Dr. Ralph and Mrs. Olga Crawford Canadian Dental Collection
Category
Pharmacy and Drug Artifacts
Classification
Pharmacy, Pain
Accession Number
010020093
Description
Somnoforme anaesthetic ampoule; closed glass ampoule with rounded bottom, then tapering to thin, pointed closed end; blue paper label printed with black ink stating product name affixed to middle of ampoule; orange liquid inside
Somnoforme anaesthetic ampoule; closed glass ampoule with rounded bottom, then tapering to thin, pointed closed end; blue paper label printed with black ink stating product name affixed to middle of ampoule; orange liquid inside
Number Of Parts
1
Provenance
Transfer from the Dental Canada Fund; previously housed in the Dentistry Canada Museum (Ottawa)
Dates
1920
1930
circa 1920-1930
Date Remarks
Based on donors remarks
Material
glass: clear
paper: blue
ink: black
Inscriptions
Printed on paper label: ""LE "SOEMNOFORME" // ou "SOMNOFORME" (DEPOSE)"
Permanent Location
Storage Room 0010
0010-B
Dimension Notes
Length 12.4 cm x Diam. 1.1 cm
Condition Remarks
Paper label torn at top left
Copy Type
Original
Reference Types
Book
Other
JPG
Reference Comments
"Dental Materia Medica and Therapeutics", Herman Prinz, 1913, p. 315; "'Somnoform' a New Aid to Surgery.", New York Times, June 4, 1904
CD #9
Research Facts
Dr Ralph and Mrs Olga Crawford donated their extensive Canadian dental collection to the DCF to create the museum in 1997; further donations were received while Dr Crawford was Curator Emeritus at the Dental Canada Museum until its closure in 2008; this item was donated by Dr. James E. Biggar from Burlington, Ontario; he received it from an elderly dentist from Simcoe County; Somnoform was a general anaesthetic made from 60 parts ethyl chloride, 35 parts methyl chloride, and 5 parts ethyl bromide; it was invented by Georges Rolland, director of the dental school at Bordeaux, in 1901; the anaesthetic had a very low boiling point, and turned to gas immediately upon contact with air; it had to be used with a special inhaler or, originally, with a piece of cloth with paper and cotton batting inside; one of its virtues was the fact that a patients breathing stopped before their heart stopped beating, so dentists could monitor their patients breathing in case of problems; it was claimed to be better for minor surgery than nitrous oxide because of its longer anaesthetic time, and better to use before ether or chloroform; while the instructions claimed it was the safest of all anaesthetics, a few deaths did occur, and its use was fairly short-lived