On chloroform and other anæsthetics: their action and administrationSnow, John
History
On chloroform and other anæsthetics: their action and administration
Snow, John
Anesthetics; Chloroform; Snow, John, 1813-1858
At the inspection of the body next day, the vessels of the dura mater,
and those on the surface of the brain, were gorged with fluid blood. The
lateral sinuses also afforded a flow of dark-coloured blood. There was a
considerable quantity of serous fluid in the cavity of the arachnoid and
in the spinal sheath. The substance of the brain was very soft. (The
weather was warm.) The lungs were of a dark purple colour posteriorly,
and much loaded with fluid blood and serum, but were everywhere
crepitant and healthy. The external surface of the heart was covered
almost entirely with fat; in some parts to a considerable thickness.
There were two fibrinous spots on its surface. No fluid in the
pericardium. The venæ cavæ were full of fluid blood. On removing the
heart, a white fibrous coagulum, about as big as a walnut, was found in
the commencement of the pulmonary artery. The heart was uncontracted,
and the cavities contained a very small quantity of dark fluid blood.
The walls of the right ventricle, and of the left auricle, were thinner
than natural. Some portions of the substance of the heart were paler
than natural:—“In these paler portions of the muscular substance, the
fibres had, for the most part, lost their striated aspect, and had
become converted into a fine granular material contained in the
sarcolemma. Here and there a minute oil-globule could be observed in the
muscular fibrillæ, but nowhere did this amount to fatty degeneration.”
In this case all the precautions appear to have been taken which are
possible in making a patient insensible with undiluted chloroform,
administered on a handkerchief; and the case, therefore, strongly
confirms the proposition that chloroform cannot be administered in this
way with perfect safety.
The patient was apparently in the most satisfactory condition at the
conclusion of the inhalation, and yet, a few seconds afterwards, the
heart suddenly ceased to beat, from the effect, as we must conclude, of
that portion of vapour which was in the lungs at the moment when the
inhalation was discontinued.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account