Year: 1872

Inc reCeDC QeaCu from lrlRnI
| in a dentists chair in this city of a
woman to whom nitrous oxide or
laughing gas, had been imprudently
administered, has called renewed at
tention to the dangers that attend the
inhalation Of an@sthetics generally.
1t seems to be the opinion of the most
experienced medical men that no dan
ger attends the operation if it is prop
erly conducted.


DR.. Curtis of Cincinnati holds that
many surgeons ale too hasty in put
ting persons under the an@sthetic in
1uence. He himself determined to
give chloroform very slowly, and to
urge large inhalations of atmospheric
air. AS patients seem inclined to re-
fuse full inspirations to avoid inhaling
the chloroform, he gave it loosely
through a silk handkerchief, and SO
slowly that from IS to 80 minutes
were required to prepare the patient
for operation, never giving it fast
enough to diminish sensibly the force
or volume of the pulse or to darken
the color of the surface. he never
gave more than was necessary to pre-
vent sensation, pinching the surface.
to learn when this was accomplished,
and renewing the inhalation during
operation only when he found sensa-
tion returning. Soon after the intro
duction of chloroform into surgery, a
Boston surgeon, while operating on q
patient under its influence, discovered
that the blood flowed very freely but,
it was dark blood, he concluded it
was venous, and would not seriously
affect the subject. Soon he was
alarmed by the sihking of the patient,
who was only restored, by strong
stimulants and friction. The operator
had given chloroform without the ad-
mixture Of quantity Of atmospheric
air sufficient to purify the blood Of
carbon; and hence, though he had
wounded an artery, as he discovered
by the irregular discharge, the blood
was purple, instead of vermillion, as it
should have been. The chloroform
had been given too fast, excluding the
oxygen Of the atmosphere, as was
evident by the dark color. Of the blood,
the reduction Of the force of the cir
cuation, and the purple hue or the
surface generally. This is point to
which great attention should be paid
in the use OF the an@sthetic agent.


The inhalation of chloroform is only
a speedy method of making person
"dead drunk" and Dr. Curtis soon
saw that if the an@sthetic state we're
brought Cd gradually, as intoxicatiou
generally is, and stopped as soon as
sense and muscular motion are by
taking alcoholic liquors, it produced
no worse effect upon the system. In
both cases the patient often, vomits,
both when taking the narcotic and
when getting rid of it; and in both,
insensibility to the severest operations
may be produced. By taking proper
care in regard to these things, DR..
Curtis says that operations may safely
be performed on very small children
and very old persons, on those whose
lungs or hearts arc diseased, or who
are much reduced by chronic ailments
of various kinds.


A singular effect which chloroform
has upon some persons is it's dulling
the brain and destroying the intellect
ual faculties for months after it has
been taken, and after physical health
has been restored. One gentleman of
active mind, ready thinker and fluent
writer, might be named who has been
under the influence of chloroform
three or four times for surgical pur-
poses, and after each time his intellect
has been tol pid for months, though
his surgical recovery was rapid
Seisatifc american.