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He forgot the cold, and was conscious of a fear which acted like a temporary anesthesia. For a few seconds he stood staring, until the match which he held burned out and scorched the flesh of his fingers. His jaw dropped, his eyes widened. He opened his lips and tried to speak, but closed them again without having uttered a sound save a choking gasp.
Numerous experiments on animals to determine the effect of ether anesthesia per se, i. e., ether anesthesia without trauma, showed that, although certain changes were produced, these included neither the physiologic exhaustion nor the alterations in the brain-cells which are characteristic of the effects of trauma.
Throw out opium; throw out wine, and the vapors which produce the miracle of anesthesia, and I firmly believe that if the whole materia medica, as now used, could be sunk to the bottom of the sea, it would be all the better for mankind."
If so, they are prevented by the anesthesia from expressing that influence in conscious perception or in muscular action. Whether the ANESTHETIZED cells are influenced or not must be determined by noting the physiologic functions of the body after anesthesia has worn off, and in animals by an examination of the brain-cells as well.
If nitrous oxid anesthesia and sleep are chemically identical, then we have a further clue to one of the primary mechanisms of life itself; and as a practical corollary one might be able to produce artificial sleep which would closely resemble normal sleep, but which would have this advantage, that by using an anesthetic which interferes with oxidation the brain-cells might be reconstructed after physical fatigue, after emotional strain, or after the depression of disease.
There was complete anesthesia of the right eyebrow and of both eyelids and of the right cheek for an uncertain distance below the lower eyelid. The conjunctiva of the right eye became congested, and a small ulcer formed on the right cornea, which healed without much trouble.
The state of intoxication seems by record of several cases to render birth painless and unconscious, as well as serving as a means of anesthesia in the preanesthetic days. The feasibility of practising hypnotism in child-birth has been discussed, and Fanton reports 12 cases of parturition under the hypnotic influence.
We know that not every portion of the brain is fully anesthetized, since surgical anesthesia does not kill.
When the drug is thus administered, the uterine contractions are scarcely, if at all, altered, and the assistance which the patient is willing to give herself generally becomes more powerful. Should the anesthetic have the opposite effect, it must be withheld; but that is seldom necessary. As the head advances the anesthesia is deepened, and the mother sleeps soundly while the child is being born.
In addition our tests have shown that under ether the increase of the H-ion concentration acidity is more gradual than under nitrous oxid, an observation which accords well with the fact that nitrous oxid more quickly induces anesthesia than does ether.
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