244 PRINCIPLES OF VETERINARY SURGERY 



sia in the debilitated and diseased. The treatment is that 

 of pneumonia in general. 



The other principal sequel of general anaesthesia in ani- 

 mals is "chlorofomi dementia," a condition which follows 

 immediately after the operation. Instead of reviving 

 promptly as usual, the unconscious subject remains semi- 

 comatose, is incapable of regaining the standing posture, 

 and struggles violently and incessantly with all-fours for a 

 period of from forty minutes to one hour or more. When 

 finally the Standing posture is again resumed, the subject 

 will stagger, fall or plunge blindly against the wall. The 

 majority gradually recover after six hours, but rare cases 

 die, either from shock or from the congestion of the brain 

 upon which the condition undoubtedly depends. 



Blistering of the muzzle is a trivial complication, but is 

 nevertheless one that should be avoided by anointing the 

 skin about the nose with vaseline before administering the 

 anaesthetic. 



INDICATIONS FOR GENERAL ANESTHESIA.— 

 It^cannot be denied that general anaesthesia is unnecessary 

 in a large majority of the veterinary surgical operations. 

 The veterinary-sufgica,l patient must be submitted to the 

 discomfort (and pain) of forcible restraint before the 

 anaesthetic can be administered. Often this part of the 

 procedure is quite as uncomfortable as the brief operation 

 itself. If discomfort of adniinistering the anaesthetic is 

 added to that of restraining the patient, the pain of opera- 

 tion itself is often found to be a rather insignificant part of 

 the entire procedure. The brief pain of dividing a nerve, 

 a ligament, a tendon, of amputating a tail, of enucleating a 

 small tumor, of inserting a seton, of removing the testicles, 

 of suturing a laceirated wound, etc., etc., cannot be com- 

 pared with the discomfort and misery of administering 

 chloroform and reviving from its influence, and with the 



