The eclectic practice of medicine / by Wm. Byrd Powell and R.S. Newton.

  • Powell, W. Byrd (William Byrd), 1799-1866.
Date:
1854
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The eclectic practice of medicine / by Wm. Byrd Powell and R.S. Newton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    moment of time; but in some instances they do not, and it becomes the duty of the physician to ascertain why they do not. The condition cannot be one of asphyxia, because respira- tion has not been established—the case is not one of suspended function, but it is one in which the air has not penetrated the air-cells — the congestion is not such as constitutes true asphyxia. Such infants are marked with exceeding paleness and debility. Upon the birth of such an infant, the larynx and bronchia should be immediately examined for sucK mucosity as may exist to the obstruction of the air in its passage to the air-cells. If this should be discovered to be the case, as it frequently is, it must be removed with a feather, or with the finger armed with a piece of fine rag; at the same time, the infant should be placed in such a position as to leave the mouth and nose uncovered, and in a position to receive fresh air. In our efforts to establish the function, the lungs should be inflated, or rather, the attempt should be made to inflate them by closing its nostrils and blowing into its mouth, and then, by pressure on the chest, force it out; this exercise may be frequently repeated — dry friction, at the same time, upon the thorax may prove of much advantage. In the event that there may be disengaged mucus in the trachea, the child may be held up, with its head down, and shaken a little, that it may pass down and out of the mouth. This effort should not be too readily abandoned, as the mucus, which may have been tough at first, often becomes thin and will run out, more especially if there be life enough to produce a few pulsations in the heart or in the cord, in the event that it has not been divided. It is the practice of some to endeavor to excite cries in the child as a means of promoting respiration; but it is not unat- tended with a suspicion of mischief, because the efforts pro- duced by crying may increase the current of blood to the lungs and augment the difficulty. After each effort to establish this function, the ear should be applied to the region of the heart, to discover if any action has been produced. By these or other means, respira- tion has sometimes been thoroughly established, but in others,