228 



resources and in the capacity of his patient to bear well the chloro- 

 form, it will be better to give it so as to produce a decided effect at 

 once, by using a drachm of the article, and then afterwards keeping 

 up the impression by applying a smaller quantity to the mouth and 

 nostrils at the accession of each pain ; we merely mean to say, that 

 whatever may be thought of the safety of the latter mode, there 

 can be no doubt of the safety of the former. 



The anaesthetic agents, ether and chloroform, have now been 

 used in perhaps 2000 cases of midwifery, and so far as the com- 

 mittee have been able to learn without a single fatal, and very 

 few, if any, untoward results. If reliance, therefore, is ever to be 

 placed on human testimony, it would seem that enough had been 

 adduced in their favour to render it proper for the profession to give 

 them farther trial, and by careful examination and faithful report 

 of their effects, endeavour gradually and cautiously to establish 

 general principles by which their administration may hereafter be 

 directed. The committee, in a pretty extensive correspondence with 

 physicians in various parts of the country, have found an entire 

 unanimity of opinion among those who have tried these agents, as 

 to their favourable effects both in advancing the progress of the 

 labour, and in relieving the sufferings of the patient. (See Supplement 

 to this Report, p. 232.) 



And here we would beg leave to say, that if medical men, who 

 are desirous of ascertaining the peculiar operation of chloroform, 

 would try it on their own persons, much of the vague apprehension 

 in relation to it, which now pervades the profession, would be at 

 once dispelled, and very few would find their pre-conceived opinions 

 of its precise mode of operation, fully realized. Let them commence 

 with twenty or thirty drops, and gradually increase the quantity at 

 the subsequent trials according to its effects. They will thus learn 

 practically and safely how to use it, and acquire tact and confidence 

 in administering it to others. 



The committee think it probable or certain, that the following 

 benefits will be found to result from the use of anaesthetic agents in 

 the practice of midwifery. 



1st. That the pain attendant upon parturition, which is frequently 

 so agonizing to the delicate organization of woman, and occasionally 

 even fatal from its severity, may be partially or wholly relieved. 



2d. That even in very small quantities, they benumb the acute- 

 ness of sensibility and thus allay that feeling of fear and apprehen- 

 sion, which is often so distressing and injurious to the parturient 

 female. 



3d. That this tranquillizing impression may be kept up for hours 



