beats in a minute; in one instance form 120 to 108; in another form 104 to 96. The heat of the body was at the same time raised; a thermometer placed between he shoulders rose, in one instance, from 92* to 96*; in another form 94* to 98*, but never beyond 98*. The hands and feet, which were generally cold, glowed; and the face, which was usually of purple or leaden hue, assumed the natural appearance.
On April 16th, Dr. Kinglake being accidentally present, I breathed three quarts of Nitrous oxide, from and into a silk bag, for more than half a minute, without previously closing my nose or exhausting my lungs. The first inspiration occasioned a slight degree of giddiness, which was succeeded by an uncommon sense of fullness in the head, accompanied with loss of distinct sensation and voluntary power a feeling analogous to that produced in the first stage of intoxication, but unattended by pleasurable sensation. Dr. Kinglake, who felt my pulse, informed me that it was rendered quicker and fuller. Attacks of fainting, which began with a feeling of oppression at the chest, and rolling upwards and to the left of both eyes; the loss of consciousness which followed was so complete as to be unaffected by the usual restoratives; during the attack, respiration slow but regular; heart’s action was at first normal, but gradually became slow and irregular, until almost imperceptible; pulsation could not be detected in the temporal arteries; face, which was at first of a natural color, became livid, with blue lips, and dark rings around the eyes; pupils dilated and insensible to light; attacks lasted from ten to twenty minutes; the return to consciousness was accompanied with much mental anxiety, and followed by despair and silent weeping; the interval between the attacks was never longer than five minutes (second day). When about to leave, became faint; after reviving, became faint again on reaching the street-door; after being assisted home, feeling exceedingly ill, was again compelled to lie down; then, on conversing a short time, the faintness again came over him, and he took once more to his couch. This state of things continued for four or five hours.
The turns of faintness were succeeded by a severe headache, which lasted the rest of the day. The feelings were different from those I had experienced in former experiments. After the first six or seven inspirations, I gradually began to lose the perception of external things, and a vivid and intense recollection of some former experiment passed through my mind, so that I called out, “What an amazing concentration of ideas!: I had no pleasurable feeling whatever; I used no muscular motion, nor did I feel any disposition to it; after a minute, when I made the note of the experiment, all the uncommon sensations had vanished; they were succeeded by a slight soreness in one of the arms and in the leg; in three minutes these affections likewise disappeared. He remained perfectly quiet for nearly a minute, and when asked how he felt, said he was drowsy, and just going to sleep. He was told that he must keep awake. When he had respired the gas for nearly two minutes, and seemed indisposed to activity of any kind, he was told, in a loud voice, to get up, and asked if he was not ready to dance; at the same time he was seized by the arm as if to lift him from the chair. He immediately sprang to his feet, saying he was ready for anything, and began capering and swinging his arms about as thought he had lost all control over his movements. He came to himself, however, in a few seconds, looked bewildered, and said he remembered nothing from the first few seconds after the commencement of the inhalation.
In the concentrated from it produces anesthesia in so rapid and agreeable a manner, that there is only time to remark that the gas has a pleasant taste and odor; that it causes a sense of dimness to pass before the eyes, and gives rise to a sound as of rushing water in the ears, when all consciousness and power of volition are annihilated. The outward signs of its action, as seen by a spectator, do not make quite so agreeable an impression on the mind, for with the commencement of anesthesia lividity of the face sets in. The muscles lose their tonicity; the jaws and lips fall asunder; the head droops, and the face assumes a besotted aspect. Generally, loud snoring accompanies inspiration, when the anesthesia is very profound, though this is not always the case. When an unusually large quantity of the gas has been inhaled to produce anesthesia, or when the gas has been in the slightest degree diluted with common air, convulsions may occur affecting the muscular system generally, though it is more common for only the muscles of one limb to be affected. Mr. Fox has noticed that violent twitchings often occur when young children are made to inhale the gas. The intermediate signs are, that the breathing becomes quicker in about twenty seconds after the commencement of inhalation; at the end of a minute, however, it becomes smaller again and less frequent. Complete anesthesia is sometimes produced in less than a minute, but in the majority of cases the inhalation must be continued a minute and a half. When the administration is discontinued, recovery very rapidly takes place, the first feelings being like those one has one being suddenly awakened from an agreeable sleep; and on rising form the chair there is, for a moment or two, a feeling of unsteadiness, together with slight confusion of ideas, and a tendency to stammering in speech. It is very rarely that any disagreeable after-effects are complained of. The first inspiration, and, I may say, the first contact of the gas with the pulmonary membrane, produced a general sensation of numbness somewhat like sleepiness. On the second inspiration the sensation of numbness was decided; I seemed to see a gauze vibrating before the vision, similar to that observed from the influence of chloroform. On the third inspiration the numbness had made rapid progress, but intelligence remained, with perfect freedom of movement. I pricked my hand with a pin and found that sensibility was considerably diminished. After the fourth inspiration, I began to be separated from the external world; ideas were vague and exalted, yet I was quite able to prick my hand with a pin, but did not experience any sensation therefrom; the loss of sensibility, however, was not complete; I was conscious of contact like that of a blunt instrument; the gauze before the eyes was white and very brilliant, and the vibrations were very rapid resembling persistent phosphorescence; I continued to assist in the experiment of which I was the subject. On the fifth inspiration I lost consciousness and fell into a profound sleep without troubled dreams; during this the inhaler was removed from my mouth without my being conscious of it, and after remaining in this condition for half an hour, I came to myself; the numbness disappeared very rapidly after inhaling pure air. After four or five inspirations the forehead was covered with perspiration.
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.