Anaesthetics : their uses and administration / by Dudley Wilmot Buxton.

  • Buxton, Dudley Wilmot.
Date:
1907
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Anaesthetics : their uses and administration / by Dudley Wilmot Buxton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    CHAPTER III. NITROUS OXIDE GAS. Chemical and Physical Properties.—Nitrous oxide gas [NgO] is a colourless body possessing a slightly sweet taste and colour, sp. gr. 1'527. It possesses a neutral reaction and consists of nitrogen and oxygen in chemical union, thus differing from the air, which is com- posed of these gases in mechanical mixture. Nitrous oxide gas possesses well-defined anesthetic properties, which appear to be quite distinct from the asphyxial symptoms frequently accompanying its administration. This gas agrees with oxygen in many of its chemical properties; thus, it supports combustion when ignited bodies are plunged into it. At a pressure of fifty atmo- spheres and a temperature of 44*6° F. (7° C), it becomes liquefied, and advantage is taken of this to enable the gas to be carried about in iron or steel cylinders, these latter occupying less space. Liquid nitrous oxide, sp. gr. -OSG at 0° C, is colourless, and mobile; it has the lowest re- fractive index of all fluids. Fifty gallons of the gas are yielded by fifteen ounces of the liquid nitrous oxide. It is extremely sensitive to heat, undergoing rapid expansion as its temperature is raised. This is a point of practical importance, as cylinders of this gas are liable to burst if subjected to heat, indeed this accident has occurred. Nitrous oxide is decomposed at a red heat, but shows no tendency to undergo change at lower levels of tempera- ture. Cold water dissolves more than its own volume of