^'W 



iV 



ji> 



Popular Science Monthly 



Vol. 90 

 Xo. 1 



239 Fourth Avenue, New York City 



January, 1917 



$1.50 

 Annually 



Don't Shoot the Dog — Help Him as 

 if He Were Human 



IF some cats and dogs were not dumb they 

 would undoubtedly get up a testimonial 

 to Dr. George W. Little to express their 

 gratitude to him for introducing a substitute 

 for ether^a substitute which enables them 

 to withstand operations that ^re particu- 

 larly hazardous when performed under ether. 



Although because of lack of i?nagination 

 animals do not suffer mentally as do 

 humans when facing an operation, it is 

 impossible .to perform a serious operation 

 with the aid of- a local anesthetic. Dr. 

 Little, therefore, set 'about to find some 

 anesthetic which would render the opera- 

 tion painless to the animal, would not.^i 

 affect its heart aetion and. would not caiise__ 

 it to siifferfrom shock."^^e has succeeded^ 

 by adapting to his uses the gas anesthetic 

 used by dental surgeons. 



The machine which Dr. Little employs 

 in his work in the Animal Hospital in Xew 

 York city, conducted by the American 

 Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to 

 Animals, consists of two cylinders, one 

 containing nitrous oxide and the other 

 oxygen. The cylinders are con- 

 nected with two bags by 

 tubes. One bag is filled 

 with tiie gas, the other 

 with the oxygen. The 

 outlet of each bag 

 passes into one tube 

 connected with the 

 mouthpiece that is 

 attached to the pa- 

 tient's nose. The 

 proportions of the 

 gas employed may 

 be regulated by 

 means of valves. 



The dog or cat in 

 need of an operation 

 is placed on the oper- 

 ating table and the 

 mouthpiece adjusted 

 over its nose. The 

 nitrous oxide gas is 



turned on. In a short time the animal loses 

 consciousness. - It is then given a little 

 oxygen to sustain its heart action, \^'ith 

 the use of oxygen which the surgeon ad- 

 ministers at his discretion, the patient may 

 remain under the anesthetic for hours. 



During the operation the animal feels 

 no pain whatever. When it comes out of 

 the unconscious state it is able to walk to 

 its ward in the hospital and apparently feels 

 no ill eipcts at all. The new anesthetic has 

 been particularly successful when given to 

 old dogs which suffer from tumors. With the 

 use of ether for such a serious operation an 

 aged dog has very little chance for recovery*. 



A child's toy automobile, a part of an old 

 wash-boiler and a small motor are the 

 component parts of this little machine 



Converting -la Discarded Toy into 

 a Real Automobile 



THAT all the ingenuity in the automo- 

 bile line is not confined to the workers 

 in the big factories, where the various 

 makes of big cars are produced, is evidenced 

 by this'.picture. This boy-,*down in Texas, 

 where the prevailing ambition is to own a 

 farm so it can be mortgaged for an auto- 

 mobile, had the auto-bug himself. The 

 farm and mortgage seemed too 

 remote for his earnest longing, 

 so he made his own car. 

 Taking an old, battered 

 toy automobile that some 

 child of wealth had dis- 

 carded, he attached 

 thereto the little mo- 

 tor from a bicycle. 

 The hood he impro- 

 vised from part of 

 an old wash-boiler. 

 The steering ap- 

 paratus . he made 

 himself. When the 

 machine was com- 

 plete it made the 

 trip to town, a dis- 

 tance of several 

 miles in fairly good 

 time for its s!:^e. Iti^ 

 still giving serxicc. 



