Robert Ellis's compound inhaler for alcohol chloroform and ether mixture anaesthesia, originally intended for obstetrics, by Savigny and Co., London, 1866-1885

This anaesthetic inhaler could be used to give a combination of alcohol, ether and chloroform or just one of these components. It was originally intended for obstetrics and childbirth and was probably also used for surgical procedures. The proportion of mixture could be controlled easily and was measured on the engraved scale. The inhaler was invented by Robert Ellis (1822-1885). The face mask used to inhale the vapours was invented by John Snow (1813-1858), the first specialised anaesthetist in the United Kingdom.