704: GENERAL THERAPEUTIC MEASURES 



and to restore vascular tension, since danger is imminent, 

 not from loss of blood corpuscles, but from lack of a circu- 

 lating medium. There is a sufficient number of red cor- 

 puscles to carry on the respiratory and oxygen-bearing 

 functions even after the greatest loss of blood possible from 

 ordinary causes. lu fact, respiration is but slightly im- 

 paired in human subjects suffering from pernicious anaemia, 

 when there is a 90 per cent, reduction in the normal number 

 of red corpuscles, and two-thirds of the blood may be with- 

 drawn from animals and replaced with normal salt solutions 

 without serious damage resulting. In shock there is general 

 vasomotor paralysis, so that most of the blood collects in 

 the abdominal veins, while the ventricles and arteries are 

 emptied. In this condition saline infusions (105° to 110° F.) 

 are of infinite value, because absorption of drugs from the 

 digestive canal and subcutaneous tissue is impaired. Saline 

 infusions greatly dilute the blood — and, therefore, poisons 

 in the blood — in toxaemia, while they increase the activity 

 of the kidneys and elimination of toxins. The intrinsic heat 

 of the injections is thought to stimulate antitoxin formation, 

 and the restoration of vascular tension is believed to assist 

 the natural bodily resistance of the patient. 



A great variety of disorders have been treated success- 

 fully in human medicine with saline infusions, on this basis, 

 including : septicaemia, pneumonia, uraemia, diabetic coma, 

 purpura haemorrhagica, tetanus, ulcerative endocarditis, 

 pyelitis ; acute alcohol, ether, chloroform, carbonic monoxide, 

 arsenic and mushroom poisoning; and toxaemias resulting 

 from acute infectious disorders. The same treatment might 

 be applied to haemoglobinaemia and other toxaemias peculiar 

 to the domestic animals. Venesection for the purpose of 

 removing the poisoned blood should, in most cases, be 

 resorted to prior to practising saline injection in the 

 toxaemias. Excluding shock and haemorrhage, where heat 

 is invaluable, saline infusions are generally given at the 

 temperature of 103° F. by the rectum, under the skin, or 

 into a vein. 



