Conspicuous for its modesty and simplicity, the Dr Nelson Inhaler was one of the most widely produced, reproduced, and used inhalation devices of the period, a fact which is underlined by the sheer number and different styles of the inhaler present in the Wellcome Medical Collection housed in the Science Museum. Thomas Andrew seems to have retired in 1890 or 1891 because his name disappears from the list of members several years before his death is recorded in the Marylebone parish records for the year 1894.

This could well have made a respected physician reluctant to be identified with an inhaler he had invented regardless of how successful or effective it was held to be by his peers. Dispersing the mists: an experimental history of medicine study into the quality of volatile inhalations. Indeed, it is fair to describe the Nelson Inhaler as part of one of the ‘unloved collections’ in Blythe House: it is only one of a vast selection of inhalation devices that have not been regarded as suitable for display because of their technical focus or lack of aesthetic appeal. As pictured and described (except 1 small piece that was missed during packing, which seller was made aware of and is on the look out for).The steam relaxes your vocal chords so much that to make them do anything too strenuous while they’re in this fragile state can hurt them.

In ancient times odours, steam and smoke have been inhaled for both medical and non medical purposes.Indeed it is telling that Maw’s – one of the largest suppliers of medical and surgical instruments in Britain – displayed various patented inhalers at the International Exhibition of 1862 ( Illustrated Catalogue, 2014, p 125), a reflection of the close and difficult relationship between Victorian industrialisation and medical innovation. This one lacks its stopper and glass tube but it retains great character and is an interesting and distinctive item nonetheless – and probably not for actual use! In this set of Equip videos I’m going to take you through a few ideas and techniques that will strengthen your voice, keep your voice healthy, improve your confidence and generally help you sing better! More inexpensive forms of therapy included smoking stramonium and other substances, but although these provided relief, they were also known to have narcotic side-effects. The narrow tube provided resistance to inspiration and expiration, and the therapy was designed primarily as a palliative ‘mechanical’ exercise to strengthen the lungs and expand the chest ( Ramadge, 1834, p v).

Pharmaceutical therapies – medicinal products procured from physicians, apothecaries, or commercial sources such as druggists – were the most common form of medical care among the working and middle-classes over the last three hundred years or so and any history of medicine using material objects needs to begin with these cures.Repetitions of this duration will not have required much replenishment of hot water during each individual sitting with the Dr Nelson’s Inhaler. With these family connections to the ceramics industry in Shropshire, and their own manufacturing and marketing expertise, S. Conspicuous for its modesty and simplicity, it was one of the most widely produced, reproduced, and used inhalation devices in the final third of the nineteenth century.

This ease of access also had therapeutic reasons: Sales-Girons, Bergson, and Siegle all recommended using their devices under instruction in their clinics and inhalatoria, whereas the Nelson’s Inhaler could be used under the instruction of a physician (e. Indeed, he clearly drew on such patients as the clinical evidence base for his published writings, which contain various formulations which suggest that his therapeutic models are based on evidence he has gathered in the clinical environment.For serious physicians or pharmacists, the sign of acceptance for a pharmaceutical preparation was its professional acceptance in the British Pharmacopoeia, the official sanctioned list of medication, rather than its popularity or profitability. When infusions are required the ingredients should be placed in the inhaler first and boiling water poured onto them.