Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-02

driatic by ophthalmologtsts in solution OF
one-tenth to one-ifth per cent. In 1900
SchneiderIin combined it with morphine
and used it to produce general surgical an
esthesa, but it does not appear to have
met with favor until 1903, when numerous
German surgeons began to use 1t and pub
Iished their results. 1t was first admins
tered in the Pitt Hospital France, Decem-
Der 5. 1904. Physiologically its action is
said 70 be very similar to hyoscne Inc
patient is thrown into a profound sleep,
from which he awdkens as from natural
sleep.
Produces Natural Sleep.
Among the advantages of this new anes
thetic and one of the most important Is
that the worry and dread and excitement
usually preceding the administration of
general anesthetfc and the transportation
of the patient to the operating room are en-
tirely abolished. Also the patient has no
recollection of anything which takes place
after the first second injection. He lies
quietly in his bed, chatting, perhaps, with
the nurse or doctor, when a hypodermtc
injection is given to induce him to go to
sleep. In a little while he becomes drowsy
and falls to sleep. A second injection Is
given. and the sleep, which Is perfectly
natural, becomes deeper. If the patient is
shaken or called loudly he will awake as
from a natural slumber, but pinching or
pricking has no effect. After sleeping an
hour third injection is usually given,
Grafton is then performed and need not be
hurried; the wound Is dressed, and still the
sleep continues for from three to five hours.
when the patient awakens as from a nat
ural and refreshing slumber. He has no
sense Of pain or discomfort. No nausea
ensues, as Is the case when ether or chloro-
form are used. No knowledge Of having
had any operation performed Is apparent.
The patient usually asks, upon awakening,
when they are going to operate. No un-
pleasant after-effects are present. After
receiving some nourishment the patient
usually falls to sleep again, and may not
awaken again until next morning. Even
then no pain Is experienced at the seat OF
the operation, as the anesthesia remains for
one or two days. These advantages are Of
the greatest Importance and value and
seem to greatly enhance the chances of re-
covery even after the most serious opera
tons
Operations lasting hours, II necessary can
be performed without the patient knowing
or feeling or remembering anything. Such
has been the case in about One-half of the
cases thus far. The only difficulty observed
thus far is in determining the amount of
the drug to be administered, owing to the
difference in susceptibility of patients But
this difficulty Is easily overcome by. begin
ming with a minimum dose.
Administer Hypodermically.
Anesthesia by means Of scopolamine is eff
fected by hypodermic injections made with
dn oSiiAsO, us duiHifllSlTdtlOn 49,
therefore. extremely simple. All operators
do not use the same solution. nor do they
proceed in the same manner. On one point
however, they all agree-aH recognize the
necessity of adding a certain amount Of
morphine to the scopolamine solution, as
morphine is a powerful antidote to scopo-
famine and renders it's use harmless The
most important polut Is the relative proper
ton that the solution should contain of
each of these drugs, not only as regards its
harmlessness, but as regards its anesthetic
effect. It is usually given in three hypo-
dermic injections. the patient passing with
each into a deeper sleep. until after the
third, he is quite insensible. In the statis-
tics that have been published 1t Is found
that Israel discovered that an average of
90 per cent of the patients sleep perfectly
without the use of any other anesthetic:
Dirk H. per cent, and Block % per cent
1t should be noted that when 1t is necessary
to employ an additional anesthetfc II must
never be ether, but always chloroform
Advantages Of Scopolamine.
From the fact that a patient can be
aroused by shaking or being spoken to In a
loud voice 1t Is necessary to observe certain
precautions: He must be moved with great
care and absolute silence must be observed
during the operation. The advantages in
the use Of the new anesthetic are numerous.
The patient is saved the fear of nitrous
liminary struggling of anesthetfzation, the
post-operative retching, vomiting, thirst,
"ether back" and much Of the pain.
1t is well-known historical fact that
certain plants and drugs were used by the
+ ancients to deaden pain before operations
DioscorIdes in his writings speaks of the
sleeping apple" and gives directions for
its preparation as follows: Take the juice
Of the water hemlock, the leaves of the
poppy. the leaves Of the hyoscyamus plant,
the root Of the mandogora and a small por-
|. ton OF musk, beaten together until the
juice is extracted. In case OF amputation,
or when the htE iron was used to scar
wound to close the veins and arteries be-
fore the time Of Ambrose Pare, who dlscov-
cred how to tie an artery. this fluid was
placed on q sponge and applied to the nos
trtis to deaden pain. Paulus Aeginatus re-
fers to the use of the wine Of the mandrake
plant to relieve the pain OF aunputation.
In Biblical Times.
According to Lyman, the wine or vine