Anesthesia in England

James Robinson (1813-1862)
A Treatise on the Inhalation of the Vapour of Ether,
for the Prevention of Pain in Surgical Operations
(London : Webster and Co., 1847)
From the Library of Harvard Medical School

Robinson published this pamphlet of experiments, including a diagram and description of his inhaling apparatus along with accounts of surgical operations. in early 1847.

This copy of Robinson's publication belonged to Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Jacob Bigelow sent a copy of the Boston Daily Advertiser article to physician Francis Boott (1792-1863) in London, and Boott conveyed news of the discovery to surgeon-dentist James Robinson (1813-1862), who, employing an inhaler of his own design, was the first to use ether anesthesia in England, extracting a woman’s diseased molar on December 19.

Boott sent copies of the Boston article and a letter from Jacob Bigelow to The Lancet where both appeared in the January 2 issue, in conjunction with a communication from Robert Liston (1794-1847) regarding a leg amputation he had performed on Frederick Churchill on December 21—thought to be the first surgical operation employing ether anesthesia in Europe.