OBJ/OBJ/8/4/14 | Methylated ether | Used as an anaesthetic. Contained in a glass bottle with glass stopper. | [early/mid 20th century] |
OBJ/OBJ/8/4/20 | Schimmelbusch mask | Used for open administration of volatile anaesthetic. | [early/mid 20th century] |
OBJ/OBJ/8/7/16 | Cocaine hydrochloride | Used as an anaesthetic. Contained in a vial. | [late 19th / early 20th century] |
OBJ/OBJ/8/7/47 | Heart shaped bottle stopper | Stopper of a 'Drip by Drop' anaesthesia chloroform glass bottle. | [late 19th / early 20th century] |
OBJ/ORA/3/15 | Recording of 'Chloroform Sesquicentenary, 1847-1997: The James Young Simpson Legacy' | Commentary read by Robert Hardy, CBE [Commander of the British Empire]. Developed by the University of Edinburgh, The Medical Royal Colleges and the British Pharmacological Society. | 1997 |
OBJ/PAI/27 | Oil painting: Duncan, James Matthews | Oil on canvas, 76.2 x 66 cm
Born in Aberdeen, James Matthews Duncan (1826–1890) was educated at Aberdeen Grammar School. He obtained an MA from Marischal College, before going on to study medicine in Aberdeen and Edinburgh.
In 1846 he obtained an MD from Aberdeen and a year later he was made a Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. He was appointed junior assistant to Professor James Young Simpson and took part in the early experiments with chloroform. He became a Fellow of the College in 1851 and in 1861 he was appointed Physician to the Royal Infirmary ward for diseases of women. In 1877 he was invited to occupy the Chair of Midwifery in the Medical School of St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, and to become Obstetric Physician to the Hospital. At that time Duncan was established as leading obstetrician in Scotland and it was greatly regretted by his colleagues and patients when he accepted. His success in London was phenomenal, becoming as he soon did, the leading authority in his field. He was nominated by the Crown as a member of the General Medical Council.
Artist: Henry Wright Kerr | [late 19th century] |
OBJ/PAI/66 | Oil painting: Simpson, James Young | Oil on canvas, 205.7 x 137 cm
James Young Simpson (1811–1870) was born in Bathgate, West Lothian, the youngest of seven sons of David Simpson, baker. His mother, Mary Jervay, was 40 when James was born, her eighth child; she died at the age of 49 and Mary, her only daughter, took her place in the home.
James went to Edinburgh University and obtained the diploma of Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh; he graduated with an MD in 1832. He commenced general practice in the Stockbridge district of Edinburgh, with a special interest in midwifery, and early in his career conducted research into the relief of pain; 10 years before the discovery of chloroform, Dr Simpson and Dr John Abercrombie experimented with hypnotism. He was 29 when the Town Council of Edinburgh selected him to succeed Professor Hamilton in the Chair of Midwifery. From then until the end of his life his career was one continued success in obstetrics, gynaecology, medicine and anaesthesia.
Artist: Norman Macbeth | [late 19th century] |
OBJ/PAI/75 | Oil painting: Ziegler, Alexander | Oil on canvas, 46 x 36 cm
Alexander Ziegler was a general practitioner and obstetrician who practised from 30 Buccleuch Place. He became a Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1816 and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 1853.
On 19th January 1847 he assisted James Young Simpson when the latter gave sulphuric ether by inhalation to a woman with a pelvic deformity. The operation was that of turning and extracting the infant; it was successful. About 1830, Alexander Ziegler invented obstetric forceps in which Smellie's lock was replaced by splitting the shank of one blade for the passage of the other.
Artist: Alexander S. Mackay | [mid 19th century] |
RCP/COL/9/230 | Consultation response to the Association of Anaesthetists on 'Association Consent Document... | | 1999 |
RCP/FEL/3/52 | College disciplinary case: Axham, Frederick William | Case of Frederick William Axham, London, England. Accused of administering anaesthetics to patients of an unqualified surgeon. | 1911-1926 |