Divine's CO2 Absorber of 1867.

Chemist and inventor Silas R. Divine (1838-1912) sold ammonium nitrate and other anesthesia supplies in New York City. He offered a carbon dioxide absorber for the purpose of rebreathing nitrous oxide. Like his colleague Gardner Q. Colton, he denied the need for nitrous oxide to be supplemented with O2 gas.

From the journal archives: cyclopropane: induction and recovery with a bang!

PURPOSE: To review the history of the early development of cyclopropane PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Cyclopropane was initially investigated because it was thought to be the toxic element in ethylene. Instead, it turned out to be an excellent anesthetic with very rapid onset and recovery while maintaining stable hemodynamics. Its use was ultimately limited because it was highly explosive. Development required collaboration among laboratory scientists and clinicians in Toronto, Canada, clinicians in Madison, USA, and industry in both countries. CONCLUSIONS: The phenomenal success of cyclopropane in over 40 years of clinical use resulted from a lucky, but incorrect, hypothesis that it was a toxic contaminant.

Envisioning cyclopropane: scientific product or medical technology?

In the late 1920s, V.E. Henderson and his team at the University of Toronto discovered the anaesthetic properties of cyclopropane. For a number of reasons, Henderson did not envision cyclopropane as a useful technology: to him it was simply a gas that possessed anaesthetic properties, rather than a potential clinical product, and this explains why cyclopropane was not first introduced into Toronto hospitals. In contrast, the practicing anaesthesiologist Ralph M. Waters envisioned cyclopropane as a medical technology, partly because it could assist his effort to professionalize anaesthesiology in the 1930s. This paper argues that it is useful to make a historically-informed distinction between cyclopropane the experimental laboratory gas and cyclopropane the medical anaesthetic because such a distinction highlights the social dimensions of the process of scientific discovery and helps illuminate the relationship between scientific production and medical technology.

Cyclopropane. 1963.

Special precautions are stressed for cyclopropane, not because they are uniquely required for this drug, but because failure to observe them is apt to result in the more rapid occurrence of disaster for the patient. Strict attention to every minute detail is absolutely essential for good, safe cyclopropane anesthesia. Most important of all is adequate ventilation. Practically, this means assisting or controlling the ventilation at all times. Constant monitoring of the precordial heart tones is also mandatory. The blood pressure must be checked frequently, especially when the level of anesthesia is being deepened. In addition to all the required antiexplosion precautions required in operating rooms, we also recommend the use of a wet towel grounding as an added precaution. The anesthesiologist should further protect himself and the patient by keeping everything around the head of the table at the same electrical potential by frequently touching the various items. He should maintain constant contact with the patient whenever possible. The anesthesiologist should train himself to take these precautions automatically, so that they will not be omitted during trying circumstances. Our experience has been that residents trained to administer good, safe cyclopropane anesthesia according to the principles enunciated usually are much more attentive to details with other techniques. Constant observation of the patient and the progress of the surgery is also necessary, if good cyclopropane anesthesia is to result. Finally, there are some guiding principles that I believe are essential for the conduct of good, safe cyclopropane anesthesia. 1. Be thoroughly familiar with the pharmacological actions of the drug. 2. Maintain a healthy respect for the potency of the drug, but no fear. 3. Be especially sure to maintain adequate ventilation through a patent airway. 4. Remember the drug is explosive. 5. Be eternally vigilant to the minute details of the conduct of the anesthesia. 6. This drug is for the real "pro," not the amateur. It is to be handled with the finesse of the violinist, not with the banging of the cymbal player. 7. Answer for yourself the question, "If this drug is so frequently selected for the very poor risk patient, wouldn't it be equally good or better for the healthy patient?".

A short history of fires and explosions caused by anaesthetic agents.

The first recorded fire resulting from the use of an anaesthetic agent occurred in 1850, when ether caught fire during a facial operation. Many subsequent fires and explosions have been reported, caused by ether, acetylene, ethylene and cyclopropane, and there has been one reported explosion involving halothane. Although some of the earlier incidents caused more consternation than injury, many of the later ones caused much death and destruction, particularly after the practice of administering oxygen, instead of air, became established. Many incidents have never been reported and many of those which have reached publication do not record essential details. The use of flammable agents has decreased significantly in recent years and although fires and explosions from nonanaesthetic causes, for example gastrointestinal gases, skin sterilizing agents and laser surgery, may continue to occur, those from gaseous and volatile anaesthetic agents may now be of historical interest only. This article reviews some of the more relevant and enlightening reports of the past 150 yr.