The development of inhalation anaesthesia : with special reference to the years 1846-1900... / [Barbara M. Duncum].
- Duncum, Barbara M.
- Date:
- 1947
Licence: In copyright
Credit: The development of inhalation anaesthesia : with special reference to the years 1846-1900... / [Barbara M. Duncum]. Source: Wellcome Collection.
467/664 page 447
![' In my view, the desideratum to aim at is a continuous pro- duction of chloroform vapour in pulmonary air of 1 per 100. This percentage will be got if with each 100 c.cm. of inspired air the patient inspires 1 c.cm. of chloroform vapour. Taking the inspiratory volume per minute at 6000 c.cm. more or less, the requisite volume of chloroform vapour per minute is 60 c.cm. more or less.' 1 In February 1901 Waller strongly criticized the recently published findings of an ' Anaesthetics Committee ' appointed by the British Medical Association (see pp. 458-64) as being ' meagre and unsatisfactory, and even . . . incorrect in certain essential particulars. c What has the ordinary administrator of anaesthetics learned from this clinical inquiry ? ' asked Waller. He himself gave the reply : ' That chloroform is more dangerous than ether, but that as regards methods of administration, rate of use, methods of restoration, clinical evidence has not warranted any con- clusion. . . . And . . . that by far the most important factor in the safe administration of anaesthetics is the experience of the administrator, and that in many cases the anaesthetisation is of such importance and gravity that it is absolutely essential that an anaesthetist of large experience should conduct the administration. ' This last, and evidently most desirable, condition is not always easy to fulfil, and we must above all look to increased diffusion of precise knowledge for diminution of the death-rate by chloroform. For knowledge to be diffused it must first be acquired. To this end certain definite steps should be taken : ' 1. An experimental examination of the statement that by proper application of a volumetric method anaesthesia can be certainly effected of any required degree. ' 2. An experimental comparison of the relative power of various anaesthetics. ' 3. The determination of the best method of quantitative estimation of anaesthetics in various fluids and tissues of the body.[2] ' 4. A careful redetermination of the statement made by 1 Brit. med. J., 1898, i, 1057, 1061. 2 At Waller's suggestion the British Medical Association, during 1898 and 1899, granted a sum of money for research on the quantitative estimation of chloroform in animal tissues. The work was begun by Dodgson, working under Waller in the physiological laboratory of St. Mary's Hospital Medical School. {Brit. med. J., 1901, ii, 1859.)](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b20457200_0471.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
