Chloroform in the Civil War
Confederate Surgeon John Julian Chisolm became famous for his ingenious invention of an anesthetic inhaler. At the opening of the war, he advised his fellow rebel surgeons to use this method for applying chloroform:
The best apparatus is a folded cloth in the form of a cone, in the apex of which a small piece of sponge is placed. This is first held at some distance from the nose so that the first inhalation may be well diluted with air. As the exhilarating stage is reached this cloth should be approached to the nose so that a more concentrated ether may be inhaled, which will rapidly produce the desired insensibility.
Source:
Chisholm, J. Julian, M.D., "A Manual of Military Surgery for the Use of Surgeons in the Confederate Sates," Richmond: West & Johnson, 1861, page 382.
Image credit:
Detail from "U.S. Army medical wagon behind surgeon with surgical assistant administering anesthesia," Civil War, CP 1563, OHA 75, Otis Historical Archives, National Museum of Health and Medicine.
