[Illustration: FIG. 9.--Silk’s nasal tubes.] Occasionally one decides to facilitate nasal rather than oral breathing, and if the natural passages are inadequate, recourse may be had to the passage of a short piece of drainage tube of the calibre of a number 10 catheter, and about 3 inches in length. With such a tube in one or both sides of the nose, reaching from anterior to posterior nares, nasal respiration is usually possible even in much obstructed noses (Silk). (Fig. 9.) [Illustration: FIG. 10A.--Bellamy Gardner’s tongue-clip.] [Illustration: FIG. 10B. Ring tongue forceps.] [Illustration: FIG. 10C. Glossotilt.] [Illustration: FIG. 11A.--Boxwood wedge for opening jaws.] [Illustration: FIG. 11B.--Wedge for opening jaws.] [Illustration: FIG. 11C.--Mouth gag.] If proper and timely use be made of one or other of these simple devices, the use of the _tongue forceps_ is rarely necessary. Occasionally, however, it may be required, and a suitable appliance should always be at hand for an emergency. Fig. 10 shows two types. The little clip of Mr Bellamy Gardner is preferable to the ring type, the passage of the spike through the tongue substance producing less after pain, than the bruising following the use of the other instrument. The third drawing in Fig. 10 is of an instrument not much known outside Edinburgh; it is called a glossotilt, and is intended to lever forward the base of the tongue, as an alternative to nipping the tip of the organ with forceps, and has, in the opinion of some, various advantages. Before using either mouth prop or tongue forceps, it is occasionally necessary to use some mechanical means to lever open a tightly clenched jaw. The earlier one interferes in a case of mechanical asphyxia, the less necessity will exist for the use of such means. Fig. 11 shows two well-known mouth gags, and also a box-wood wedge, the use of which is less liable to injure teeth than a metal instrument. If a gag is used, the blades when closed should lie the one behind the other, not side by side. This ensures a minimal thickness to be inserted between the tightly clenched teeth. Treatment of Laryngeal Stridor. This is of necessity difficult since the causation of the condition is in many cases obscure. _The error_ common to most beginners, and to many who would resent such a title being applied to them, is to regard the appearance of stridor as an indication to _deepen the anæsthesia_. Whether the cause lie in local irritation of the laryngeal mucous membrane or in some stimulus from the area of operation, the condition is presumably always essentially a reflex spasm of the adductors of the vocal cords, but it is a _reflex which may persist even in an anæsthesia so deep that the vital medullary centres are in peril_.