Item:
Clover Portable Regulating Ether Inhaler, in case.

Date of manufacture:
1877

Manufacturer:
Mayer & Meltzer

Description:
This example of Clover's Portable Regulating Ether Inhaler is complete in a case and is equipped with the later development of a Hewitt valve. The inhaler consists of a water jacketed spherical vaporisation chamber into which a measured charge of Ether would be poured. This would be undertaken using the filler included. The metal pointer adjacent to the mask connector passes over a graduated scale on the perimeter of the vaporiser. The output of the device is adjusted by rotating the vaporiser about its axis. The case includes a bottle for the liquid ether and a measuring filler. The cork retains water in the water jacket.The angled filler is not shown but is designed to prevent over-filling.

The Hewitt valve permitted the attached reservoir bag to be, optionally, prefilled with nitrous oxide, enabling the administration of a (hypoxic) nitrous oxide/ether anaesthetic. The valve can be switched to allow the patient either to breathe air or breathe to and from the bag.

The first version of this device was manufactured by Messrs Mayer & Meltzer and was reported in the BMJ in 1877. See also 20110073.

Category:
Vaporiser

Accession Nr.:
20110072
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Discussion:
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References: The portrait is from a photograph held by the Nuffield Department of Anaesthetics, Oxford, UK. <www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2238327/.../annrcse00023-0005.pdf>
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