Ethereal epidemic: mesmerism and the introduction of inhalation anaesthesia to early Victorian London.

Abstract

The discovery of ether anaesthesia has been celebrated as a heroic moment in the history of medicine and surgery, the moment at which surgeons triumphed over pain. This paper sets the emergence of inhalation anaesthesia in the historical context of reform movements in Victorian London, and of the precursor to ether anaesthesia: mesmerism. Far from embracing the practice entirely because of its ability to temper surgical pain, it will become clear that the London medical community seized upon anaesthesia for a variety of reasons. One was the suspended animation, rather than suspended sensation, ether induced—an effect interpreted as enhancing the surgeon's mastery of the surgical scene. Another was the ammunition ether could provide to the opponents of the practice of mesmeric anaesthesia, which was becoming increasingly popular with some members of the medical community and with the general public. Public pressure to bring mesmeric anaesthesia into the surgical theatre produced unlikely alliances in opposition to the mesmeric threat. When ether arrived in Britain in late 1846, it was received by many medical men not as a triumph over pain, but over mesmerism. Moreover, ether was seen as a crucial tool in the establishment of a powerful, united surgical community. This account therefore contributes to our understanding of Victorian reform movements, and of the volatile relations between doctor and patient in mid-century Eng