A new and easy method for the subcutaneous application of morphia without the pain, risk and expense of the hypodermic syringe / John M. Crombie.

  • Crombie, John M.
Date:
1873
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A new and easy method for the subcutaneous application of morphia without the pain, risk and expense of the hypodermic syringe / John M. Crombie. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    death. This has been forcibly pointed out by Professor Haughton in noting a historical fact:—“At an operation forty years ago yon would have seen every man in the operating theatre with his watch in his hand. What was the reason of this ? It was the deadly certainty that awaited them that if an operation lasted more than a few minutes the patient would die of suffering. The watch was taken out, the operation that lasted four minutes was often a fatal operation; if it could he done in that time the patient might recover. How I have often seen an operation that lasted four hours and a half performed under the influence of anaesthetics.5’* It is reasonable to suppose that an influence so lethal in extremis has its injurious effects, though more difficult to measure, when operating in a minor degree, and it is a matter of observation that the removal of local pain is directly con¬ ducive to the healing of wounds. The alleviation of pain, therefore, is always, without exception, an indispensable measure for the welfare of the patient. Ho course can he more justifiable, no rule more certain, and the choice of appropriate means depends upon the judgment, justice, and humanity of the counsellor. * On Science Education. Lecture delivered at the Liverpool School of Science, 1872.