A Forgotten Contribution to Early Anesthesia Literature: The Chloroform Problem

Abstract

Dr. Richard Gill published a textbook in London in 1906 titled The CHCl₃ – Problem. Gill was the Chief Chloroformist at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, and was recognized as an excellent clinical anesthetist and was of an intelligent but reclusive and eccentric personality. This textbook is rarely found and has not been appreciated in the history of anesthesia for several reasons including that it was generally ignored at publication and few copies exist in libraries around the world. The CHCl₃ Problem is written in a verbose, archaic, and convoluted fashion and is rarely quoted. It has no references whatsoever.

Gill was extensively quoted by one of his students who returned to Australia, Dr. John W Bean, which brought the book to the authors’ attention. It was found on the Internet, and a copy from the Boston Medical Library had been scanned and was available as a print-on-demand.