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does not paralyse the heart directly, yet that asphyxia with chloroform is very dangerous, and
generally causes the heart to stop much more quickly than asphyxia alone would do, although
to this rule there may be exceptions.
The influence of shock was very fully tested by the Commission, as will be soon from
Experiments 79 and 185. It was found to be very much less than what might have been
expected. These experiments are no doubt open to the objection that the operations intended
to produce shock were not performed at the time when sudden death from shock is said to be
most likely to occur, viz ., at the very beginning of the operation before any anæsthetic had
been given at all, but were done after the animal had first of all been thoroughly anæsthetised
and had only partially recovered from the anæsthesia. Of this objection the Commission took
full cognizance, but decided not to perform operations before anæsthetics had been given,
because animals are less liable to shock than man on account of their lower mental develop--
ment, and the chance of obtaining evidence of shock seemed too small to justify the infliction
of the pain which would necessarily have been entailed by operating without chloroform.
In THE LANCET of September 21st, 1889, we indicated that difference of temperature
might have something to do with the varying results obtained at Hyderabad and elsewhere,
and the Commission consequently noted the temperature of the room as well as of the animal
in most of their experiments. The effect of chloroform upon animals with a fatty heart was
ascertained by administering phosphorus to the animals previously, so that their Organs became
fatty; but as will be seen from Experiment 79, the effect was less marked than might have
been anticipated.
The lamentable case of death from the combined influence of nitrous oxide and tight-
lacing which occurred in Edinburgh last autumn shortly before the Second Hyderabad Com--
mission began their work induced them to test the effect of tight-lacing in monkeys subjected
to the action of chloroform. It will be seen that death occurred rapidly. No doubt this might
readily have been anticipated, and the Commission no doubt would not have tried the experi--
ment had not the death of the unfortunate lady shortly before shown that the danger of tight-
lacing when taking an anæsthetic was not sufficiently appreciated. These experiments of the
Commission have caused much remark by many of our lay contemporaries, who did not seem
to understand that their object had nothing to do with tight-lacing in general, but simply
with tight-lacing as affecting the action of anæsthetics.
As we have already pointed out, a question of such importance is not likely to be finally
settled either by clinical observation alone or experiment upon animals alone; the two must
be combined.
The Experiments of the Second Hyderabad Commission have supplied us with a
mass of experimental data such as has never been obtained before, and is not likely to be
obtained again, at least for many years; but in order to have this supplemented from the
clinical side, we issued with THE LANCET of March 15th a form of inquiry regarding deaths
from anæsthetics which we trust that our readers will fill up and return as soon as possible, and
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