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Pioneer

4. Hickman's Legacy

Has Henry Hill Hickman ever been recognised as a pioneer of anaesthesia?

Hickman was several years ahead of his time. Because the importance of his experiments were not recognised at the time, he cannot be said to have influenced the development of anaesthesia. His dream of pain free surgery came true fifteen years after his death. In 1846 the dentist W.T.Morton successfully performed a difficult tooth extraction by rendering the patient unconscious using ether.

Following this there were many claims for the first discovery of the effects of gas by inhalation. During discussions M.Geradin, of the Academie Royale de Medecine in Paris, recalled that he had been sent a paper on the subject by an English Physician some 15 or 20 years earlier. At the same time in Britain, a Dr Dudley re-examining Hickman's publications and applied to Hickman's wife for papers to verify the claim that he was the true pioneer. Sadly she seems to have lost or destroyed his notes.

Image of the memorial dedicated to Hickman in 1929

Hickman's memorial
[Reproduced with kind permission of Secret Shropshire]

It was not until 1929, a century after his death, that the Royal Society of Medicine decided to honour him in recognition of his experiments and foresight. A memorial service was held at Bromfield church and a stone plaque unveiled. Today, the basis of anaesthesia is still the loss of consciousness by the patient through inhaling a mixture of gases. Although these do not include Carbonic acid, but a combination of an analgesic, a muscle relaxant and a hypnotic, the principle remains the same.

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Page created June 2004 and last updated 13 July 2007

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