PRINCIPLES OF VETERINARY SURGERY 231 



domestic animals, by careful administration, may be kept 

 in the anassthetic state for seven or eight hours before fatal 

 intoxication occurs, but prolonged ansesthesia is always 

 dangerous. The subject is revived from the state by ces- 

 sation of the administration. If the anaesthetic state was 

 brief, and especially if the amount of vapor inhaled was 

 small, the revival is rapid. The reflexes of the cornea re- 

 turn, the eyes roll about in the orbit, the subject begins to 

 move the limbs and to raise the head, and in from ten to 

 thirty minutes will stagger to the standing position. The 

 gait will be groggy for a few minutes, but soon the normal 

 equilibrium returns completely. The body is usually cold; 

 often a cold perspiration will break out as the anaesthetic 

 stage is disappearing. 



Posology. — The dose of any anaesthetic for any animal 

 is quantity sufficient. The aim should be to secure the 

 greatest amount of anaesthesia with the smallest possible 

 quantity of the anaesthetic. It is better to err in the direcj- 

 tion of giving too little, than too much. And it must nevef 



t 



be forgotten that a small quantity undiluted with air is 

 much more dangerous than a large amount of well diluted 

 vapor. Air is the antidote of the anaesthetic; without it the 

 patient must soon succumb; with it the anaesthesia may be 

 prolonged indefinitely. 



In the horse it requires about two ounces of chloroform 

 to successfully carry the subject to the stage of anaesthesia, 

 which amount should be placed upon the sponge as the 

 administration begins. For the ox about three ounces of 

 chloroform, and for the dog about two to six drams of 

 ether. For the cat two drams of ether is usually sufficient. 

 The quantity to be given subsequently to keep the gurgir 

 cal subject in the state of anaesthesia must depend entirely 

 upon the condition of the patient. It must never be goyr 

 erned by measurement. As fast as the patient revives frpnj 



