328 Diseases of Poultry 



apparent what these reasons are. Connected with the 

 respiratory organs proper of a bird are the relatively enor- 

 mous air sacs. During anaesthesia the ether or chloroform 

 vapor gets into these air sacs either by diffusion or directly 

 as a result of respiratory movements. There is reason to 

 believe that the vapor, once in the air sacs, stays there until 

 it is absorbed by the tissues ; in other words, it appears to be 

 the case that the great bulk of an inhaled anaesthetic in the 

 case of birds must be eliminated from the body by way of the 

 urinary organs rather than the respiratory organs. Assum- 

 •ing this to be the case there is no difficulty in seeing why 

 forcing an anaesthetic in a bird leads to disastrous results. 

 The relatively enormous area for absorption afforded by the 

 air sacs insures that a correspondingly large amount of the 

 anaesthetic will be taken up very quickly. This almost imme- 

 diately affects the vagus center, with the consequent cardiac 

 inhibition, respiratory failure and death. 



The exact method of procedure which we now follow in 

 anaesthetizing birds is as follows : Immediately before be- 

 ginning the administration of the anaesthetic a 1-200 grain 

 atropin sulphate tablet is dissolved in 1 c.c. of warm normal 

 saline solution. The salt solution with the dissolved atropin 

 is then injected subcutaneously in the axilla. Ether is used 

 as the anaesthetic. It is administered from a small improvised 

 mask which admits of the condition of the comb being seen 

 during the operation. Depending on how hard the ether is 

 pushed, the bird is ready for operation in from 15 to 20 

 minutes after the anaesthesia is begun. The dosage of 1-200 

 grain atropin to a bird may seem large, but we have never 

 been able to see the slightest bad effect from it, provided the 

 administration of ether wds begun immediately after the 

 injection of the atropin.^ 



^ The foregoing account of anaesthesia is taken from a paper by 

 two authors (Pearl and Surface) published in Jour. Amer. Med Assoc, 

 Vol. 52, pp. 382-383, 1909. 



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