190 



MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT 



[CHAP. 



independently with chloroform. The surgeon, 

 however, is more indebted to Sir J. Y. Simpson 

 for his valuable research work towards intro- 

 ducing the general use of anaesthetics. 



For many years chloroform was not generally 

 used, because, as in things of to-day, people who 

 could not mind their own business and people 

 who knew nothing of anatomy or physiology 

 experimented, often with fatal results, upon 

 people and animals, thus discouraging the use 

 of this humane discovery, instead of encourag- 

 ing it. 



736. The Use of Anaesthetics. It is sur- 

 prising to find what a number of painful 

 operations are performed upon dumb animals 

 without the use of anaesthetics not even local. 

 It is still more surprising to find that many 

 veterinary surgeons in different countries do not 

 know how to administer anaesthetics properly. 

 I have often heard medical men bring this 

 point up. Consequently, partly due to want 

 of knowledge and practice, and partly due to 

 pecuniary considerations, many veterinarians 

 prefer to torture dumb animals, instead of per- 

 forming humane and more scientific operations. 

 Men who perform vivisection on dumb animals 

 without anaesthetics really merit punishment. 



Anaesthetics, apart from preventing pain, are 

 of the greatest use in all bone-setting and many 

 other operations, in that they cause relaxation of 

 all voluntary muscles. The out-of-date vet., to 

 save himself a few pence, would keep a horse 

 in agony for half an hour, and then probably 

 make a mess of the operation. Had he spent a 

 small sum on chloroform, he could readily have 

 charged extra, because the operation would have 

 been more skilfully performed, and he would, 

 therefore, have deserved a higher fee. The 

 dangers of after-effects also would have been 

 minimised. 



737. Dr. T. C. Evans, of the Biological 

 Department at Ottawa, reminded me the other 

 day that "the time is past when a veterinarian 

 restrained his patient with ropes and operated 

 promiscuously while the massive bone and 

 muscle writhed beneath the cutting edge of the 

 knife." Only when under an anaesthetic will all 

 the voluntary and some of the involuntary 

 muscles be in a state of relaxation, and only 

 then will the animal remain motionless and 

 allow an uninterrupted, scientific operation to 

 be performed. 



Anesthesia and Choice of Anesthetics 



738. There are four stages in anaesthesia: 

 1st. Stimulation, when the animal becomes 



excited, which is increased if the anaesthetic is 

 used too strongly at first, and is much greater 

 with chloroform than with ether. 



2nd. Sedation, or hypnotic stage, complete 

 calmness, but not insensibility to pain ; the eye- 



ball responds to a touch of the finger. While in 

 this second stage, complete calmness must be 

 observed, especially with dogs, or the patient 

 may become excitable (dog howls), and the first 

 stage will again be reached. With chloroform, 

 any attempt to operate while in this stage (2nd) 

 may be fatal by causing reflex action on the 

 heart. With ether, this danger is not supposed 

 to exist. The simple operation of extracting a 

 tooth has been known to kill a man, the dentist 

 having pulled while the patient was only in the 

 hypnotic stage, under chloroform. His heart 

 must have been weak. 



3rd. Anaesthesia proper, in which there is 

 complete relaxation of all voluntary and some 

 involuntary muscles, complete insensibility to 

 any pain, and complete loss of consciousness. 



4th. Paralysis and probable death ; this stage, 

 of course, must never be reached. 



739. The commonest total-ana5sthetics used 

 are chloroform, ether, and nitrous oxide, or 

 laughing gas. The last is not used with horses 

 or dogs, and is used chiefly for human dentistry, 

 its action lasting only a few seconds. Chloro- 

 form and ether are used separately, together, or 

 combined with alcohol, the latter being known 

 as the A.C.E. mixture (one part alcohol, two 

 chloroform, and three ether), which is used with 

 children and dogs. It is doubtful whether the 

 alcohol has any real effect other than diluting the 

 mixture. 



In human medicine, chloroform is seldom 

 given ; the death-rate with it is 1 in 2,500, whilst 

 with ether it is only 1 in 12,000. 



740. Chloroform has a very depressing effect 

 on the heart, whilst ether has not. In the horse, 

 however, the heart is not often weak, and, 

 unless it is, chloroform is used. Ether causes 

 violent struggling to commence with, which may 

 do considerable harm. On the other hand, ether 

 should not be given in lung or kidney diseases ; 

 ether-pneumonia and uraemia respectively may 

 follow. Ether may kill an advanced consump- 

 tive. Chloroform has not the same nauseating 

 effect that ether has, and for this reason I 

 strongly recommend it for horses, because a 

 horse cannot vomit normally. (I have seen a 

 horse vomit fifteen minutes before death.) 

 Again, in hot climates ether cannot be used, as 

 it boils at 98 P. (blood heat of human beings 

 equals 98, that of a horse about 100). 



741. In confinement, just previous to partu- 

 rition, there is far less danger of heart failure 

 from an anaesthetic, as the heart is always en- 

 larged at this time and can stand a great shock. 



With horses, chloroform is often given, and 

 when the patient is completely under its influ- 

 ence the anaesthetic is changed to ether. Chloro- 

 form must always be given very freely diluted 

 with air. If the chloroform is given too strong, 

 suffocation will take place ; this is almost im- 

 possible with ether. Whichever is used, the 



