xvi] 



ANESTHETICS HU MANE DESTRUCTION 



191 



patient must be very gradually brought under its 

 influence. The patient should pass slowly into 

 a peaceful sleep without any struggling. 



742. Anaesthetising a Horse. The anaesthetic 

 should be given on an empty stomach. The 

 heart should always be examined for signs of 

 weakness ; if it is found at all weak, ether should 

 be used, otherwise use chloroform. 



The proper way to administer it is to lay the 

 horse on an operating table or cast it in the usual 

 way with ropes. It is often given to the horse 

 while standing, the horse being brought into a 

 sleepy state, and left to fall on to a very soft bed 

 of straw provided for the purpose. There is a 

 certain danger of the fall causing too great a 

 shock on the heart, although I have never seen 

 this result. The nostrils, lips, and the parts 

 round the mouth must be previously greased 

 with an animal fat, such as lard, to prevent any 

 of the chloroform from getting on to the skin 

 and burning it. 



743. There are several methods of adminis- 

 tering the drug. I think the best way, which is 

 the simplest, is to make a cotton bag or to take 

 the leg of an old pair of cotton overalls, tie the 

 end up loosely with a bow knot, cut one small 

 hole half-way down the bag thus formed, and 

 place a plug of cotton batton in the bottom over 

 the part that has been drawn in with the bow 

 knot. The object of the bow knot is that the 

 cotton batton can be removed immediately if 

 required. A piece of cord is then tied on, 

 making the whole into a nosebag, the cord 

 slipping over the horse's head. 



Some recommend giving a horse morphine 

 and other similar drugs twenty minutes before 

 administering the chloroform. Experience, how- 

 ever, has proved the inadvisability of this. It 

 only causes more trouble while the patient is 

 recovering. It is a good practice to give two to 

 four drachms of chloroform by the mouth as a 

 drench in a pint of water twenty minutes before 

 administering. This causes the horse to go under 

 with far less chloroform, thus lessening the 

 danger of heart failure. 



744. Other apparatus are on the market. A 

 bucket-shaped nosebag is often used, which has 

 a side trap to admit air, a tin tray at the bottom 

 to hold the sponge or cotton batton, and a wire 

 frame to prevent the horse's lips from touching 

 the sponge. A proper anaesthetising muzzle, 

 with tubes and taps leading to it by which the 

 amount of chloroform and air can be regulated, 

 is on the market. Messrs. Krone and Sessamon, 

 of London, have one of this type. 



In giving chloroform to a horse on the operat- 

 ing table, one nostril is generally partly closed 

 with the hand, whilst the sponge is held a few 

 inches from the other nostril. On no account 

 must the one nostril be plugged up. A sudden 

 inhalation may draw the plug in and cause 

 suffocation. Always put a pair of blinkers on 



the horse, if he is not on the table, to protect 

 his eyes from dust and other injury. Tan-bark 

 will do a lot of harm and cause much pain if it 

 gets into the eye. 



745. In using the nosebag or the home-made 

 cotton bag, the horse, if he is to be ansesthetised 

 standing, is taken quite quietly and held by a 

 line or rope on either side by an assistant. The 

 bag is then put on and drawn up so that there 

 is very little space between the face and the top 

 of the bag. 



The anaesthetist then drops on chloroform, 

 drop by drop, through the trap of the nosebag 

 or the cotton bag itself, great care being taken 

 that all air holes are fully open to allow the 

 horse to breathe naturally without drawing in 

 the sides of the bag at each inhalation. In ten 

 to fifteen minutes the horse should begin to 

 sway ; the moment he begins to sway badly the 

 chloroform-dropping must be discontinued, and 

 the horse allowed to fall down. When he is 

 down, his head must be stretched out so as to 

 give freedom to the throat, and the bag tem- 

 porarily removed to allow plenty of fresh air, 

 and then put on again, and anaesthetising con- 

 tinued. 



746. If he can be thrown previously, then 

 the best method is to use the hand and sponge, 

 as are used on the operating table ; one nostril 

 must not be plugged up, but the hand held over 

 it. On no account must the anaesthetising be 

 hurried. 



Four to ten ounces for an average-sized horse 

 will be required to put him under. If chloro- 

 form has been used orally, considerably less will 

 be required. The horse will soon get into the 

 second, or hypnotic, stage. He may appear to 

 be in the third, but by gently raising the eyelid, 

 if necessary, and touching the eyeball, it will 

 twitch, showing that he is still in the second 

 stage. 



When there is no reflex action of the eyeball, 

 the horse is properly anaesthetised. It is now 

 the duty of the anaesthetist to give sufficient 

 chloroform to keep him under, and no more. He 

 is to attend to nothing else. He will have one 

 assistant if the horse is not on the table. 



747. Any uneven or stertorous breathing is a 

 bad sign, and the nosebag and sponge must be 

 at once removed. Great care must be taken, 

 when the horse falls down, that the bag is kept 

 open, so as to allow plenty of fresh air, or else 

 removed altogether. Breathing through the 

 mouth is a very sure sign that there is not 

 sufficient air. It must be remembered that, 

 normally, the horse cannot breathe through his 

 mouth. 



A hurried start in giving the chloroform will 

 often retard progress instead of expediting it. 



When the horse is down, the method of lay- 

 ing a handkerchief over one nostril and pouring 

 on chloroform drop by drop must not be allowed. 



