HMM Newsletter - Number 11, December 1996 ISSN 1036-3041

From vocation to profession: an exhibition to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the League of Former Trainees of the Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne
August - December 1996
The Medical History Museum, Brownless Medical Library, University of Melbourne. Curated by Margaret McInnes of the League of Former Trainees, this exhibition follows the development of the nursing profession from the 1870s (when there was just one nurse at the small semi-detached cottage that was the original Melbourne Hospital for Sick Children) to the present.

The Royal North Shore Hospital Centenary Museum
The small band of dedicated volunteer custodians at this museum continue their work despite ill health suffered by some of their number. Irene Campton tells us that the some of the special exhibits at the museum include an iron lung - one of eight donated by Lord Nuffield to the hospital during the 1937 polio epidemic; a 1907 pharmacopoeia with an entry for medicated sawdust for wounds; and a medical book from 1857. The museum is open on the first Thursday of every month and in the past year they have had 24 visits from Probus clubs.

State of the art: anaesthesia in Australia 1847 - 1970 The Harry Daly Museum presented its first exhibition, State of the art: anaesthesia in Australia 1847 - 1970, for the 11th World Congress of Anaesthesiologists at Darling Harbour in April 1996. The display outlined the history of anaesthesia and associated technology from the discovery of ether anaesthesia in 1847 through to the late 1970s. The main focus of the display was the development of Australian anaesthetic practice covering international influences and Australian innovation. This was a major project for our small museum that encouraged interaction with a number of other museums and highlighted the role of this museum for the Australian Society of Anaesthetists. Although only lasting for a week, the exhibition was well received by international congress delegates and historical enthusiasts alike. Allison Bartlett, Assistant curator Harry Daly Museum

Milton Coutt's intratracheal and intrapharyngeal insufflation anaesthesia apparatus, illustrated in Elliotts and Australian Drug Limited 'Illustrated Catalogue of Surgical Instruments and Appliances 1934'.

Published by the Australian Science Archives Project on ASAPWeb, 20 March 1997
Prepared by: Lisa Cianci and Lisa O'Sullivan
Updated by: Elissa Tenkate
Date modified: 18 September 1997