of Edinburgh , Session 1870 - 71 . 
251 
better. One of the many substances he tried was chloroform,—a 
liquid discovered in 1832 by two German chemists, and first accu¬ 
rately investigated and described in 1835 by Dumas of Paris. The 
trials which Professor Simpson made with the vapour of this sub¬ 
stance, and which led him to adopt it, took place in November 
1847. But it is right to add that, though he discovered its 
suitableness for the purpose wanted, and was the first to introduce 
it into surgical practice, the idea of so using it, had occurred to 
others previously, and trials bad even been made with it. Thus 
Bouchardat, in a book called u Nouveau Formulaire Magistral ,” 
published in 1845, and a copy* of which Professor Simpson was 
possessed of, under the head of “ Chloroforme,” observes— 
“ Cependant on pent se croire autorise a regarder l’effect du Chloroforme 
comme antispasmodique, et a penser, que si une grande analogie de composi¬ 
tion rapprochait cette substance des ethers, une grande analogie d'action etait 
egalement commune a chacune de ces substances .” 
Another French physician, Flourens, read to the Paris Academy 
in March 1847 a paper on the properties of chloroform, mentioning 
a number of experiments he had made of its effects on animals, 
and adding that u lie did not think it coidd he used with safety in 
medical practice.'" 
Besides the information or hints derived from these sources, it 
must be added, that a Mr Waldie of Liverpool, who was chemist 
to the Apothecaries’ Company there, being in Edinburgh during 
the month of October 1847, called on Professor Simpson ; and 
on the Professor telling him that he was seeking for some 
better anaesthetic than sulphuric ether, Mr Waldie spoke to him of 
chloric ether , and advised him to try pure chloroform unmixed with 
alcohol. He asked Mr Waldie to submit to anaesthesation by 
chloroform, but Mr Waldie was not willing to risk the experiment. 
Acting on this hint, Professor Simpson procured—I believe 
from Professor Gregory—a small quantity of pure chloroform, 
which, however, he did not at the moment make use of. It was 
put aside, to be tried with other substances at some more conve¬ 
nient opportunity. Late one evening—it was the 4th November 
1847—to quote from Professor Miller’s pamphlet, Professor Sirnp- 
* I state this, on the authority of the Editor of the Edinburgh Medical 
Journal for Nov. 1870, p. 441, 
