376 CHLOROFORM 



thesia, and accordingly, from time to time, he should test 

 the cornea, for returning reflex activity, which indicates 

 that more chloroform should be given. With these pre- 

 cautions, anaesthesia may be safely continued for an hour 

 or more. Dogs, without harm, have been kept under 

 chloroform for two hours, and chloroformed deeply on 

 consecutive days. Frohner mentions that sheep will stand 

 two hours' anaesthesia, repeated daily for eight days, about 

 an ounce of the drug being used each day. 



Whenever respiration is impaired, unduly slow, shallow, 

 or gasping, the administration of the drug should be stopped, 

 fresh air freely allowed, the tongue drawn forward, and the 

 head placed on a lower level than the rest of the body. But 

 if natural respiration ceases, not a moment must be lost 

 in adopting artificial respiration. The Hyderabad experi- 

 ments show that every animal was revived, in which arti- 

 ficial respiration was used within thirty seconds after natural 

 respiration ceased, and in some cases in which it was used 

 after fifty seconds, but in none in which the treatment was 

 delayed for sixty seconds after respiration stopped. When 

 the pulse and heart had ceased to beat, neither artificial 

 respiration nor other remedies, however promptly used, were 

 effectual in restoring life. In such emergencies, faradic 

 stimulation of the phrenic nerve and inhalation of amyl- 

 nitrite may aid in restoring respiratory movements. 



Chloroform depresses all muscular tissue and notably 

 cardiac muscle. Thus with prolonged administration the 

 contractile power of the heart gradually diminishes, and 

 the pulse becomes weaker, until the heart stops in a con- 

 dition of extreme dilatation, unable to propel the blood any 

 longer. Compared with ether, chloroform has several 

 advantages as an anaesthetic : it is more agreeable to the 

 taste, is less irritant, about one-fourth of the quantity 

 suffices, it produces less preliminary excitement, the effects 

 continue longer after inhalation ceases, and it is less inflam- 

 mable. Many practitioners, however, prefer ether, as it 

 does not so readily paralyse either the heart or the vaso- 

 motor centre. In protracted and serious operations, 

 especially in dogs or cats, it is accordingly desirable in many 

 cases to use ether. In some parts of the Continent the 



