A New Apparatus for Adminis. 
. tering Anesthetics. 
IN FACE AND MOUTH OPERATIONS. 
BY EDMOND SOLTCHQN, M. D. 
PROFESSOR OF ANATOMY AND CLINTCXL SURGERY, TULANE UNIVERSITY, 
NEW ORLEANS, LA. 
[Reprinted from the Journal of the American Medical Association.! 
[Dr. Souchon applied for a patent for his anesthetizer to 
test the originality of his invention. Having succeeded in 
this, he now waives all his rights and privileges in all cases 
where the patent is used for medical purposes only.] 
SOUCHONS jXNeSTFdeTIZGFL 
Geo. Tieman & Co., Manufacturers. 107 Park Rgw, New York. 
This new apparatus has for its object to force the 
vapor alone of anesthetics into the pharynx through 
a tube passed into the nose or mouth, or to force the 
vapor into a cone. 2 
I call this apparatus by the newly coined word, 
" anesthetizer," because such a device requires really 
a new word to express its mode of action, which is 
active since the vapor is forced out of the receptacle 
into the patient by an agent which is outside of the 
patient, who is himself passive; whereas inhalers are 
passive and require the exposure to the air of the 
anesthetic for their proper working, and require also 
an active cooperation from the patient. 
It consists of a receptacle or bottle of suitable size 
with a stopper traversed by two tubes, an inlet and 
an outlet tube, neither of which dips into the liquid anes- 
thetic, bat stops close to the stopper. The two tubes are 
of the same diameter throughout and at both extrem- 
ities, about one-quarter of an inch more or less. 
The inlet tube is connected with a compressible 
bulb which is fixed at both ends to the receptacle by 
a simple metallic frame, so that the apparatus can 
be readily held and worked with one hand, leaving 
the other hand free to take care of the pulse. 
A ring adapted to the frame on the side opposite 
to the bulb, and through which a finger is passed, 
assists in the working. 
The outlet tube from the stopper is provided with 
a rubber tube of suitable length which is connected 
with a cone, or is introduced through the nose or 
through the mouth into the lower pharynx. 
The receptacle or bottle is filled one-third full 
only with an equal mixture of chloroform and ether. 
It is emptied by simply removing the cork or 
through a funnel. 
To guard against any possibility of forcing the 
liquid anesthetic through the outlet tube, and also to 
guard against any spilling, so as to enable the anes- 
thetist to lay the bottle on the bed or table without 
any apprehensions as to the consequences, it may be 3 
well to fill loosely the bottle with absorbent cotton 
to imbibe and hold the anesthetic; a sponge or any 
absorbent material will do as well. 
Without such an efficient and simple apparatus it 
is impossible to make a daily practical success of main- 
taining anesthesia in all operations on the face or its 
orifices, when otherwise the cone or mask has to be 
removed every few minutes to uncover the field of 
the operation to enable the operator to proceed. 
Soon after the inhaler is removed, the patient recov- 
ers from the effects of the anesthetic and the oper- 
ator has to stop to allow the cone or mask to be 
applied over the face. With this anesthetizer anes- 
thesia is maintained uninterruptedly. 
It is a great saving of time, pain, bleeding and 
shock to the patient, thereby contributing materially 
to the saving of life in operations which for the most 
part are long and bloody and often bring the patient 
to death's door. It is also a great saving of mental 
strain to the surgeon who can proceed rapidly and 
uninterruptedly with the operation. 
After the patient has been anesthetized in the ordi- 
nary manner, the nasal tube should be introduced 
down into the lower pharynx, otherwise the patient 
breathing through the mouth may not inhale suffi- 
ciently of the anesthetic. 
By compressing the bulb at the onset of an inspira- 
tion is best; this rule compels a closer watch over the 
respiration. 
By compressing the bulb more or less rapidly and 
thoroughly, the amount of the anesthetic is regulated • 
this must be borne in mind lest too much anesthetic 
be given. It does not require much anesthetic to 
maintain the anesthesia after the patient has been well 
anesthetized. 
This apparatus was employed throughout a whole 4 
operation by the author in a case of tumor of the 
superior maxilla which was operated upon by Dr. A. 
W. de Roaldes. It was the case of a boy 11 years 
old where a portion of the right superior maxilla 
had to be gouged for a most interesting case of 
odontoma. The patient was anesthetized by the ordi- 
nary method, but from the moment the operation 
began, the anesthesia was kept up by the above 
means, for over an hour, to the thorough satisfaction 
of all present. The operator did not stop one minute 
during the operation until it was completed. The 
anesthesia was complete all the time. At one time the 
head had been lowered (Rose's position), and kept in 
that position quite a long time, without interfering 
with the administration of the anesthetic. Barely 
three-quarters of an ounce of chloroform and ether 
was used. 
The apparatus was also used in the amphitheatre of 
the Charity Hospital on a patient from the service of 
the author (Ward Two). It was the case of a mulatto 
adult whose chin and lower jaw had been shot off, 
leaving a large gap which had to be closed by aplastic 
operation. Dr. Matas was kind enough to operate 
while the author administered the anesthetic with his 
apparatus. The operation was performed before the 
class of Tulane Medical College and of the members 
of the Polyclinic. The anesthesia lasted one hour 
and three-quarters with perfect satisfaction. No bad 
after effects followed in either of the two cases. The 
apparatus was later on used in other cases with equal 
satisfaction. 
Dr. A. L. Metz, Demonstrator of Practical Chem- 
istry in the Tulane Medical College, says that there 
are eight parts of air to one of chloroform forced out of 
the receptacle at each compression of the bulb when 
chloroform alone is used.