Description and illustration of an ether inhaler for the inhalation of ether as an anaesthetic : with a few observations upon a mixture of chloroform and spirit of wine for producing anaesthesia / by B. Wills Richardson.

  • Richardson, Benjamin Wills.
Date:
1873
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Description and illustration of an ether inhaler for the inhalation of ether as an anaesthetic : with a few observations upon a mixture of chloroform and spirit of wine for producing anaesthesia / by B. Wills Richardson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    DESCRIPTION AND ILLUSTRATION OF AN ETHER INHALER FOR THE INHALATION OF ETHER AS AN ANAESTHETIC, WITH A FEW OBSERVATIONS UPON A MIXTURE OF CHLOROFORM AND SPIRIT OF WINE FOR PRODUCING ANAESTHESIA. The relative safety of chloroform and ether as anaesthetics hav- ing been recently brought before the profession in Dublin by my friend, Mr. John Morgan, at the first meeting of the Surgical Society of Ireland for the present Session, it appeared to me that it would be advisable to have constructed a simple and moderate- priced inhaler for etherization in hospital practice (See Plate). This inhaler has been designed as a substitute for the towel and sponge, in the use of which there is much waste of ether, a matter, in hospital economy, that may be of some importance. Although I have not myself adopted ether to the exclusion of chloroform, having had most satisfactory anaesthetic results from tin- use of a mixture of chloroform and spirit of wine, still I think it is our bounden duty, the relative danger of chloroform over ether having been so prominently raised, to test the point, that we may aid in the attempt to solve this deeply important question. It is almost needless to write, that a question requiring such accurate and unprejudiced observation for its solution as that of the relative anaesthetic safety of chloroform and ether cannot be settled in a day.