The use of cocain by the subarachnoid method was demonstrated by J. Leonard Corning of New York in 1884, later by Bier, Tuffier and others. During the past year it has been tried by most of the surgeons in the country for operations below the diaphragm, and by many of them discarded on account of objections of various kinds. It has been used in a few thousand cases, but not enough to establish its safety, as compared with the general anesthetics. Its analgesic properties can not be doubted for operations in the lower extremities.
I have found that the analgesia can be extended for operations in the upper part of the body. In the transactions of the State Medical Society of California, in April, 1901, I reported eight cases where I had extended the analgesia over the entire body.
I have now used this method 673 times without a failure of