Medical milestones, landmark publications, and notable births and deaths associated with February 1.

Events

1873 – First reported death under nitrous oxide anaesthetic. The Lancet published “Fatal Suffocation from Nitrous Oxide Gas”, describing the death of Miss Ida Wyndham after nitrous oxide given for dental extraction.

In the follow-up correspondence, Woodhouse Braine challenged The Lancet’s initial interpretation of pulse change and “paralysis of respiration”. He argued the patients enlarged tonsils, elongated uvula, and stertorous breathing contributed to airway obstruction and the fatal outcome.

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Births

1867 – Conrad Ramstedt (1867–1963), German surgeon; described Ramstedt Operation (pylorotomy) (1912)

1874 – James Ramsay Hunt (1874-1937), American neurologist; described Ramsay Hunt syndrome (1907) and Ramsay Hunt paralysis (1917)

1882 – Charles Foix (1882-1927), French neurologist. Described Marie–Foix Syndrome (1913), Foix-Alajouanine syndrome (1926), and Marie–Foix–Alajouanine syndrome (1922)

1911 – Aagot Christie Løken (1911-2007), Norwegian physician; described Senior-Løken syndrome (1961)

1914 – Norman Jefferis ‘Jeff’ Holter (1914-1983), American chemist, physicist and biophysicist; inventor of the Holter monitor (1947)

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Deaths

1734 – Sir John Floyer (1649-1734), English physician; invented the Pulse-watch (1707) and strong advocate for cold bathing and hydrotherapy

1880 – Sir Dominic John Corrigan (1802-1880), Irish physician; described Corrigan sign I (1829), Corrigan Pulse (1832), Corrigan disease (1832), Corrigan cirrhosis (1838) and invented the Corrigan button (1846) and Corrigan hammer

1910 – Hermann Adolph Wülfing-Lüer (1836-1909), German Surgical instrument manufacturer; co-nventor of the Luer syringe

1921 – Henry Harrington Janeway (1873-1921), American physician and pioneer for radiation therapy in the treatment of cancer. Described the Janeway Gastrostomy (1913) and invented the Janeway Laryngoscope (1913), and Janeway rhythmic inflation apparatus (1910)

1946 – Vaughan Pendred (1869–1946), English general practitioner; described Pendred syndrome (1896)

1976– George Hoyt Whipple (1878-1976), American physician; described Whipple disease (1907) and coined the term thalassemia (1932

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Further reading

• Fatal suffocation from nitrous oxide gas. Lancet 1873 101(2579): 178-179
• Woodhouse Braine F. The late death under nitrous oxide. Lancet 1873; 101(2581): 253-255