570 



SCIENCE PROGRESS 



Persons who habitually take alcohol to excess require more 

 chloroform than the normal amount (fig. 6) : how much more 



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Fig. 6. — Alcoholic Patient taking more than the average. 



cannot be definitely stated. Occasionally one finds an individual 

 who combines several of these characteristics. One such is 

 represented by the curve (fig. 7). The patient, a big, thick-set, 

 muscular man, required immediate operation as a result of an 

 " accident," which took the shape of stab just below the liver, 

 received in a drunken brawl. After nearly half an hour, 

 during which he inspired 3 to 3*5 per cent, chloroform vapour, 

 the anaesthetist had to resort to the open method to keep the 

 abdominal muscles sufficiently relaxed. 



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Fig. 7. — Thick-set, muscular, alcoholic Adult taking much more than the average 

 amount. Note that the "mask" gave at least more than 3*5 per cent. 



An altogether different class of case is sometimes found, 

 where there is good reason to suspect that the dangers 

 attending the use of any general anaesthetic are much greater 

 than usual. One of these persons, an elderly, corpulent 

 woman, was known to have a marked degeneration of the 

 heart muscle. Ether would have been dangerous from the 

 tendency to cause bronchitis that often occurs with this 



