‘A Yankee dodge': the first British public demonstration of anaesthesia
S. M. Usher and S. Chieveley-Williams,
Specialist Registrar and Consultant Anaesthetist,
Centre for Anaesthesia,
Royal Free and University College Medical School,
University College London, London, UK
Corresponding address: S M Usher,
Centre for Anaesthesia,
UCL, 1st Floor,
The Middlesex Hospital,
Mortimer Street, London, W1T 3AA, UK
E-mail: stephenusher@hotmail.com
Abstract
Following the first administration of ether as an anaesthetic in 1846, by William Morton in Boston , news travelled rapidly to London where Liston was responsible for introducing this technique to the United Kingdom . Squire wrote to the Lancet about his own early experiments with ether as well as anaesthetizing for the initial operation at University College Hospital . We discuss this landmark case, the first demonstration of anaesthesia in Europe , and how it compares to anaesthetic agents and techniques used today.
Squire's original paper was published in the Lancet (Squire W. On the introduction of ether inhalation as an anaesthetic in London . Lancet 1888; 132 (3408): 1220-1) . The full article is reproduced online here, and we are grateful to Elsevier (www.thelancet.com) for permission to do this. The paper has been reproduced exactly as it originally appeared in print; the only alteration that has been made is to the layout.
Key words
Robert Liston; William Squire; University College Hospital; general anaesthesia; ether.
