risk of death is incurred. Let the patient take no food — in any case
no soHd food — for four hours before the operation. This will lessen
the chance of his vomiting. First take off his boots or shoes, loosen
his necktie, shirt-collar and wrist-bands, and take care that there is
nothing tight about his body. You want all the room and space
you can get for his lungs and his heart to act freely. Then lay him
on his back on a table, with his head on a low pillow, and let a man
stand on each side of him to hold his arms ; for, if he be a strong,
robust man, he will probably struggle ; if he be an intemperate man,
he will certainly do so. Put about four tablespoonfuls of chloroform
into a phial and keep it in your waistcoat pocket. Next fold a piece
of lint, a foot long and four inches wide, thrice, and turn your phial
upside down in the centre of this, with the lint covering the mouth of
the phial, till you get a wet spot in the middle of it about the big-
ness of a penny-piece, and keep this spot constantly moist by appl}--
ing the phial of chloroform to it occasionally. Hold the lint so that
the wet spot be three inches from the patient's mouth and nostrils.
Do not bid him to inhale it, or he may be frightened and begin to
cough and choke; but bid him to blowout strongly, while you bring
the moist part of the bit of lint gradually nearer and nearer his lips
and his nostrils. He cannot help then necessarily taking a deep in-
spiration each time after the puff he has given, so that all the air he
breathes will pass over and through the moistened parts. The
patient will probably struggle, kick, and talk nonsense. Restrain
him without using much force, and as he moves his head, do you move
the bit of lint in unison with it, and keep it close to, but not touch-
ing, his face. When you can pluck a hair out of his temples without
his feeling it or flinching, then he is under the anaesthetic influence,
and the operation can begin. Give him then more air by removing
the lint a little farther from him ; but do not take it away, unless he
begins to snore. This sign always indicates that he has had as
much as is at all safe for him, and you must remove the lint till the
snormg ceases.
luring the operation, while the patient is under the influence of
192 THE hearthstone; or, life at home.
the chloroform, pay the greatest attention to his pulse and his lips.
Don't take your eyes off his lips for a moment. Should these be-
come purple, give him more air; and should the breathing cease,
take away the lint and throw open the doors and windows, and resort
to artificial means of producing respiration.
Should the patient become very pale, turn his head on one side,
as this sign indicates that he is going to be sick, and put a towel or
cloth under his face, that he may be sick upon it, and then go on
with the inhalation. The pulse generally increases, at first, in force
and frequency of beats; and you must take particular notice if it fails
or becomes intermittent, as that is a symptom of danger, and you
must instantly stop the chloroform and give all the air you can. In
any case of danger or difficulty, open the patient's mouth and pull
the tongue quite forward.
Page 121
Presented as published in 1883. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
risk of death is incurred. Let the patient take no food — in any case no soHd food — for four hours before the operation. This will lessen the chance of his vomiting. First take off his boots or shoes, loosen his necktie, shirt-collar and wrist-bands, and take care that there is nothing tight about his body. You want all the room and space you can get for his lungs and his heart to act freely. Then lay him on his back on a table, with his head on a low pillow, and let a man stand on each side of him to hold his arms ; for, if he be a strong, robust man, he will probably struggle ; if he be an intemperate man, he will certainly do so. Put about four tablespoonfuls of chloroform into a phial and keep it in your waistcoat pocket. Next fold a piece of lint, a foot long and four inches wide, thrice, and turn your phial upside down in the centre of this, with the lint covering the mouth of the phial, till you get a wet spot in the middle of it about the bigness of a penny-piece, and keep this spot constantly moist by appl}-- ing the phial of chloroform to it occasionally. Hold the lint so that the wet spot be three inches from the patient's mouth and nostrils. Do not bid him to inhale it, or he may be frightened and begin to cough and choke; but bid him to blowout strongly, while you bring the moist part of the bit of lint gradually nearer and nearer his lips and his nostrils. He cannot help then necessarily taking a deep inspiration each time after the puff he has given, so that all the air he breathes will pass over and through the moistened parts. The patient will probably struggle, kick, and talk nonsense. Restrain him without using much force, and as he moves his head, do you move the bit of lint in unison with it, and keep it close to, but not touching, his face. When you can pluck a hair out of his temples without his feeling it or flinching, then he is under the anaesthetic influence, and the operation can begin. Give him then more air by removing the lint a little farther from him ; but do not take it away, unless he begins to snore. This sign always indicates that he has had as much as is at all safe for him, and you must remove the lint till the
snoring ceases.
During the operation, while the patient is under the influence of
[illustration: page number 192]
THE HEARTHSTONE; OR, LIFE AT HOME.
the chloroform, pay the greatest attention to his pulse and his lips. Don't take your eyes off his lips for a moment. Should these become purple, give him more air; and should the breathing cease, take away the lint and throw open the doors and windows, and resort to artificial means of producing respiration.
Should the patient become very pale, turn his head on one side, as this sign indicates that he is going to be sick, and put a towel or cloth under his face, that he may be sick upon it, and then go on with the inhalation. The pulse generally increases, at first, in force and frequency of beats; and you must take particular notice if it fails or becomes intermittent, as that is a symptom of danger, and you must instantly stop the chloroform and give all the air you can. In any case of danger or difficulty, open the patient's mouth and pull the tongue quite forward.