A treatise on the inhalation of the vapour of ether, for the prevention of pain in surgical operations; containing a numerous collection of cases in which it has been applied. With the names of the operators, history of the discovery ... / [James Robinson].
- James Robinson
- Date:
- 1847
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A treatise on the inhalation of the vapour of ether, for the prevention of pain in surgical operations; containing a numerous collection of cases in which it has been applied. With the names of the operators, history of the discovery ... / [James Robinson]. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![4] limited. Hitherto I have confined myself to dental surgery with a view of personally ascertaining its effects previous to its employment in any capital operation. I may ob- serve however that I am so thoroughly convinced both of its safety and utility that I propose employing it at our infirmary the next operation I am called upon to perform. My first experiment was upon my man-servant, whom I narcotised simply for the purpose of watching its effects. In less than three minutes, he became completely unconscious, the pupil dilated, the muscle relaxed, and apparently insensible to pain. In about three or four minutes, he recovered and expressed himself as having expe- rienced a most delightful vision. At the end of twenty minutes the inhalation was repeated and the same results obtained. No inconvenience whatever followed ; the second experiment was upon a young man, who after being narcotised, submitted to the extraction of a large firmly fixed molar tooth. He remained insensible for about two minutes after its extraction, when recovered, he said he was prepared to have his tooth out. When informed it had been extracted, he said it was impossible, and would not believe the fact, and even when the tooth was shown to him, he accused me of having secreted one for the purpose of deceiving him. The third experiment was on a female, whose tooth was extracted without suffering any degree of pain. Another female, whose tooth was removed at the same time, complained of pain, but in this case I have reason to believe, she was, but very imperfectly narcotised. One of my pupils afterwards inhaled, he described the feeling produced by it as being most delightful. On recovering from its effects he complained of slight vertigo and looked pale. Otherwise he suffered no further inconvenience. At a future time, I shall be happy to furnish you with any further information. Believe me to remain, yours truly, W.C. Worruineton, F.R.C.S., To J. Robinson, Esq. And Senior Surgeon to the Lowestoffe Infirmary. BECCLES, SUFFOLK. From the Medical Times. Sir.—I have much pleasure in forwarding to you the following case of litho- tomy, performed under the influence of ethereal inhalation, On Wednesday, Jan. 20, I was requested by my friend, Mr. Beales, of Halesworth, to accompany him to a case in which he proposed to perform the operation of lithotomy, and to bring with me Robinson’s ethereal inhaler, which I had just received from London, as he wished to try its effects. The patient was a healthy man, aged sixty-seven, who had suffered for five years from his disease. Immediately upon our arrival we tried the effect of the inhalation upon him, and in one minute and a half he became so entirely insensible that we might have done anything to him without his being aware of it. At the end of one minute he awoke, and experienced no disagreeable sensation in conse- quence of it. - Having thus satisfied ourselves that the desired effect would be produced without injury to the patient, the operation was at once commenced. The pa- tient having been secured in the usual way, and the staff introduced, I applied the mouthpiece of the inhaler and closed the nostrils ; in two minutes he became perfectly insensible, of which I gave notice to Mr. Beales, who at once pro- ceeded to perform the lateral operation, and, with his accustomed dexterity, at the end of four minutes, extracted a large stone, weighing two ounces anda quarter. As soon as the stone was extracted I withdrew the inhaler, and the patient awoke; he then stated that he was not at all aware of what had passed ; that he had suffered no pain of any description, and that the first circumstance of which he was conscious was hearing one of the bystanders observe, ‘‘ There is the stone!’’ which occurred at the moment at which he awoke; he has not had a single unfavourable symptom since the operation, and slept unusually well the two following nights, without taking any anodyne. During the whole period of the operation I retained the inhaler in the mouth of the patient, but after insensibility had been once produced, at every fourth or fifth inspiration, I turned the stopcock of the instrument, cutting off the communication with the ether, and, at the same time, removing my fingers from the nostrils, allowed the patient to take two inspirations of common air,](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b33098219_0053.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
