The physiological method of inducing respiration in cases of drowning, stillbirth, suffocation from chloroform, etc. etc / by Henry R. Silvester.

  • Silvester, Henry R. (Henry Robert), 1828-1908.
Date:
1862
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The physiological method of inducing respiration in cases of drowning, stillbirth, suffocation from chloroform, etc. etc / by Henry R. Silvester. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    24/28 (page 22)
    of the parietes, or walls of the chest, would fall very short of that inhaled in an ordinary inspiration, and this opinion is confirmed by the experiment of Dr. Silvester. “ Then the mechanical disturbance, occasioned by the continual rolling and tumbling1 about of the body, cannot, I apprehend, be otherwise than mischievous where the chances of life and death are equally balanced, and must, in all cases, interfere with the natural process of recovery. u By the method 'proposed by Dr. Silvester, certainly more air would be drawn into the lungs than by that of Dr. Marshall Hall, and with much less disturbance to the body generally. In some animals, as the rabbit, a very sufficient quantity of air can be drawn into the lungs by a similar method, that is, by the mere elevation of the ribs. How far in the human subject Dr. Silvester’s pro¬ cess would be a sufficient substitute for natural respira¬ tion, I do not venture to say; it is a question to be decided only by experiment. “ Where the apparatus of the Royal Humane Society for the artificial inflation of the lungs is at hand, I have no doubt that this affords the surest and safest means for imitating natural respiration if the necessary precautions are observed in using it. At the same time, I have no doubt that the late intelligent medical assistant of the Royal Humane Society at Brompton, Dr. Woolley, was correct when he informed me that practically the cases of drowned persons, in which artificial respiration can be employed with advantage, are very few indeed. The first thing to be done is to take the body out of the water as soon as possible, it being always borne in mind that the case is one which admits of no delay, as except under some very rare and peculiar circumstances, there is little chance of life being restored where the period of complete submersion exceeds three minutes and a half. The next thing is to do nothing that can interfere with the natural process of recovery. It is only in those cases in which there is no sign of any effort to breathe spontaneously that artificial respiration should be had recourse to, and it is only in a small proportion of these that it proves suc¬ cessful. If you or any one else should be desirous of knowing what more I have to say on the subject of the treatment of those who suffer from strangulation or drown¬ ing, I would refer you to what I have published in my