264
Stomach Pumps.
[Book III.
was then ready for the experiment in the operatmg theatre, which wascrowded to excess. The dog was brought to Sir A. who gave him fourdrachms of opium dissolyed in water. The dog’s pulse was first at 120;in seven minutes it feil to 110, and from that to 90. The poison was suf-fered to remain in the dog’s stomach 33 minutes, tili he appeared to bedead, and I was doubtful it would be the case before Sir A. would let meuse the pump, I must confess I was very impatient to be at work on thedog with my instrument in hand ready for action. Sir A. kept his fingeron the dog’s pulse, then at 90, and said very deliberately, ‘ I think it willdo now, as it is 33 minutes since I gave him the dose.’ A basin of warmwater being then brought, Sir A. passed the tube I had provided into thedog’s stomach : I immediately pumped the whole Contents of the basin[the warm water] into the stomach, and as quickly repumped the wholefrom the stomach, containing the laudanum, back again into the basin. SirA. observed, while I was emptying the dog’s stomach, the laudanum swim-ming on the surface, and said ‘ It will do a second basin of water wasthen injected and withdrawn by the pump as before : I asked for a third,but Sir Astley said it was unnecessary, as the laudanum had all been re-turned in the first basin.” In half an hour the animal was completely re-vived and running about the theatre.
It may be of use to state, that the quiekest and easiest mode of employ-ing a stomach pump (according to the inventor) is to use it only as a forc-ing pump—that is to inject warm water or other dilutents into the stomachuntil that organ becoming surcharged, the fluid regurgitates by the mouth;in other words to fill the stomach to overflowing—,the liquid passing downthe tube and rising through the Oesophagus by the side of it; the Opera-tion being continued tili the fluid returns unchanged. In the absence ofa pump, a tunnel or other vessel attached to a flexible tube might answer.
No. 119. Stomach Pump.
There are numerous varieties in stomach pumps, arising from the dif-ferent modes of constructing and arranging the valves, so as either to in-ject or withdraw liquids through the same tube without shifting the appa-ratus. No. 119 represents one that is described in the Journal of theFranklin Institute,. (vol. xiii, 223.) It consists of an ordinary syringescrewed to a cylindrical valve box which contains two egg-shaped. cavi-ties. In each cavity is a small and loose spherical valve that fits either ofthe orifices. Two flexible tubes are attached to each cavity as represented,Suppose the upper tube inserted into a person’s stomach and the lowerone into a basin of warm water; if the syringe were then worked, theliquid would be forced into the stomach and the poison diluted : then byturning the instrument in the hand so as to bring the upper tube down,(without withdrawing the one in the stomach,) the valves would drop uponthe other orifices in each cavity, and the syringe would raise the contentsof the stomach into the basin, as represented in the figure.