The development of inhalation anaesthesia : with special reference to the years 1846-1900... / [Barbara M. Duncum].
- Duncum, Barbara M.
- Date:
- 1947
Licence: In copyright
Credit: The development of inhalation anaesthesia : with special reference to the years 1846-1900... / [Barbara M. Duncum]. Source: Wellcome Collection.
350/664 page 330
![and the ether gradually added as above described. The supply of gas should cease when the ether is turned on.' 1 Some models of the gas-and-ether apparatus had a cylindrical expansion chamber fitted to the outlet of the cylinder (at (g)} Fig. 83). This Clover called the ' gas-rarefier ' and wrote of it : ' Sudden distension and bursting of the gas-bag can scarcely happen when the gas-rarefier is used ; but if this be not used, or if the gas-bottle have become frozen [owing to the presence of water vapour as an impurity in the nitrous oxide] it is desirable to warm the bottle, and in doing so the tap end should be more warmed than the other.' 2 Towards the close of 1875 the British Medical Journal under- took a census among the London hospitals to discover which anaesthetics were in general use, in what circumstances and by what means they were administered, and the reasons for their adoption in the first place. In particular the Journal sought to assess the relative popularity of chloroform and ether. The principal hospitals of London were accordingly sent a question- naire arranged to cover four main lines of inquiry : ' 1. What anaesthetics are now in use ; and for what cases is either [i.e. chloroform or ether] anaesthetic preferred ? 2. What methods of administration are employed? 3. Has any change been made within the last four or five years in the anaesthetic used, or its mode of administration ? and, if so, what were the reasons for the change ? 4. Can any suggestions be made by the adoption of which the safety of the anaesthetised patient might be more completely secured, or any improvement in the production of anaesthesia for surgical operations be effected ? ' 3 The answers received to these questions were published in the Journal periodically between late December 1875 and the end of February 1876, under the heading ' Reports of medical and surgical practice in the hospitals and asylums of Great Britain '. They furnish an interesting survey of anaesthetic practice during the early eighteen-seventies. Among the first to reply was the chloroformist to St. Bartholomew's Hospital : '. . . The anaesthetics now in use [December 1875] . . . are ether, chloroform, and nitrous oxide gas ; ether preceded 1 Brit. med. J., 1876, ii, 74. 2 Ibid, ii, 75. 3 Ibid. 1875, ii, 781.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b20457200_0354.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
