Cotton drawstring bag containing face mask and funnel for inhaling ether as an anaesthetic, used by German Army during World War I, German, 1914-1918

This simple anaesthetic kit would have been intended for use by the German Army during the First World War. Liquid anaesthetics such as ether would be dropped on to the cotton though the funnel and inhaled by the patient before surgery. The cotton cover is stretched over a folding nickel-plated Schimmelbusch mask. The mask was designed by Curt Schimmelbusch (1860-1895), a German pathologist and surgeon. The kit is kept in a cotton bag labelled "Betäubungsgerät" – which translates from the German as “stunning equipment”.