A guide to therapeutics / by Robert Farquharson.

  • Farquharson, Robert, 1836-1918.
Date:
1877
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A guide to therapeutics / by Robert Farquharson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    131/320 (page 119)
    stead of diminishing the ai'teiial pressui'e, and acts as a tonic to the heart, which continues to pulsate in fatal cases after the arrest of breathing. The fol- lowing is the order of involve- ment of the nerve centres :— 1. The cerebrum. 2. The sensoiy centres of the cord. 3. The motor centres of the cord. 4. The sensory centres of the medidla oblongata. 5. The motor centres of the medulla. chloroform. It cannot, how- ever, be considered absolutely safe, and it labom-s mider several disadvantages, such as the greater length of time re- quired to produce anaesthesia., the violent struggling occasion- ally observed, the disagreeable smell of the drug, &c.; and it is therefore doubtful whether it will ever effectually displace the more commonly used anaesthetic. Mode of Administration. It is most important that no air be admitted dming ether administration, as most violent resistance and dangerous struggling supervene if the vapour be not inhaled in a state of pmity. Non-attendance to this point caused ether to fall into discredit soon after its original introduction, and it is only lately that we have been fully convinced that, by using this simple precaution, we may readily obtain complete anaesthesia and peifect muscular relaxation in from three to eight minutes. Various inhalers have been devised to fit tightly over the mouth and nose, and it is here essential that some instrument of the kind should be used. When operating by ai'tificial light, do not forget the in- flammable nature of the vapom- of ether. SPIRITUS ^THERIS NITROSI. This preparation, in doses of from i fl. drachm to 2 fl. drachms, is dim-etic and diaphoretic, and is much used in feverish con- ditions.