Richardson, Benjamin
NAME: Richardson, Sir Benjamin Ward
ACHIEVEMENT(S): Important research in epidemiology and anesthesia.
NICKNAME/ALIAS: None
DATE/PLACE OF BIRTH: 31 October 1828. Somerby, Leicestershire, England
DATE/PLACE/AGE AT DEATH: 21 November 1896. London, England. Aged 68
DISCIPLINE: Doctor
FIELD: Medicine
LANGUAGE: English
PARENTS: Benjamin Richardson and Mary Ward (1800-38)
SIBLINGS: None
SPOUSE: Mary J. Smith, married 1857
CHILDREN: Bertram, Aubrey and May Stella
EDUCATION: Burrow Hill School, 1838-43; Anderson's College, Glasgow,
1845-50; St. Andrew's University, 1850-54
MAJOR WORK: 'Vita medica', 1897
LIFE AND TIMES:
In London, Richardson attended lectures by <taught by> Faraday*, met <met> Richard Bright*, Thomas Hodgkin and <met> Thomas Addison*, and as a member of 'Our Club' met <met> Thackeray* and <met> Cruikshank*.
In 1855 he originated and edited the first British public-health journal, 'Sanitary
Review and Journal of Public Health', in which he published many papers based on his medical studies (during which he became one of the first in England to make use of <used invention of> Laennec's* stethoscope).
One paper, on tuberculosis (1856), was expanded into a book the following year: 'The Hygienic Treatment of Pulmonary Consumption' (1857). He also became a founder member, with <collaborated with> Snow* and others, of the Society for the
Study of Chest Diseases.
With Snow (who was using chloroform to perform a variety of operations), Richardson collected and tested many substances with narcotic properties in the search for the ideal anaesthetic, and ultimately introduced 14 new anesthetic substances, two of which would prove important: methylene bichloride (a mixture of chloroform and methyl alcohol,
which proved less toxic than chloroform and was used for some operations for two decades) and methylene ether (introduced 1872, and used largely in gynaecological practice).
During these experiments Richardson also became a pioneer in anesthetic apparatus. His most important invention came in 1866, when he developed a spray, worked by a hand bellows, which blew a finely atomized cloud of sulphuric ether on to the patient's skin, where it immediately vaporized, and refrigerated the superficial tissues sufficiently to act as a local anesthetic suitable for the extraction of teeth, excision of tumours, amputation of the breast etc.
The spray became generally adopted for such surgery in both Britain and France, was used for several decades to great effect, and was adapted by <work used by> Joseph Lister* for his antiseptic carbolic spray in 1871.
In 1863 Richardson also became the first to experiment and describe the action of
amyl nitrite on the circulation and its action as a muscle-relaxant or anti-spasmodic, which led to its introduction in the treatment of angina pectoris, and he also introduced the bromides of quinine, iron, and strychnia, worked on antiseptics for covering
wounds, and investigated the effects of hydrogen peroxide, which he also discovered could dye hair blonde.
Richardson was one of the most prolific writers of his generation, publishing biographies, plays, poems, and songs, in addition to his scientific work. Most notably, he wrote the 'Asclepiad', a series of original researches in the science, art, and literature of medicine: a single volume was issued in 1861, after which it appeared quarterly from 1884 to 1895.
He was also one of the earliest advocates of bicycling, and was president of the Tricycle Union for ten years.
ASSESSMENT:. A pioneer in anesthetic practice, he introduced two important new anesthetic drugs, invented a spray for the administration of ether as a local anesthetic, and developed a method for the painless slaughter of domestic animals.
EXTRA CONNECTIONS: None
ONELINER: Benjamin Richardson, early anesthetist
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
DSB, DNB
McNalty, Sir Arthur Salusbury, A Biography of Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson, London: Harvey and Blythe Ltd., 1950
Richardson, Sir Benjamin Ward, Vita Medica: Chapters of Medical Life and Work, London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1897