Ex Cathedrâ essays on insanity / by T. Claye Shaw.

  • Shaw, T. Claye.
Date:
1904
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Licence: In copyright

Credit: Ex Cathedrâ essays on insanity / by T. Claye Shaw. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

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    the individuars demonstrations of speech, and action are now essentially reflex in character, causing him little or no exertion, there seems to be no reason why it should be thought necessary to attempt to control processes which are practically arrested already, or are so impaired as to leave it quite uncertain that the chance action of a sedative may be beneficial. Dr. Hewitt has kindly given me the result of his great experience on this point. He is inclined to the opinion that the administration of ana3sthetics is not followed by insanity as frequently as has been sup- posed. He finds that in proportion as people are habituated to alcohol and drugs so do the difficulties of producing anaesthesia increase. This is in agree- ment with what is now recognised, viz. that the insane require larger doses of hypnotics than the sane. Drs. Hyslop and Stoddart, who have devoted much time at Bethlem to the consideration of this question, are of opinion that many hypnotics cause degeneration of the neurons, and they ascribe the necessity of large dosage in the insane to the fact that the action of hypnotics is antagonised by the irritating intra- and extra-neuronic toxins associated with acute insanities. They add also that in a healthy animal many of these drugs, and especially trional, will induce all the histological changes characteristic of degeneration of the neuron in thirty- six hours. With regard to the question as to whether an anesthetic is capable of acting upon diseased tissue. Dr. Hewitt is of opinion that diseased nervous tissue is either easily affected by anaesthetics or is wholly
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