One face (top) of this compressed gas cylinder wrench (“key”) bears the mold mark “Morgan.” Chicago’s Ben Morgan, M.D., was an early manufacturer of ether machines who by 1945 had shifted his interests away from obstetric anesthesia and toward the general practice of gynecology. On the back of this Ben Morgan cylinder wrench the letters “M. N.” are engraved. Closer inspection reveals additional rough scratching which seems to read (bottom): “ST. M. N. HOSP./ANES.” Established to treat large waves of immigrants from Poland to Chicagoland, Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital (our wrench’s “ST. M. N. HOSP.”) was founded by the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth in 1894. So “Morgan” on one side and “M.N.” on the other are clues to the interesting provenance behind this piece of anesthesia history. (Copyright © the American Society of Anesthesiologists, Inc.)
One face (top) of this compressed gas cylinder wrench (“key”) bears the mold mark “Morgan.” Chicago’s Ben Morgan, M.D., was an early manufacturer of ether machines who by 1945 had shifted his interests away from obstetric anesthesia and toward the general practice of gynecology. On the back of this Ben Morgan cylinder wrench the letters “M. N.” are engraved. Closer inspection reveals additional rough scratching which seems to read (bottom): “ST. M. N. HOSP./ANES.” Established to treat large waves of immigrants from Poland to Chicagoland, Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital (our wrench’s “ST. M. N. HOSP.”) was founded by the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth in 1894. So “Morgan” on one side and “M.N.” on the other are clues to the interesting provenance behind this piece of anesthesia history. (Copyright © the American Society of Anesthesiologists, Inc.)
George S. Bause, M.D., M.P.H., Honorary Curator, ASA’s Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology, Schaumburg, Illinois, and Clinical Associate Professor, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. UJYC@aol.com.
