42 VETERINARY SURGICAL THERAPEUTICS. 
aneesthesized. Chloroform is the best agent to use. This animal is 
placed in a narrow cage which is covered with a blanket ; at inter- 
vals of half a minute to a minute, balls of oakum or wadding | as 
moistened with chloroform are thrown into the cage; soon the | ; 
subject becomes benumbed, staggers, falls against the sides of the 
cage, crouches down ; now is the time to take hold of it—it is de~ 
fenceless. (Percheron.) If the operation is to last some time, a few 
inhalations of chloroform are given. ; - 
It is prudent to replace the animal in its cage until it has recovered, 
ANAESTHESIA OF BIRDS. 
Narcosis is easily brought about in birds. Chloroform is more 
commonly used. The animal is placed under a glass bell, gently 
raised on one side to allow the entrance of air; small balls of | 
wadding saturated with chloroform are introduced under it. Soon 
the bird totters and goes to sleep without any symptoms of excite- 
ment. Inhalations can be kept up, ifthe operation is to last very long. 
Unless a subject is.possessed of an excessive susceptibility: to 
aneesthetics,—one of those ‘‘ predisposed to syncope,” which one 
comes upon in all species, one may avoid complications and accidenis 
by observing the following rules : Give anzesthetics to animals only 
when they have an empty stomach; use a product pure and free 
from adulterations ; administer the ether or the chloroform slowly 
so as to allow also the entrance of a certain quantity of air ; if chloral 
is used, introduce the solution also very slowly ; and carefully watch 
the reflexes. : 
In anesthesia by ether or chloroform, there are at times, during the 
period of excitement, spells of coughing and panting for breath; 
these are of short duration. Yet, at this stage, the irritation of the 
mucous membranes of the first air passages may give rise toa 
respiratory syncope, which is also possible at the moment when the 
anesthetic vapors make their impressions upon the encephalic 
elements, and later on, by bulbous intoxication. Respiratory 
syncope is indicated by superficial inspirations, very rapid, or 
sometimes very slow and incomplete. While the action of the 
heart persists, respiration can be re-animated by various means: 
Slapping of the lips, of the face, or of the neck, methodic pressure 
upon the chest, rhythmic tractions of the tongue (Laborde), and 
artificial respiration. In complete anesthesia, short arrests of respi- 
tation may be observed, which are syncopal in nature. 
Like respiratory syncope, cardiac syncope is precocious, secondary, 
or terminal ; since it is brought on by the irritation of the pituitary, 
the sudden action of the anesthetic upon the encephalon, or by 
bulbary saturation. It is manifested by repeated, very short, and 
