Industrial

• Anaesthetics-

  • Laughing gas- discovered in 1799 by Sir Davy, the patients kept moving as they were not fully numb
  • Ether- discovered in 1846 by Robert Liston, it was flammable, caused eyes to bleed
  • Chloroform- discovered in 1847 by Simpson, Hannah Greener overdosed on it after having it for her ingrown toenail
  • Shows very little knowledge of dosages
• Aseptic Surgery and Carbolic Spray-

  • In the 1860s Joseph Lister used carbolic spray on tools, bandages, and clothing which prevented bacteria and infection
  • He used it on Jamie Greenlees who had an open wound fracture yet did not die of infection
  • Proving that it did in fact work
• Germy Theory-

  • In 1861 Louis Pasteur conducted the swan neck flask experiment
  • When no air could reach the wine in the flask it was good
  • However when he broke the top of the flask the wine became acidic (vinegar)
  • Proving germs cause disease
  • Disproving spontaneous generation
• In 1876 Robert Koch found out which microbes cause which diseases, he stained growing microbes purple and developed vaccines for tuberculosis and anthrax.
• Joseph Lister used germ theory as a basis for carbolic spray
• There was a rivalry between Pasteur and Koch due to the Franco-Prussian War so they were always trying to outdo the other
• Cholera-

  • In 1854 John Snow was alarmed by the volume of people dying on Broad street from cholera.
  • He found that sewage was leaking into the water pump
  • So he removed the handle and found that people stopped dying
  • However Snow didn't have any scientific proof
• 1st Public Health Act-

  • In 1842 Edwin Chadwick reported that poor health is directly correlated with poor living conditions
  • In 1848 he passed the first public health act, Chadwick was the head of the board of health, where local councils could now employ medical officers
  • However, these measures were not compulsory
• The Great Stink-

  • 1858
  • Litter in the Thames caused an awful smell
  • Houses of Parliament were evacuated due to smell
  • Joseph Bazalgette given £3million to build sewers
  • Only effective for rich as they had toilets
  • Marks the end of Lassiez-Faire
• 2nd Public Health Act-

  • 1875
  • Sanitation Act
  • Homeowners must take care of homes
  • Ministers of health are now compulsary
• The smallpox vaccine was made compulsory in 1853
• Quacks -fake doctors- selling dodgy potions
• 1854- Snow breaks broadstreet pump to stop spread of Cholera. However he couldn’t explain why it stopped the spread due to germ theory not being discovered.