CHLOROFORM IN USE 



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an altogether unusual amount of chloroform. On the other 

 hand, one case occurred in the present series, where the patient 

 had a tendency to goitre, and where much less chloroform 

 was required than the normal. 



Distinctly fat people, as a rule, require more than the 

 usual amount. It happened that on one day two patients 

 presented themselves for the same operation, by the same 

 surgeon — one a thin man, the other a lady of very comfortable 

 dimensions ; and the two curves, reproduced as figs. 4 and 5, 

 give an interesting contrast. 



22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 



Fig. 4.— Thin Patient taking little Chloroform. 



16 20 22 2* 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 



Fig. 5. — Stout Patient taking much Chloroform. 



It is not yet certain that the different amount of adipose 

 tissue is the important feature in producing this result. Dr. 

 Levy's negative instance would point to some other cause, 

 still unknown, that might have to be considered. Fat persons 

 often have a comparatively inefficient lung-ventilation, and this 

 certainly would diminish the amount of chloroform absorbed, 

 and so render a higher percentage necessary. But the idea 

 is not at all unreasonable that the adipose tissue subtracts 

 chloroform from the blood and stores it up in a comparatively 

 inert place ; and so the cells of the cerebral cortex would get 

 less chloroform than would otherwise be the case. 



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