Age and Ether Anesthesia in Mice. ∗

Abstract

Summary

Mice of various ages were subjected to ether anesthesia in a chamber containing a fixed quantity of ether. Old mice took longer to fall asleep than did young mice. Old and young mice took much longer to recover than did adult mice of 1-8 months, and were more variable in response to ether, both behaviorally and physiologically. Sex was a factor of minor importance in time required to fall asleep, and made no measurable difference in time to recover. Time to fall asleep was correlated with time to recover in adults, but uncorrelated in young and old mice. Recovery time was more variable than time to fall asleep. Mechanisms to explain these results are discussed.