Zippo Lighter Fluid

This may be a little off topic but involves small 4 stroke engines, so may be appropriate for generators or other camping equiptment. Today, I couldn't get my lawnmower to start. In the past, I have dripped a little gas down the throat of the carborator of small engines to prime the pump. This mower had a side draft carburator, so doing that didn't appear to be possible. While searching the garage for a can of ether starting fluid, I came across a can of Zippo lighter fluid. Why not ? I sprayed a little stream into the throat of the carburator and it fired right up. I've never heard of anyone doing that in the past but it seem more controlable than dumping gas down the carburator and it has to be safer than ether. Am I missing something? Was this a bad idea?