248 
G. ARCHIE STOCK WELL. 
the physiological laboratory ; likewise, it is the favorite of 
the majority of veterinary practitioners, who, as a rule, are 
none too familiar'with other anaesthetic agents, though the 
latter are none the less worthy of study, and often prove— 
aside from the mere question of danger—of even greater 
value. 
That chloroform, as compared with the commonly ac¬ 
cepted methods of employing ether, is the more convenient 
agent, and also more easily procured, transported and ad¬ 
ministered, may be admitted ; but that it is the best anaesthetic 
for general purposes is by no means to be conceded. Neither 
can it be admitted that even in the majority of cases, either 
in man or lower vertebrates, that it is the most desirable. 
Each anaesthetic has its special place and role, and special 
adaptability, and the practitioner must seek this and decide 
accordingly, in order to secure the best results. Again* 
though the lives of other vertebrates, as compared with man— 
owing to the egoism of the latter—are not, from moral and 
sociological standpoints, considered of equal value with hu¬ 
man life ; this is purely an arbitrary assumption that should 
have no weight with the truly scientific practitioner ; there 
is no reason why a profession devoted to the saving of life 
and the mitigation of suffering, should not always avail itself 
of the best, and, therefore, most scientific appliances. This 
applies to anaesthetics as well as to medical and surgical 
therapeutics proper. It seems to me, that to draw a line in 
this respect between animals and man is criminal as well as 
arbitrary, for there are many biped brutes less deserving of 
sympathy than the quadrupeds. Again, there are many of 
the former who regard animal lives, which represent a 
monetary value, of greater moment than the lives of their 
families and immediate offspring : the demise of the latter is 
the “ will of God,” for they represent an outlay, and, more¬ 
over, are easily replaced in a way that tends to add to his re¬ 
sources ; while the former are regarded as income, and so 
much available capital, and their loss, instead of being a de¬ 
sign of Providence is attributed solely to the ignorance of 
the practitioner. This seems almost a brutal assertion, but it 
