6
Ether inhaler invented by William T. G. Morton,
about 1846. Photo by Smithsonian Institution Press.
Fig 1.
Re-enactment of the first public demonstration
of general anesthesia by William T. G. Morton on
October
16,
1846
in
the
Ether
Dome at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.
Surgeons John Collins Warren and Henry Jacob Big e l o w
a r e
i n c l u d e d
i n
this daguerreotype by Southworth & Hawes. Photo
by Wikipedia. Fig 2.
other types of anesthesia instruments to include, but not limited to oxygen spectacles,
masks, and aesthetic respirators. Next in 1853, chloroform was first used by Dr. John Snow
to perform general anesthesia. In 1910, a mixed-gas anesthesia machine named the “Ohio
Monovalve” was being developed by Graham W. Clarke. Graham was the founder of the
Ohio Chemical Company, and with the help of Agatha Hodgins, a nurse anesthetist this
company flourished during WWII. Essentially, this machine design was only four pressurereducing valves, some control-knobs, four gas tank yokes, and two regulator valves—pretty
basic yet effective. Soon after, he designed (Ohio 685— the military model) used by the U.
S. Army Medical Corps during World War II and this instrument was primarily for military anesthesiologists to have a lightweight, mobile anesthesia machine close to field hospitals for
combat-related contingencies during the war.8 Later on, in civilian medical facilities advanced models were designed and employed such as, the Clover ether inhaler (1877), Morton ether inhaler (1846), Boyles apparatus (1917), Colton nitrous oxide machine (1860),
Trendelenburg endotracheal tube (1871), Snow's portable chloroform inhaler, etc….
Almost 10 years later, in 1924 engineers at Dräger developed the model “A”, the first circular, closed system anesthetic machine of its kind. Its principle as based on oxygen, nitrous
oxide, and ether that was then based on the rebreathing bag principle. 9 This principle acts
as a reservoir for the expired (and then rebreathed) gases in a rebreathing circuit or to be
the instrument for propelling gases into the lungs during assisted ventilation. (Fig 3)