10 papers on Chloroform and Ether in 5 issues of the Comptes Rendus
Early Works in Patient Comfort
“...the discovery that inhalation of various volatile substance caused insensitivity to pain”
Papers by Flourens,Wells, Pirogov, Jackson, and others. All in the Comptes Rendus, volume 24, 1847, Paris, Gauthier-Villars, issues no. 8, 10, 12, 18, and 22.
All four are extracted from a larger bound volume, and so have no spine cover; that said, they do all come with their original wrappers. Nice copies, at least solid GOOD and probably VERY GOOD. $750
(1) Flourens, Marie Jean Pierre (1794-1867). “Notes touchant l'action de l'ether sur les centres nerveux”, No. 10, 8 March 1847 at pp. 340-347, GM 5654
Flourens here makes an historic obaservation on the life-saving properties of chloroform and ethyl chloride (that is he described the anaesthetic properties of chloroform vapour in non-human animals) —life-saving in that it would allow people to endure surgical procedures that might have otherwise gone badly or not at all due to pain or the promise of it. Flourens was also well known for his neurophysiological and nervous system studies and for his “pioneering efforts in experimental methods in neuroanatomy”.--Fatos Belgin Yildirim and Levent Sarikcioglu, “Marie Jean Pierre Flourens (1794–1867): an extraordinary scientist of his time”, J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2007 Aug; 78(8): 852. "Flourens announced that chloroform had an anaesthetic effect analogous to that of ether. Little notice seems to have been taken of his papers, but later in the year Simpson independently demonstrated the value of chloroform " (Garrison and Morton p. 770)
Also, in the same issue:
(1a) [Wells, Horace] “Reclamation de priorite relative a l'emploi de l'ether admionistre par les voies de la respiration, pour suspendre la sesnsibilite chez les individus destines a subir des operations chirurgical, [Extrait d'une lettre de M. Wells, chirurgien dentiste a Hartford...” pp 372-374 (including a response from Beaumont). Wells was "an American dentist who pioneered the use of anesthesia in dentistry..."--Wikipedia]
[A letter was sent to the French] ”...Academy to pass judgment upon his claim to priority in the discovery that inhalation of various volatile substances caused insensibility to pain. The letter to the Academie des Sciences was published in their Comptes Rendus for 8 March 1847 (PP- 372 -373)' and the discussion that followed its presentation £lie de Beaumont reiterated Jackson's claims...” --John F. Fulton and Madeline Earl Stanton, The centennial of surgical anesthesia; an annotated catalogue of books and pamphlets bearing on the early history of surgical anesthesia, 1946 . [Full text located at Archive dot org!]
(2) Flourens, Marie Jean Pierre. "Note touchant les effets de l'inhalation de l'ether sur la moelle”, no. 8, 22 February 1847, pp 253-259;
(3) Flourens, Marie Jean Pierre. “Note touchant l'action de l'ether dans les arteres”, 22 March 1847, no.12, pp 482-485; ALSO BOUND WITH
(3a) [Charles T. Jackson] “Extrait d'une lettre de M. le docteur Charles T. Jackson a M. Elie de Beaumont (Commission de l'ether)”, pp 492-494; AND BOUND WITH
(3b) “Expériences tendant a prouver que la cessation de l'hématose pulmonaire est la cause de l'insensibilitè qui suit les inspirations d'éther en vapeur; par MM. Preisser, Pillore et Melays, de Rouen”, pp 490-491; AND BOUND WITH
(3c) “Comparaison des effets produits par l'inhalation des vapeurs éthérées et de l'acide carbonique; par M. Hossard, d'Angers”, pp 491-2; AND BOUND WITH
(3d) “Recherches concernant la structure des nerfs qui ont perdu leur fonctions sous l'influence de l'éther”, pp 496-7;
(4) Flourens, Marie Jean Pierre. “Note touchant l'action de diverses substances injectees dans les arteres”, 31 May 1847, no 22, pp 905-909.
"Charles T. Jackson's letter 'Antidote to physical suffering' in Daily Advertiser, Boston 1. March 1847 was sent to the French Academy with a covering letter dated 28 February 1847 in which Jackson's claims are reiterated. The text of this February letter to the Academy was issued in part in Comptes Rendus for 22 March (pp.492-494). A more popular account was published at Paris in Galignani's Messenger for 17 February 1847 (reprinted in English in the Boston Atlas for 2 April 1847, columns 2 and 3 of page 2).--John F. Fulton and Madeline Earl Stanton. These are the only references to the Comptes Rendus that I can find in this work.
(5) Pirogoff/Pirogov, Nicolai (1810-81). "Nouveau procédé pour produire, au moyen de la vapeur, d'éther, l'insensibilité chez les individus soumis ŕ des opérations chirurgicales", No. 18, p 789. Another pioneer of anaesthesia, and one of the first to employ the use of ether in a military situation.
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