evelops, however, he
will find anesthesia unnecessary. Local anesthesia is needless for
esophagoscopy, and if used at all should be limited to the
laryngopharynx and never applied to the esophagus, for the esophagus
is without sensation, as anyone may observe in drinking hot liquids.

_Direct laryngoscopy in children_ requires neither local nor general
anesthesia, either for diagnosis or for removal of foreign bodies or
growths from the larynx. General anesthesia is contraindicated because
of the dyspnea apt to be present, and because the struggles of the
patient might cause a dislodgment of the laryngeal intruder and
aspiration to a lower level. The latter accident is also prone to
follow attempts to cocainize the larynx.

_Technic for General Anesthesia_.--For esophagoscopy and gastroscopy,
if general anesthesia is desired, ether may be started by the usual
method and continued by dropping upon folded gauze laid over the mouth
after the tube is introduced. Endo-tracheal administration of ether
is, however, far safer than peroral administration, for it overcomes
the danger of respiratory arrest from pressure of the esophagoscope,
foreign body, or both, on the trachea. Chloroform should not be used
for esophagoscopy or gastroscopy because of its depressant action on
the respiratory center.

For bronchoscopy, ether or chloroform may be started in the usual way
and continued by insufflating through the branch tube of the
bronchoscope by means of the apparatus shown in Fig. 13.

In case of paralysis of the larynx, even if only monolateral, a
general anesthetic if needed should be given by intratracheal
insufflation. If the apparatus for this is not available the patient
should be tracheotomized. Hence, every adult patient should be
examined with a throat mirror before general anesthesia for any
purpose, and the necessity becomes doubly imperative before goiter
operations. A number of fatalities have occurred from neglect of this
precaution.

_Anesthetizing a tracheotomized patient_ is free from danger so long
as
the cannula is kept free from secretion. Ether is dropped on gauze
laid over the tracheotomic cannula and the anesthesia watched in the
usual manner. If the laryngeal stenosis is not complete,
ether-saturated gauze is to be placed over the mouth as well as over
the tracheotomy tube.

_Endo-tracheal anesthesia_ is by far the safest way for the
administration of ether for any purpose. By means of the silk-wo