ANESTHESIA ~ 183 



tage to the patient. The safest and most desirable 

 method of inducing general anesthesia is as follows : 



About one hour previous to the operation the pa- 

 tient should receive a hypodermic injection of H-M-C 

 (hyoscin, 1-100; morphia, 1-4; catin, 1-64), this 

 usually produces vomiting in ten minutes. The 

 dose must be gauged by the animal's age and gen- 

 eral condition, and varies from one No. 1 tablet for 

 a puppy or small dog to five No. 1 tablets for a 

 collie or bull terrier. The anesthetic is then com- 

 pleted by a few whiffs of chloroform administered 

 by means of a Funker's inhaler or some similar 

 apparatus. The advantages gained by using this 

 method are (1) the emptying of the stomach; (2) 

 the small amount of chloroform required to produce 

 profound but safe anesthesia; (3) the long post- 

 operative hypnosis that the patient enjoys, with corre- 

 sponding benefit to the healing process. , 



Chloroform alone, may be quite safely administered 

 if due considerations are given to the following de- 

 tails : I 



1. The patient must be prepared by fasting and 

 the exhibition of a laxative twelve hours previous to 

 operation. 



2. The anesthetic must be administered slowly 

 and be largely diluted with air. 



3. The anesthetic must be administered only in 

 sufficient quantity to inhibit the reflexes. 



4. A sharp lookout must be kept for the danger 

 signal, namely, shallow respirations. It must be 

 remembered that it is the respiratory center that 

 first becomes paralyzed, and that respiratory failure 

 precedes cardiac failure. 



5. At the first sign of respiratory trouble the 

 anesthetic must be immediately discontinued, stimu- 

 lants given, and if need be artificial respiration per- 



