The apparatus for administering ether is very simple, consisting in a towel or newspaper folded in cone form, with a moistened sponge at the apex to receive the fluid. During the first part of inhalation it is well to hold the cone a little distance from the patient's face, that the first few inhalations may be mixed with atmospheric air, otherwise an oppressed, smothered feeling may possess the patient. This feeling happily passes away in a few minutes, and the cone may be held close to the face, bringing the patient under its influence as soon as possible; better results are obtained, the after-effects pass away sooner, and there is less danger of nausea than when administered slowly, taking a long time to bring the patient under its influence. It is well to observe that the temperature of the room be warm and well ventilated, avoiding all draughts. The patient should be in a recumbent position—better perfectly horizontal, all tight garments around the waist and throat should be loosened, allowing perfect freedom to the organs of respiration. With a finger on the pulse, an ear to the breathing and an eye to the patient, the operator is to judge when anæsthesia is complete. The physiological action produced can be summed in a few words. Observation shows that the functions of the cerebrum are affected first; next, the anterior or motor centers soon fail to respond to mechanical irritation, yet the functions of the medulla-oblongata (the center of respiration) are performed. This is the proper stage to appreciate, for, if the inhalation be still further carried on, the sensory and finally the motor functions of the medulla-oblongata are involved, and death ensues from paralysis of the respiratory centers. In conclusion, I must not fail to observe that ether has a peculiar and exciting effect on the genital organs, and a prudent operator will not fail to have a third party present throughout all the period of anæsthesia, otherwise his honor and reputation might be forever blasted by the emphatic assertions of some female laboring under the unhappy delusion of having been injured beyond reparation. DISCUSSION OF DR. STODDARD'S PAPER: PORCELAIN FILLINGS.[4] PRESIDENT BRIGGS:—Gentlemen, I think we all are paying more attention to porcelain fillings than we formerly did. Since 1883 I have referred to them in my lectures as one of the methods of preserving the teeth, and have used them in my practice. One point particularly interesting to me is the method Dr. Stoddard uses, of packing the clay into the plaster impression, biscuiting it, then removing the surrounding plaster and finishing the fusing. I presume it is because the carver I have employed does not do this that he fails to give me good results from irregular impressions. I imagine he tries to take them out while they are in the clay, and of course, cannot, if the shapes are peculiar.