Arguments against the indiscriminate use of chloroform in midwifery / [Samuel William John Merriman].

  • Merriman, S. William J., 1814-1873.
Date:
1848
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Arguments against the indiscriminate use of chloroform in midwifery / [Samuel William John Merriman]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    tions, from malposition of the head, must necessarily have caused tedious parturition. Again^ of 10,199 women deli¬ vered at the Lying-in Hospital of Dublin, during the mastership of Joseph Clarke, M.D., 9746 had ordinary labours terminating within twenty-four hours. These calculations show convincingly that the births effected with comparative ease, and absence of danger, comprise a very large proportion of the total number of deliveries, and form a firm basis on which to doubt the propriety of administering chloroform as a general rule. We come now to consider the nature of the anaesthetic agents, as far as our present knowledge will permit. It was a very great discovery to ascertain that the vapour of ether, chloroform, &c., could be breathed freely when mixed with common air, but we must not conceal from ourselves the fact, that with this apparently innocuous character, the substances used possess most deleterious properties, rapidly destroying life when taken in too large a dose, by paralyzing, in some unknown manner, the nervous energy. The vapour inhaled into the lungs passes readily through the thin membrane, which separates the blood from the external air, and appears to be conveyed in the blood to all parts of the body, exerting everywhere its depressing influence upon the nerves. This .effect is most perceivable upon the nervous centres ; but according to recent observation, the effect is produced upon every part of the nerve. The condition in which these substances are adminis¬ tered—namely, that of vapour—allows an equally free exit