Up to this time I had believed the sole effect of the rapid inhalation was due to mere diversion of the will, and this was the only way nature could so violently exert herself--that of controlling the involuntary action of the lungs to her uses by the safety valve, or the voluntary movement.
The constant breathing of the patient for thirty seconds to a minute left him in a condition of body and mind resembling the effects of ether and chloroform in their primary stages. I could but argue that the prolonged breathing each time had done it; and, if so, then there must be some specific effect over and above the mere diversion by the will. To what could it be due? To the air alone, which went in excess into the lungs in the course of a minute! Why did I not then immediately grasp the idea of its broader application as now claimed for it? It was too much, gentlemen, for that hour. Enough had been done in this fourth step of conception to rest in the womb of time, until by evolution a higher step could be made at the maturity of the child.

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