During 1996 much of this material will probably focus on the 150th anniversary of Morton's Boston ether demonstrations in October and November 1846 and subsequent events in 1847. Simpson found chloroform in 1848. Pirogoff tried rectal administration of ether in the spring of 1847. Nunneley experimented with chloride of acetyle in 1849. Electrical current as a means of relieving the pain of surgery was also apparently tried in France in 1847.
Electricity has a long history of therapeutic use in medicine.
M. Ducros is the surgeon who practices the method alluded to, and has communicated the results of his experiments, in several letters to the Academy of Sciences. The agent employed is the electro- magnetic current. Nineteenth century medical journals often published material of interest from other publications both foreign and domestic. According to a recent author, Ducros had been experimenting with sedation in early 1846. I would be pleased to hear from anyone who has more information about the surgeon Ducros.