The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1885-04-17
SURGERY WITHOUT PAIN.
Wonderful Success Of the New Anesthetic-
A Great Demand for Cocaine.

A prominent eye surgeon was re-
moving the bandaees from the eye OF
patient at the Post Graduate School
of Medicine recently when Tribune
reporter entered the room and asked
"Do you still use cocaine as an an@s-
theticP'
"Well, / should say so, in operations
upon the eye feel now that | could
not get along without it. In general
practice it has driven ether and chloro-
form out of the field. 1t is not only
a wonderful discovery, but it is aston
ishing how rapidly it has risen into
favor. Even the most conservative in
my profession, who look with disfavor
upon any thing new, will acknowledge
that they have, at least, heard of it. 7"
''What is cocaiDeP"
sit is the alkaloid of the leaves of a
shrub, originally wild but now largely
cultivated, known as the erythrorylona
coca. 1t grows in South America, prin-
cipally in Peru and Bolivia, and looks
much like the ordinary tea leaf. DR..
A. Neimann, of Goslar, Germany, gave
it it's present name in 1860. But little
was then known of the proper ties of
the drug. In some experiments, it
was found that dogs could be killed by
it when given in large doses. Its
effect was to paralyze the respiratory
organs. Experiments have been made
| from time to time with it since, but it
has never been looked upon as of much
value as therapeutic agent. That it
would produce local anasthesia was
unknown until it was accidentally dis
covered by young medical student
named Roller at Vienna, last Septem-
ber. Its merits have since been thor
oughly tested and discussed all over
the civilized world. [ think that it
has been tried in more cases in this
country than the other, and / believe
that the palm for bold experimentation
and demonstration of the an@sthetic
properties in many branches of minor
surgery should be awarded to Ameri-
ca. There is hardly a field in which
it has not been used with success Too
much cannot be said in its praise in
surgical operations upon the eye, ear
and nose. Almost every conceivable
operation has been tried in these parts
with cocaine, and in many cases, the
first the patient knew-so far as feel
ing went-that any cutting had been
done, was when the wound was being
bandaged. 1t is much easier to tell
where it has not been used than where
it has been. 1t has brought sleep to
eyes that would not close, soothed an
cry wounds so that they were painless,
stopped acute hemorrhages and dis
tressing asthmatic spasms, has allayed
the irrltability of the mucus lining of
the mouth, so that laryngoscopic ex-
aminations could be made without dis
tress, and food could be given in the
last stages of consumption, and has
made the boring of the dental engine
almost pleasure, and the pulling of
teeth painless.
Its value is incalculable in gyn@col-
ogy and genito-urinary surgery.
''lf it true, as reported, that injuri-
GUS effects have been found to follow
the use of cocaine in some casesP'
$50 far as my experience goes-and
have treated hundreds of cases in
which it has been freely used-I have |
yet to report the first case of injurious |
consequences. l have heard of one |
case of hysterical paralysis and num-
Der OF cases of nervous prostration fol-
lowing its use. l do not believe that
these conditions were the result of the
cocaine, but 1 think they grew out of
another circumstance that appears in
all the operations in which it is used.
1t is only a local anesthetic; the
senses remain perfectly active, and the
operations of the mind normal. AL
though no pain is felt when the knife
DR. other instrument enters the pa
tient's flesh, yet the glistening knife
and the squirting blood can be seen,
and if the patient has not strong
nerves the sight of these things will
awaken horror in the mind and rap
dly exhaust the vital energy. 1t is
ear more than cocaine that produces ,
IN i'll effect. There are also special
'ases in which cocaine cannot be used
o advantage. Take, for instance, a
person of delicate nervous organiza- ,
ion, troubled with squint or some ,
'ther eye difficulty where an operation {
5 necessary. The eye could be an ,
ssthetized but not the mind, and the |
'atient would become exceedingly 3
and twist and squirm a
rom purely mental impressions, and h
ender the surgeon liable to inilict an g
injury that might be fatal to the eve. 4
ii CuecS VI tulS nature the Ol0 b
must be used" q
us cocaine made in this countryp" +
"Yes, 1t is made by a number of Il
rms. When first used last fall it was a
ut up only by Merck, German Ii
hemist, was very scarce and worth d
lore than its weight in gold. II was o
lade by secret process. American Il
hemists as soon as there was a de-
Iand for it, however, began to exper-
nent, and after months of patient
ial and the destruction of a large T
lantity of coca leaves, have at last III
ven us an alkaloid as good, and ol
any think better, than Mei ck's i'm 81
,rted preparation, The price, though d,
has been reduced some ewhat, is still r
and has not reached nor o.
al basis. The demand has increased fr
yond the supply. twill take prob st;
'ly two years to bring cocaine to its to
oper position as a commercial arti- la.
3. The demand for coca leaves has or
Ixck 4. | ~.