Physiological therapeutics : a new theory / by Thomas W. Poole.

  • Poole, Thomas W.
Date:
1879
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Physiological therapeutics : a new theory / by Thomas W. Poole. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    made, and the patient is in danger of being weakened aiid worn out by the imavaihng suffering. It is the anodyne, and not the stim- ulating effects, which are here sought; a purpose for which the soothing qualities of opium or morphia, in small doses, are often re- sorted to. 490. The narcotic, or anaesthetic effects of chloroform in labour^ favours relaxation of the outlets from the womb, but has the disad- vantage of sometimes inducing uterine inertia, by which the process is prolonged, and also of predisposing, for the same reason, to post partum haemorrhage. This behaviour of a paralyzing agent towards the uterus would seem to be a fact hostile to our theory ; for in the paralytic stage of chloroform inhalation,^ the uterine muscle might be expected to be liberated from motor nervous control, in the manner we have pre- dicated of ergot^ and its contractile j>ower left free to act with greater power because no longer restrained. But there is no proof that the spinal cord or its motor nerves are paralyzed, in ordinary normal chloroform inhalation. All the effects of that state may be fully accounted for by the paralysis of the cranial centres. When the cord, too, succumbs in extreme narcosis, we have spasms and convulsions of the muscles. The effect of chloroform narcosiSj short of this extreme stage, is shewn in muscular relaxation, owing to the cord and its nerves retaining and exerting their control over the muscles ; and they do this all the more effectually since the inhibi- tory power of certain parts of the brain over the spinal cord centres is withdrawn during the narcosis of the cranial ganglia, leaving the eord free to act on the muscles with increased power. (§ 29, 36.) 491. Unlike alcohol, chloroform and aether pass rapidly out of the system. They are therefore not at all adapted to sustain it in cer- tain conditions of exhaustion, in the manner alcohol does, and serve only a temporary purpose. 492. Chloroform or aether is sometimes combined with other rem- edies in the treatment of paroxysmal or violent coughs. A tew whiffs will otten be of use in asthma. A small quantity inhaled from the palm of the nurse's hand will promptly arrest the paroxysm of whooping cough. It is sometimes combined with soothing: lotions, and favors the absorption of these through the skin. It is seldom administered internally, as other stimulants are generally more readily procurable, and are equally advantageous. Conclusion.—We do not propose to further extend these pages at present. They have already far outgrown our original intention. Enough has been written to present the subject of this essay fairly, though imperfectly, before the reader ; and it now awaits his ap- proval or condemnation.