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Dr. Dawbarn wished to insert the following notes in his article in our August issue; they arrived too late, however, for this purpose:
[Prof. R. Ogden Doremus informs the writer that many years ago in a lecture at Steinway Hall, N. Y., for the benefit of the widow of Dr. Horace Wells, Dr. J. Marion Sims stated that he (Sims) had performed an operation an hour and twenty minutes long under laughing-gas anesthesia.
It would seem an obvious advantage and great convenience if laughing-gas mingled with 10 per cent. of oxygen could be liquefied together and supplied from the same canister to the patient. This is not feasible, however. Oxygen requires 300 atmospheres (more than two tons to the square inch) plus the most intense cold to make it liquid, and would hardly be safe in a portable canister. Laughing-gas needs but 40 atmospheres for liquefaction, as stated heretofore.—R. H. M. D.]