Note 53 — ON THE INHALATION OF CHLOROFORM, ETC. (continued 2)

According to Professor Miller, chloroform was given, at one time, in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, in a somewhat slovenly, and not very cleanly manner; he describes the means of applying it as, “anything that will admit of chloroform in vapour being brought fully in contact with the mouth and nostrils; a handkerchief, a towel, a piece of lint, a worsted glove, a nightcap, a sponge.” He says, “In the winter season, the glove of a clerk, dresser, or onlooker, has been not unfrequently pressed into the service.... The object is to produce insensibility as completely and as soon as we can; and there is no saying, à priori, whether this is to be accomplished by fifty drops or five hundred. We begin with generally two or three drachms spilt on the handkerchief or lint; and we refresh that, or not, from time to time, as circumstances require.” Surgical Experience of Chloroform, Edin., 1848, pp. 16 and 17. The italics are not in the original.