Discussions

Sir James Young Simpson a Scottish Obstetrician introduced Chloroform as an Anaesthetic. He had earlier experimented with ‘Ether’ to relieve pain in childbirth, but was dissatisfied with some of its drawbacks.  
 
Like there was a repugnant odour, large quantities were required, and it irritated the lungs, but the biggest drawback was that it was highly explosive, and presented a problem for Doctors who often worked in candlelit rooms heated by open fireplaces.  
 
A Liverpool Chemist named David Waldie suggested the use of Chloroform, and as an experiment Dr. Simpson, and two associates Dr’s. Matthew Duncan, and George Keith, inhaled some. After feeling very happy, and talkative, they promptly passed out.  
 
This so impressed the good Doctor that he immediately began using it in his obstetrical practice. The first baby he pulled from a mother who was given Chloroform to suppress pain was Christened ‘Anaesthesia’.  
 
Because this Drug was at first only used in childbirth Scottish Clergymen objected to the use of Anaesthetic, insisting God ordained the pain of Childbirth. Simpson argued that when God took the first man’s Rib to make Eve he was cast into a deep sleep.  
 
These arguments continued until 1853, when Queen Victoria chose to be Chloroformed during the Birth of her Son Prince Leopold (1853-1884). This event stifled the Clergy, and Chloroform became the most fashionable anaesthetic, especially in England for the next fifty years.  
 
One drawback to the use of Chloroform was it did carry a risk of heart failure, but it was more pleasant to take, and more powerful than Ether.  
 
Queen Victoria who had thirteen children had her own personal Anaesthetist, Dr. John Snow (1813-1858) who developed an inhaler to regulate the amount of Chloroform administered to a patient so that he/she felt no pain, but remained conscious.  
 
For many years the application of Anaesthetics was crude to say the least. In fact for over half a century there were no Doctors trained as Anaesthetists.  
 
The Brandon General Hospital did not have trained Anaesthetists until the mid-eighteen fifties.  
 
When the first Ether was administered at B.G.H. it was considered a job for a Porter or minor Aid. It later became respectable for Nurses or other Doctors to hold the Ether soaked pad of Cotton Batten to the Patients nose, and to make sure he/she was still breathing during the medical procedure. By the 1890’s the Nurses gave Anaesthetics at the B.G.H.  
 
Today it is a specialized field of medicine, and all operations are performed with a qualified Anaesthetist, (Doctor) in attendance.  
 
Source: http://svmsl.chem.cmu.edu/vmsl/genanes/ga_bg3.htm  
 
Brandon a City by G. F. Barker.