This vase was gifted to ANZCA during a visit to the college by fifteen members of the Chinese Society of Anesthesiology (CSA). This visit signified an exchange of education, research and friendship. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the ANZCA President, David A Scott, and the President of the CSA to signify the spirit of collaboration. Medium sized, round shaped vase, glazed red, possibly lacquerware, decorated with raised relief creme coloured dragons among scrolling clouds. Attached to a square brown plinth. Vase came with a perspex cover and presented in a red, fabric box decorated with gold flowers.lacquerware, wood, corporate collection

Sir Frederick William Hewitt (1857-1916) wrote one of the earliest comprehensive textbooks on anaesthesia, and designed several pieces of anaesthetic equipment. In 1901, he described his wide-bore ether inhaler, a modification of the Clover Ether Inhaler. Unlike the Clover, it can be refilled with ether while still in use, and the mask is screwed into place so that it "cannot be unexpectedly detached." This version is a modified Hewitt's Inhaler which has a narrower 'ways' than the original Hewitt's, and no water compartment. Additionally, one side of the bowl is made of glass which enabled the person administering anaesthesia to see the level remaining in the bowl. Bowl shaped inhaler with a glass bowl base and metal dome top with a connector which appears to be for a rebreather bag. There is a metal switch at the base of the glass bowl to alter or regulate the flow.Stamped into central tube: COXETER LONDON Stamped into side of metal dome: 6460hewitt, wide-bore, clover, ether, anaesthesia, anesthesiology, anaesthesiology

This a cast of the first baby to be delivered under anaesthesia, by the use of ether, in Edinburgh on 19 January 1847. The famous physician James Young Simpson, Professor of midwifery at Edinburgh University, attended this birth and wrote about it in the Monthly Journal of Medical Science 1846-7 Vol.7, p649-640. The cast of the baby's head was given to Lance Townsend, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Melbourne by Robert Kellar, then Professor of Midwifery and Diseases of Women at the University of Edinburgh, when Professor Townsend was visiting Edinburgh. There is at least one other plaster copy; one is located at Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology, 520 North Northwest Highway, Park Ridge, IL 60068-2573, USAReplica of a new born baby's head, painted plaster, life size. The model of the head shows a large indentation of two and a half inches in the skull on the left side. The baby was delivered through a severely deformed pelvis, suffered a large indentation to the skull and did not live.obstetric delivery, anaesthesia

Dr. Curt Schimmelbusch (1860-1895), a German physician, designed his original mask around 1889 while an assistant surgeon. Surgical assistants were often assigned the task of delivering the anesthetic. During anesthesia it was not uncommon for ether and chloroform to get onto the patient’s skin, causing irritation. Chloroform can even cause burn-like reactions. Schimmelbusch designed the rim of his mask so that both sides curve away from the patient’s face to form a kind of trough. He intended the trough-like rim to collect excess anesthetic that would otherwise have trickled onto the patient’s face. To anesthetize a patient, gauze was stretched over the metal bars and fastened in place by the hinge. The mask was placed over the patient’s nose and mouth, and the anesthetic was applied in drops or lightly poured onto the gauze so that the patient breathed in evaporated anesthetic as well as air. This type of mask is sometimes still used today for ether anesthesia in developing countries when other means are not available. (Wood Library Museum of Anesthesiology) This particular object is a modified version of Schimmelbusch's design, known as Chadborn's modification.Oval shaped chromium plated mask with two metal strips linked front to back and side to side to create a dome. An oval shaped mobile wire frame is attached to the lower part of the mask by a hinge at the back, approximately two inches from the lip of the metal handle. A "U" shaped bit of metal is attached to the front of the mask which acts as a clip to fasten the wire frame to the lower section of the mask.anaesthesia