First administration of an anesthetic (chloroform) through a metal tracheal tube introduced by the mouth (endotracheal anesthesia).

First allograft transplantation of bone in humans.

Macewen’s method for the radical cure of oblique inguinal hernia. The sac was folded into a pad and used as a plug at the internal ring, the ring being closed in layers. Reprinted in Brit. med. J., 1887, 2, 1263-71.

Intended to supplement and illustrate Macewen’s neurosurgical textbook published the same year (No. 4872). Includes coronal, sagittal and horizontal sections with commentary on each.

Macewen’s greatest work was in connection with the surgery of the brain. In the above book he included extensive case reports of 65 patients under his care, with details of operative procedures. A biography of Macewen was written by A. K. Bowman, London, 1942. See No. 431.

Removal of left lung for tuberculosis, April 24, 1895. The patient was alive in 1940; see Bowman, Life and teaching of Sir William Macewen (London, 1942), p. 344.

Throughout his life Macewen devoted much time to the study of bone growth. His researches revolutionized ideas concerning osteogenesis.

The first study of the unusual and dramatic physiology of the annual growth and shedding of the antlers of deer. "The amount of bony matter annually secreted to form antlers of the larger deer is enormous, antlers of the Red Deer having been obtained which weigh upwards of 74 lbs. while those of the extinct Irish deer must have probably scaled 100 lbs during life. 'In weight the Elk will scale from 900 to 1400 pounds and the antler may weigh as much as 60 pounds. The largest span of an Elk antler on record is in possession of the Duke of Westminister. It measures six feet one and one quarter inch' " (p. xv). Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.