The jubilee of anaesthetic midwifery : an inaugural address to the Glasgow Gynaecological and Obstetrical Society, on Tuesday 19th January, 1897 / by A.R. Simpson.

  • Simpson, Alexander Russell, Sir, 1835-1916.
Date:
1897
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The jubilee of anaesthetic midwifery : an inaugural address to the Glasgow Gynaecological and Obstetrical Society, on Tuesday 19th January, 1897 / by A.R. Simpson. 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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    her believing that the most complete possible quietude forms one of the principal secrets for the successful employment ot either ether or chloroform. In a little time she again remarked that she was afraid her 'sleep had stopped the pains. Shortly afterwards, her infant was brought m by the nurse from the adjoining room, and it was a matter of no small difficulty to convince the astonished mother that the labour was entirely over, and that^ the child presented to her was really her ' own living baby.' ^ . , p ox Seventeen years afterwards his friend, Dr. Adamson, ot St. Andrews, sent Simpson this charming photograph that had just been taken by Rogers of a young lady. The accompanying letter told that it was a photograph of the baby of his first chloroform patient, and as you mark the mild angelic air that rests upon the upturned face above the folded hands, you will understand why Dr. Adamson suggested that it might stand for a picture of Anassthesia, and that it was a pity the girl had . not been called by that name. Simpson believed that he had discovered in chloroform an anaesthetic that possessed various important advantages over ether, particularly in obstetric practice; and that, in parti- cular, it is far more portable, more manageable and powerful, more agreeable to inhale, is less exciting than ether, and gives us far greater control and command over the superinduction of the anfBsthetic state. His interest in the new anodyne gave additional zest to the eagerness and energy with which he had set himself to demonstrate the right, and even the duty, of surgeons and accoucheurs to make use of anaesthetic agents; and he did not cease his efforts until he had seen the import- ance of ansesthesia fairly recognised, and such an_ impetus given to surgical progress as it had never before received, and such as has only been rivalled since when Lister—praised be the Queen who has raised him to the peerage—inaugurated the Antiseptic Era. Dangers of Anesthesia. Of the anaesthetics that have been proposed for use in practice, three alone at the resent hour promise to hold an abiding place—nitrous oxide gas, first used by Horace Wells in 1844 ; sulphuric ether, introduced by William Thomas Green Morton in 1846; and chloroform, the angestlietic power of which was proved and promulgated by James Young Simpson in 1847. The fatalities that have attended the administration of each of them have led to a continuous search for some agent that might possess their power without their danger. Simpson