Geoffrey Kaye Museum of Anaesthetic History, Melbourne
Blue photograph album with vinyl wrapped heavy card cover. A three ringed binder is attached to the inside of the album and sixteen (16) photographs are inside, mounted on heavy card. Each photograph has a typed label on white paper in blue ink adhered to the front describing the events of the photograph. Photographs depict various administrations of ethyl chloride as anaesthesia and analgesia, with many photographs of Rupert Hornabrook.
Historical information
This photo album depicts a small period of time during 1919, and highlights some of the anaesthetic work conducted by Dr Rupert Hornabrook. There is no record as to the reason for the construction of the album, but it appears to offer insight into his work the Dental School, as well as experimentation with different types of anaesthetic agents, using himself as a test subject.
Significance
Rupert Hornabrook was an early full-time anaesthetist in Australia. He helped to develop anaesthesia into a specialised field of medicine by conducting research into the way anaesthesia worked, and its effects on the body. This album is of historic significance as it not only documents a specific period in the professional life of a full-time anaesthetist in Australia, it also documents anaesthetic equipment, and the way it was used.
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