Minutes of evidence relating to anaesthetics : at the Home Office, Whitehall.

  • Departmental Committee on Coroners.
Date:
1910
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Minutes of evidence relating to anaesthetics : at the Home Office, Whitehall. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    FOREWORD. In issuing to the Members this reprint of the evidence relating to anaesthetic and analgesic administration, the Council of the Incorporated Society ventures to hope that it will be carefully perused by every Member who is not already familiar with its contents, and afterwards retained for reference. In examining the evidence, the reader will be impressed by the overwhelming abundance of opinion volunteered by the medical profession, and the comparative paucity of representative opinion of those most conversant, and therefore most immediately concerned, with nitrous oxide and analgesic administration. As a factor in the framing of legislation, the evidence upon dental anesthetic practice volunteered by an interested medical profession can carry little weight, much of it being palpably biassed and academic, and the evidence given on behalf of the British Dental Association must stand discredited by certain glaring inconsistencies with truth, notably the ridiculous utterances of Mr. T. Moreton Smale, on pages 133-4 (reprint). In the main, the evidence of Mr. F. Butterfield and that of Mr. W. F. Bowen are recitals of their individual opinions in reply to direct personal questions, and being such, no pretence is made that their replies are representative of the collective opinions of the Society's members. Nor could they be otherwise considering that the opinion elicited from the individual witness must, to meet the questions put, be based upon his own personal experience and knowledge, however extensive or however limited his knowledge may be, and this suggests a reason why such enquiries and recommendations seldom carry weight when collective interests are receivmg Parliamentary consideration. , i Undoubtedly, the most valuable evidence, and the only really representative evidence, given in the Society's interests, are the statistics of anaesthetic and analgesic prachce by its members. From the sterling authenticity of the records-a feature superior to insinuation-they will prove not the least formidable of the many considerations that will shape the destiny of any legislative proposal on the subject.