1846–1860: Following the Discovery of Anesthesia

Abstract

Four things soon followed the discovery of ether anesthesia. First, within weeks to months, ether was used in distant and disparate parts of the world’Europe, Australia, Mexico and Latin America. Second, for the moment, nitrous oxide was abandoned. Third, in 1847 Simpson discovered the anesthetic properties of chloroform that, for a time, replaced the pungent, flammable ether, especially in the UK. Fourth, the discovery of anesthesia was one thing, but how to deliver it safely was another. We needed a guidebook, a description of the clinical characteristics of anesthesia that might allow control of the anesthetic state. In 1847, Snow supplied just that for ether. In 1858, he similarly described the degrees of chloroform anesthesia, in the process analyzing the dangers of this more dangerous anesthetic and teaching how to avoid disaster. He, more than anyone, laid the groundwork for the specialty we call anesthesiology.