"The finding aid for the Louis T. Wright papers underwent a significant revision in 2023 as a product of collection re-processing. This is a copy of the now-deprecated finding aid that is being maintained for transparency around the descriptive…
Henry E. G. Boyle, OBE, FRCS, DA (1875-1941) introduced this anesthesia machine in 1917. It was a modification of the American-made Gwathmey-Woolsey apparatus. It was so successful that it remained in production for fifty years. It could administer…
The LMA (Laryngeal Mask Airway) was first introduced in 1988. It is an airway device designed to rest upon the vocal cords rather than passing through, presenting less risk of vocal cord damage.
A modern example of a cuffed endotracheal tube. A cuff is inflated in the patient’s airway through the small side tube. Once inflated it helps to prevent aspiration and blocks air from flowing around the tube.
In 1941, Dr. Francis J. Murphy (1900-1972), had some new design ideas for the simple endotracheal tube. He described both straight and curved tubes with holes on the side that act as emergency vents should the primary end opening become clogged. This…
This example is an early improvement to the Miller designed straight-bladed laryngoscope. Richard Foregger’s version included a collapsible blade. His idea was granted a patent in 1942.
The blade of this laryngoscope is detachable from the body by a quick screw fitting into a threaded recess in the body allowing fast blade size changes. This example includes a 150mm blade (large adult) and a 120mm blade (adult medium).
Within anesthesia machines, delivery of the anesthetic to the patient’s airway is the job of the “breathing system” which incorporates a mask or a tracheal tube. Dr. Ralph Waters (1883–1979) introduced this simple device in 1923 designed to prevent…
A standard vaporizer on the popular Kinet-O-Meter anesthesia machines created by the Ohio Chemical and Manufacturing company from the 1930s through the 1960s, the Ohio No. 8 vaporizer improved the Boyle Bottle by adding a control dial for pushing the…
In the late 1940s Lucien Morris' design, called the "Copper Kettle" was the first vaporizer to deliver a precise concentration of any volatile vapor to the patient. By using copper, a good heat conductor, it maintained near-constant temperature, and…
This variable bypass vaporizer was the first to allow the anesthetist to directly set the percentage of anesthetic agent with a dial. The British Cyprane Company produced the Fluotec® vaporizer (commercial name Fluothane®) in the late 1950s to be…
Henry Boyle devised a portable anesthesia machine in 1917 incorporating the “Boyle Bottle” for vaporizing any liquid anesthetic. A glass bottle was used as a vaporizing chamber.
Anesthesia vaporizers were designed to help provide accurate amounts of anesthetic gas to the patient. Clockwise: Ohio No. 8 Vaporizer, circa 1940s; Copper Kettle Vaporizer, circa 1950s; Fluothane® Vaporizer, circa 1950s; and Boyle Bottle, circa…
Jess Bernard Weiss (1917-2007) was the Anesthesiologist-in-Chief at Brigham and Women's Hospital predecessor institution, Boston Lying-in Hospital/Boston Hospital for Women, from 1961 to 1981, and was vice chairman of the Department of Anesthesia at…
Title page of the December 18, 1954 Journal of the American Medical Association article by Robert D. Dripps, M.D and Leroy D. Vandam, M.D. "Long-Term Follow-up of Patients Who Received 10,098 Spinal Anesthetics. Failure To Discover Major Neurological…
This gold lumbar puncture needle was framed and given as a memento to Leroy Vandam by AB Stearns around 1972. Why a gold needle? Dr. Vandam referred to gold as “anti-infection.” The Becton Dickinson Catalog of 1927 shows gold versions of their…
Edward Robinson Squibb developed a method for the distillation of ether and founded a company in 1858 to sell his eponymous product for surgical anesthesia. The drop ether method was widely used when anesthesia machines were unavailable. Ether was…
Nursing school graduation photograph of Gertrude Gerrard, RN, Gerrard was Chief Anesthetist at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital from 1919 to1947. In the first half of the 20th century the administration of anesthetics was largely entrusted to…
A wire frame with a muslin cover is placed over the patient's face; drops of chloroform are being administered onto the cover. The wire frame without cover is shown on the left.
Modified Esmarch (style 1877) ether/ chloroform mask, Masque de Demarquey, by French manufacturer Mathieu. The folding frame was intended to make the mask adjustable over diverse facial anatomy. Masks like these were covered with a gauze cloth, then…
This is the first respirator ever made for clinical use being tested on the roof of the Harvard School of Public Health in 1928. It was utilized for the first time on October 12, 1928 at Children’s Hospital, Boston to successfully restore breathing…
This is the first respirator ever made for clinical use being tested on the roof of the Harvard School of Public Health in 1928. It was utilized for the first time on October 12, 1928 at Children’s Hospital, Boston to successfully restore breathing…
May 27, 1927: After Phillip Drinker’s and Louis Shaw’s successful laboratory and animal experimentation using positive and negative pressure to produce artificial respiration, Dr. Drinker tested the concept on himself on the roof of the Harvard…
May 27, 1927: After Phillip Drinker’s and Louis Shaw’s successful laboratory and animal experimentation using positive and negative pressure to produce artificial respiration, Dr. Drinker tested the concept on himself on the roof of the Harvard…
May 27, 1927: After Phillip Drinker’s and Louis Shaw’s successful laboratory and animal experimentation using positive and negative pressure to produce artificial respiration, Dr. Drinker tested the concept on himself on the roof of the Harvard…
The original “iron lung” respirator was designed by Phillip Drinker with Louis Agassiz Shaw at the Harvard School of Public Health. Its first clinical use occurred on October 12, 1928 at the Boston Children’s Hospital. The subject was an…
The objects inside this kit indicate that the original owner was probably an obstetrician who may have been a practitioner of Dämmerschlaf or “Twilight Sleep.” A combination of morphine, to mitigate pain, and scopolamine to cause amnesia, was given…
Modified Schimmelbusch (style 1889) ether/chloroform mask. Masks like these were covered with a gauze cloth, then placed over the patient’s mouth and nose, while drops of either chloroform or ether were applied to the cloth until the patient became…
May 27, 1927: After Phillip Drinker’s and Louis Shaw’s successful laboratory and animal experimentation using positive and negative pressure to produce artificial respiration, Dr. Drinker tested the concept on himself on the roof of the Harvard…
The finding aid for the Clemens E. Benda papers underwent a significant revision in January 2022 to bring the archival description into alignment with the Center's updated Guidelines for Inclusive and Conscientious Description. This is a copy of the…
The finding aid for the John E. Hoopes papers underwent a significant revision in 2021 to bring the archival description into alignment with the Center's Guidelines for Inclusive and Conscientious Description. This is a copy of the now-deprecated…
The finding aid for the Jeffries Wyman underwent a significant revision in 2021 to bring the archival description into alignment with the Center's Guidelines for Inclusive and Conscientious Description. This is a copy of the now-deprecated original…
The finding aid for the Abraham Myerson papers and family research records underwent a significant revision in 2020 to bring the archival description into alignment with the Center's new Guidelines for Inclusive and Conscientious Description. This is…
The finding aid for the Maxwell Finland papers underwent a significant revision in 2020 to bring the archival description into alignment with the Center's new Guidelines for Inclusive and Conscientious Description. This is a copy of the…
The finding aid for the Alexander Forbes papers underwent a significant revision in 2020 to bring the archival description into alignment with the Center's new Guidelines for Inclusive and Conscientious Description. This is a copy of the…
The finding aid for the Carl Waldemar Walter papers underwent a significant revision in 2020 to bring the archival description into alignment with the Center's new Guidelines for Inclusive and Conscientious Description. This is a copy of the…
The finding aid for the Hyman Morrison papers underwent a significant revision in 2020 to bring the archival description into alignment with the Center's new Guidelines for Inclusive and Conscientious Description. This is a copy of the now-deprecated…
The finding aid for the Richard John Kitz papers underwent a significant revision in 2020 to bring the archival description into alignment with the Center's new Guidelines for Inclusive and Conscientious Description. This is a copy of the…
The finding aid for the Christiana Morgan papers underwent a significant revision in 2020 to bring the archival description into alignment with the Center's new Guidelines for Inclusive and Conscientious Description. This is a copy of the…
The finding aid for the Loretta McLaughlin research and publication records underwent a significant revision in 2020 to bring the archival description into alignment with the Center's new Guidelines for Inclusive and Conscientious Description. This…
The finding aid for the Louis T. Wright papers underwent a significant revision in 2020 to bring the archival description into alignment with the Center's new Guidelines for Inclusive and Conscientious Description. This is a copy of the…
The finding aid for the Varaztad Hovhannes Kazanjianpapers underwent a significant revision in 2020 to bring the archival description into alignment with the Center's new Guidelines for Inclusive and Conscientious Description. This is a copy of the…
The finding aid for the Fanny Bowditch Katz papers underwent a significant revision in 2020 to bring the archival description into alignment with the Center's new Guidelines for Inclusive and Conscientious Description. This is a copy of the…
The finding aid for the Walter Bradford Cannon papers underwent a significant revision in 2020 to bring the archival description into alignment with the Center's new Guidelines for Inclusive and Conscientious Description. This is a copy of the…
The finding aid for the Ernest Amory Codman papers underwent a significant revision in 2020 to bring the archival description into alignment with the Center's new Guidelines for Inclusive and Conscientious Description. This is a copy of the…
The finding aid for the Norman E. Himes papers underwent a significant revision in 2020 to bring the archival description into alignment with the Center's new Guidelines for Inclusive and Conscientious Description. This is a copy of the…
The finding aid for the Clemens E. Benda papers underwent a significant revision in 2020 to bring the archival description into alignment with the Center's new Guidelines for Inclusive and Conscientious Description. This is a copy of the…
The finding aid for the Clemens E. Benda papers underwent a significant revision in 2020 to bring the archival description into alignment with the Center's new Guidelines for Inclusive and Conscientious Description. This is a copy of the…
The finding aid for the Jacob L. Moreno papers underwent a significant revision in 2020 to bring the archival description into alignment with the Center's new Guidelines for Inclusive and Conscientious Description. This is a copy of the…
The finding aid for the Clarence James Gamble papers underwent a significant revision in 2020 to bring the archival description into alignment with the Center's new Guidelines for Inclusive and Conscientious Description. This is a copy of the…
The finding aid for the Stanley Cobb papers underwent a significant revision in 2020 to bring the archival description into alignment with the Center's new Guidelines for Inclusive and Conscientious Description. This is a copy of the now-deprecated…
The finding aid for the Louis T. Wright papers underwent a significant revision in 2020 to bring the archival description into alignment with the Center's new Guidelines for Inclusive and Conscientious Description. This is a copy of the…
These are images taken of the plaster cast of an Ancient Egyptian skull that belonged to Samuel G. Morton's crania collection. This is one of twelve skulls that Morton considered to be "typical skulls." It was used to decipher a standardized…
These are images of Johann Gaspar Spurzheim's skull. This human specimen is one of the artifacts held in the Warren Anatomical Museum. Spurzheim's skull had originally belonged to the Boston Phrenological Society (BPS) collection, an organization…
This is a screenshot from the Still (STL) 3D image software rendering of an Ancient Egyptian skull collected by Samuel G. Morton. This is one of twelve skulls Morton deemed "typical skulls." These twelve skulls were made into plaster casts and…
This is a screenshot from the Still (STL) 3D image software rendering of Johann Gaspar Spurzheim. It captures the finalized 3D animation of Spurzheim's skull based on a plaster cast. On the back of Spurzheim's skull contains a base that was created…
A photograph of the original Phineas Gage exhibit in the former Warren Anatomical Museum. Showcased is the skull of Phineas Gage, a life cast of Gage, and the tampan iron from the accident. The woman second in from the left is Annie Taft. Pictured to…
A handwritten note asking for the removal of the iron bar at the request of Phineas Gage. The date written appears to be "August 24th, [18]54." Gage had been living in Chile since 1852. The message is from Gage; however, there is skepticism towards…
Two other laboratories purified TAF (tumor angiogenesis factor) at the same time as Dr. Folkman's: Dr. Napoleone Ferrara's Genentech laboratory in California, which called the molecule VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor), and Dr. Harold…
Grayce A. Young Family Professor in Women's Health at Harvard Medical School. From left: Amos Hostetter, Paula Johnson, Barbara Hostetter and Jeffrey S. Flier, by Gretchen Ertl, created April 25, 2016. Courtesy of Harvard Medical School:…
The Soiling of Old Glory is a Pulitzer Prize–winning photograph taken by Stanley Forman during the Boston busing crisis in 1976. The photograph depicts Joseph Rakes, assaulting a black man, lawyer and civil rights activist Ted Landsmark, with a…
[W. E. B. Du Bois photograph from the Harvard College Class of 1890 Class Book, Pach Bros., New York, New York, United States. Courtesy of Harvard University Archives, Harvard University Archives HUD 290.04 pf, and available via HOLLIS:…
John Van Surly DeGrasse (1825-1868) was a doctor who established a medical practice in Boston in 1854. He joined the Massachusetts Medical Society on August 12, 1854 and became the first African-American to belong to a medical society in…
Lewis Hayden (December 2, 1811 - April 7, 1889) was a member of Boston's black community who had escaped slavery and arrived in Boston in 1846. Hayden, a noted abolitionist, ran a clothing store, and was elected to the Massachusetts House of…
Latin Name:Pulvis IpecacuanhaCommon Name:Powder of the root of ipecacuanhaClassification:Emetic, diaphoretic, and expectorantIsolated Drug/s:EmetineMedicinal Usage:Mild.Ipecacuanha is used as a safe and dependable emetic, and in smaller doses as a…
Latin Name:Myrtus PimentaCommon Name:Berries of pimento, or allspiceClassification:Cordial tonic, stomachic, and carminativeIsolated Drug/s: NoneMedicinal Usage:Myrtus Pimenta is used chiefly in julaps and draughts to flavour other medicines in…
Latin Name:Potassium Bichromate(this inscription is French)Common Name: Potassium bichromate, or red chromate of potashClassification: Caustic and alterativeIsolated Drug/s: NoneMedicinal Usage:An irritant caustic, poisonous in overdoses. In the…
Latin Name: Folia Sennae
Common Name: Leaves of senna
Classification: Cathartic and diuretic
Isolated Drug/s: None
Medicinal Usage: A prompt, efficient, and safe cathartic, being milder than other drastic purgatives. Folia Sennae is thus good…
Latin Name: SpermacetiCommon Name: Literally, "whale sperm"- oil or wax from the head of a sperm whaleClassification:Demulcent and emollientIsolated Drug/s:NoneMedicinal Usage:Used in many different kinds of lotions, as well as for the treatment of…
Latin Name: Humulus Lupulus
Common Name: Extract of the common hop
Classification: Astringent, tonic, narcotic, soporific, and anodyne
Isolated Drug/s: None
Medicinal Usage: Humulus Lupulus is used in malt liquors as a stomachic, or…
Latin Name: Semina Colchicum Autumnale
Common Name: Bulb of autumn crocus, or meadowsaffron
Classification: Narcotic, diuretic, and diaphoretic
Isolated Drug/s: Colchicine
Medicinal Usage: Toxic and potent. The bulb of Colchicum Autumnale is…
Latin Name:Nux Vomica PulvisCommon Name: Powder of dog-button seedClassification:Narcotic, tonic, diuretic, diaphoretic, catharticIsolated Drug/s:Strychnine and brucineMedicinal Usage:Highly potent. In small doses, Nux Vomica is used to treat…