When Hewitt introduced his regulating stopcock in 1887, attempts were made to dilute the nitrous oxide with air and so obviate the element of asphyxiation. The method was to be seen in London, mainly in dentistry and minor surgery, so late as 1930. It was not very successful. To give even 10% of oxygen (which is not enough) the gas-mixture must contain 55% of air and 45% of nitrous oxide. The latter is thus so diluted by atmospheric nitrogen as to be incapable of producing anaesthesia except by asphyxiation. "Gas-air" was confined to analgesia, for example in midwifery. (Source: Penn catalogue)Brown leather facemask attached to metal inhaler and stopcock device that has been sectioned to reveal its inner workings. The various exposed channels have been painted either green, red, blue or purple.Engraved into side of stopcock: HEWITT'S / N20-02 / 1895 / G. Kaye sect. 1952. •Stamped into other side of stopcock: [indecipherable] BARTH & CO. / SOLE MAKERS / 54. POLAND STREET LONDON.W.frederic hewitt, stopcock, nitrous oxide, oxygen, gas-air

Hewitt’s airway was the first known oral airway and laid the foundations for the numerous other airways that were later developed. The development of the oropharyngeal airway is one of the lesser-acknowledged advances in anaesthesia. Oral airways made anaesthesia safer and significantly reduced the trauma associated with earlier attempts at managing the obstructed airway. The Hewitt Airway – the first known artificial oral ‘air-way’. In 1890, Frederic Hewitt noted the frequency and danger of upper airway obstruction. In 1908, dissatisfied with the use of tongue forceps and that Esmarch’s maneuver sometimes failed, he described the first oropharyngeal airway, the Hewitt Airway. The tube was less than 8 cm long, ideally connecting the oral opening to the hypopharynx. The Hewitt Airway was the foundation for many subsequent oropharyngeal airway designs.The oropharyngeal airway is significant because of its lesser acknowledged advances in anaesthesia.Round metal tube with a brown rubber tubing sleeve around the outside.medical health, anaesthesia

Sir Frederic W. Hewitt (1857-1916), an accomplished and well respected English anesthesiologist, was an expert in the function and use of the Clover Ether Inhaler. In 1901, Hewitt described his modification of the Clover Inhaler. Often referred to as the Hewitt Wide-Bore Inhaler, Dr. Hewitt introduced changes in order to make it easier to breathe through the device and improve the ventilation of oxygen and carbon dioxide. In 1901, Hewitt was recruited to anesthetize King Edward VII for emergency abdominal surgery. This was just a day or so before the new King was to be coronated. He recovered well, and Hewitt became the first anesthesiologist ever to be knighted. (Source: Wood Library Museum)Tall black round topped box with brass hooks at the sides and brass hinges at rear. There is a brown fabric handle on the top. The box has red padding inside the lid and red lining inside the base and sides. There is a round section in the base of the box for holding the round clear glass bottle for ether. There is also a ellipse-shaped metal inhaler on small metal base with a thin metal handle and pipe with bakelite plug attached via a small metal chain. A brown mask is made of brown leather and celluloid which is connected to the inhaler. There is a metal ether measure for pouring the ether.On notecard in box: (B) HEWITT'S INHALER 1895, MADE BY GEO. BARTH & CO LTD., ADVERTISED AS THE SOLE MAKERS OF THE INHALER AND RECOGNISED BY HEWITT IN HIS TEXT BOOK - ANAESTHETICS AND THEIR ADMINISTRATION - AS THE MAKER OF HIS INHALER. / GIVEN BY DR. E.S. HOLLOWAY IN 1951, WHO ACQUIRED MUCH OF HOWARD JONES' EQUIPMENT AFTER THE LATTER'S DEATH. Stamped on underside of glass bottle in a circle: WUBW [illegible] Blue sticker on inhaler: O.2.13. Printed on inhaler under handle: Geo Barth [illegible] / SOL [illegible] Printed on body of inhaler: Full Printed on body of inhaler: 1/2 Printed on inside of leather mask: F35hewitt, sir frederic, jones, howard, inhaler, geo. barth & co. ltd., ether