John McDonnell

The news that William Morton had successfully demonstrated the use of Ether as an anaesthetic in Boston on 16th October 1846 was not long in getting to Europe. Just over 2 months later Sir Robert Liston carried out an amputation under Ether at University College Hospital London on Monday the 21st December 1846. The January edition (1847) of the journal, the “British and Foreign Medical Review “(1) carried an account of the Morton anaesthetic at the Massachusetts General Hospital and also an editorial by Sir John Forbes adding the information about its use by Liston in the London hospital. This particular journal was available to its subscribers in advance of its publication date and as a result was seen just after Christmas 1846 by Mr. Edward Hutton a surgeon at the Richmond Hospital in Dublin. He in turn showed the article to John MacDonnell, another surgeon at the same hospital. MacDonnell decided to try it out but was determined to see its effects first before using it on a patient. He had a vaporizer made and tried it on himself “rendering myself insensible for several seconds some five or six times” (2)

The patient was an 18 year old girl Mary Kane from near Drogheda who had developed suppurative arthritis of the elbow after getting a thorn in it whilst collecting firewood. She had deteriorated rapidly and was admitted to the hospital two weeks after the injury. After four weeks of treatment she had lost weight and had developed a sacral bed sore. MacDonnell decided on 31st December that she needed an amputation and that he would do it the next day. On Friday morning the 1st January 1847 he gave her the anaesthetic and proceeded with the amputation. He was assisted by Drs Carmichael, Adams, Hamilton and Hutton. Twice during the procedure “she gave evidence of suffering” but when she woke up as the last sutures were being put in place she declared that she had felt no pain. (2)

MacDonnell then immediately proceeded to write up his case report over the weekend and pressurized Arthur Jacobs, the editor of the journal, the “Dublin Medical Press”, so that his account was published in the January edition of that journal. (3)

MacDonnell himself said “I regard this discovery as one of the most important of the century. It will rank with vaccination and other of the greatest benefits that medical science has bestowed upon mankind – it offers an occasion beyond measure more worthy of Te Deums in Christian cathedrals and for thanksgiving to the Author and Giver of all good than all the victories of fire and sword have ever achieved.” (2)

The news of Ether spread rapidly. At a meeting of the Surgical Society of Ireland held at the Royal College of Surgeons later on in January 1847 when MacDonnell had given an account of his experience with Ether, another surgeon from the Richmond hospital, a Mr Tufnell, described how he had already successfully used the MacDonnell apparatus in operations on four injured soldiers. (4)