ANÆSTHETIST TO HIS MAJESTY THE KING; ANESTHETIST AND INSTRUCTOR IN ANÆSTHETICS WITH ILLUSTRATIONS London MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1901 All rights reserved PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION IN placing the second edition of this work before the profession, my first duty is to express my sincere thanks for the kindness and consideration with which the preceding edition was received. So greatly did this reception exceed my expectations, that it emboldened me to somewhat extend the original scope of the book, and to attempt a task which I had always felt myself incompetent to undertake-that of dealing with the history and experimental physiology of my subject. Hardly had I entered upon my new labours when the first edition became exhausted, and for upwards of two years, during which time the book has been out of print, I have been steadily devoting all my spare time to the production of the present volume, hoping to secure for it as favourable a reception as that accorded to its predecessor. But the work as it now stands is substantially a new one, and I therefore cannot help feeling some misgivings as to its future. Happily these are tempered by the reflection that in my endeavours to make the book as comprehensive and complete as possible I have been fortunate enough to obtain the assistance of numerous friends; and if I have any claim whatever to an indulgent hearing, this must be my chief plea. When I say that the MS. of the new chapters dealing with the experimental physiology of anaesthesia has passed through the hands of Dr. Leonard. Hill, F.R.S., that Mr. Hugh Candy, B.Sc., F.C.S., has closely scrutinised all my chemical and chemico-physical statements, and that my colleague, Mr. H. Bellamy Gardner, in addition to kindly helping in many other directions, has spent much time in collecting and comparing all the available facts bearing upon the history of anaesthesia, it will be seen that the assistance I have received has been of |
