The enterprise-recorder. (Madison, Fla.) 1908-1933, 1908-07-09

| mime obedience. The man who's
scheduled to take an anaesthetic
fights the idea OF the thing right up
TO the minute that he crawls or is
lifted upon the table, and even after.
he begins to inhale from the cone he
is fguratively shaking his head about
It and protesting against It away deep
down in his midriff.
men who are booked to surrender
themselves to an anaesthetic will
worry and harass their medical men
constantly with all sorts Of extraor-
binary hearsay yarns and morbid the
cries Of their own about the effects
of anaesthetics. They'll relate stor-
les of friends of theirs-or people
they've read about, who've died under
the effect Of anaesthetics. When they
catch sight Of a newspaper headline.
Died on the Operating Table they
spread Il out triumphantly before the
doctors eyes and invite him to Just
look at that. will he. and then say
that there's no danger in properly adj
ministered anaestheties! They never
think of the thousands and thousands
Of cases every day in which anaes-
thetics are administered without the
patients dying or. indeed, ever being
in the slightest danger Of death. They
cite the cases they read about or hear
Of, and then they burn up their ner-
vous systems brooding over these iso-
lated instances.
Men, in brief, are more pig-headed
than women. Take that from me. I
am fully aware that the contrary view
is the generally accepted one. But I
utterly reject and repudiate, the con
trary view.
Il will cite you a little Illustration
by way of proof Recently was call
ed I'm by a man who showed me a
sort Of pet Of his The pet was a re-
curing abscess. It was nothing very
deadly, although he had allowed his
fear Of anaesthesia to prevent its ell
mination for altogether too long a
time. should have felt like smiling
at this mans story Of that abscess had
he not been so tremendously nervous
and worried. His abscess developed
first eleven years ago. II he had
drawn a little ether into his lungs at
that time and allowed a surgeon to
remove the thing, he'd never have
been bothered by 1t again, but he hat
ed anaesthesia. Therefore he would
only permit his surgeon to lance the
thing. II was a dermoid abscess. and,
OF course. 1t came back and resumed
operations in time. He had 1t lane
ed twice again during the ensuing
years His medical men told him
each time that the trouble never could
be remedied until the abscess was
completely removed, but that, to have
1t removed entirely, he would have to
submit to an anaesthetic, else he
wouldn't be able TO stand the pain Of
the operation.
When l told him. out Of hand,
that wouldn't think OF adding him to
my list Of patients II he would not
permit the administration of an anaes-
thetic so that | could get at that alb
scess once for all and dispose OF II
It was almost comical to observe the
mans grief and distress. It was the
more comical because this man was
huge lummox Of hardy, rugged in
dlVidual, with body, barring that abb
scess, as sound as a bell of brass.
aesthetic business, be certainly had,
and be told me all OF them and ali
about them. Folks died under anaes-
thesia a blamed sight oftener than
they came out Of it, and so on and
SO on, until / began to look at my
watch Then every ounce Of him
fighting me in advance, be told me
that he'd take the anaesthetic-tol
me In a sort OF my-blood-will.be-upon.
your-head way-and the next day
brought the etherizing doctor and
nurse along, and the operation was
performed athis home, and hen nev.
er have another abscess In all hum.
an probability as long as he lives.
Up to the last conscious gasp that
man was ag'ln me and all Of my muir
derous kind. AS matter OF fact Ave
minutes after he came out OF the
ether ne was yelling for a cigarette.
ana ne wasn't even sick at the stom.
ach' as good many ether patients
are "A cigarette, said he, land a
leetle more Of that ether I like "a
New kind Of jag. And WASN'T be
nhtne and merry about it--after Il
was Overt But wouldn't remind
him Of what sad figure he'd been
cutting In the world for eleven wears