Cyclopropane

WLMD ID: akiz, akjb, akjc

In 1882, the Austrian chemist, August Freund (1835-1892) synthesized cyclopropane. In 1929, pharmacologists at the University of Toronto, Velyien E. Henderson (1877-1945) and George H. W. Lucas (1895-1974) reported its anesthetic properties. Dr. Ralph M. Waters (1883-1979) conducted clinical studies of it at the University of Wisconsin, and reported the results in 1934. Cyclopropane acted more rapidly and had fewer physiological effects than other inhalation agents of the time. It became the most widely used anesthetic gas until the development of non-explosive agents in the 1950s. The pharmaceutical company, E. R. Squibb & Sons, supplied the compressed gas in quantities from 100-gallon cylinders to small "Amplons" holding only a few liters. These Amplons were probably manufactured in the 1930s.

Catalog Record: Cyclopropane

Catalog Records akiz,

Access Key: akiz
Accession No.: 1360

Title: Cyclopropane : Amplon No. 6 / E. R. Squibb & Sons.

Corporate Author: E. R. Squibb & Sons.

Title variation: Alt Title
Title: No. 6 amplon [of] Cyclopropane.

Publisher: New York : E. R. Squibb & Sons, [1936-1960].

Physical Descript: 1 gas cylinder : metal : paper ; 19.5 x 3 cm.

Subject: Cylinders, Gas.
Subject: Cyclopropane.
Subject: Anesthesia, Inhalation – instrumentation.

Note Type: General
Notes: The early year [1936] in the date range for the possible year of manufacture
is based on the date of the earliest publication found in which the Squibb
Amplon is mentioned. The end year [1960] in the date range for the possible
year of manufacture is based on a few considerations. It has a typed
accession card made by Dr. Wood. It is unlikely that the card was made while
the collection had lost its “home” in New York and was awaiting space in Park
Ridge, Illinois. The year that the collection was no longer welcome in the
boathouse where it was being stored is 1960. The date range could change if
documentation indicates the range should be corrected.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Amplon cyclopropane Squibb [product literature]. New York: E.R. Squibb &
Sons; [1936?].

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Ball C, Westhorpe RN. Cyclopropane. Anaesth Intensive Care. 2006;34(6):701.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Bause GS, Hammonds WD. A short history of Paul Wood’s Anesthesia Collection:
The Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology. ASA Newsl. 2005;commemorative
issue:28-31.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Bamforth BJ. Cyclopropane anesthesia: its introduction at Wisconsin. In:
Rupreht J, van Lieburg MJ, eds. Anaesthesia: Essays on Its History. Berlin:
Springer-Verlag; 1985:271-275.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Bodman R. Cyclopropane and the development of controlled ventilation. In.
Atkinson RS, Boulton TB, eds. The History of Anaesthesia. London: Royal
Society of Medicine Services; 1988:216-220.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Gavrus D. Envisioning cyclopropane: scientific product or medical technology?
Scientia Canadensis. 2010;33(1):3-28.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Hospitals: The Journal of the American Hospital Association. 1936;10:182.
This was taken from a Google ‘snippet view’ which displayed the following
text, “New York, N. Y. Booths 236 and 237 The House of Squibb will exhibit
their complete line of anesthetic products, including the new amplons of
Cyclopropane in two, six, and twenty- five gallon sizes, … “.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Lucas GHW. The discovery of cyclopropane. Anesth Analg. 1961;40(1):15-27.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Lucas GHW, Henderson VE. A new anaesthetic gas: cyclopropane. Can Med Assoc J
1929;21(2):173-175.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Ohio cyclopropane in ampoules of steel [ephemera]. Cleveland, Ohio: The Ohio
Chemical & Mfg. Co.;[undated, 1937?].

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Stiles AJ, Neff WB, Rovenstine EA, Waters RM. Cyclopropane as an anesthetic
agent: a preliminary clinical report. Anesth Analg. 1934;13(2):56-60.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Waters RM, Schmidt ER. Cyclopropane anesthesia. JAMA. September 29,
1934;103(13):975-983.

Note Type: Physical Description
Notes: One small metal (steel and aluminum] cylinder for compressed gas; It measures
approximately 19.4 cm in height, and 2.7 cm in diameter except at the neck
and opening; The diameter at the opening is approximately 1.6 cm; A paper
label is glued to the cylinder; Markings on the label include, “Six Gallons
[space] 22.7 L [new line] TRADE [new line] No. 6 [new line] AMPLON [new line]
Cyclopropane [new line] For Anesthesia [new line] SQUIBB [new line] MARK [new
line] at 20°C. and 760 mm. [new line] E. R. SQUIBB & SONS, NEW YORK [new
line] MANUFACTURING CHEMISTS TO THE MEDICAL PROFESSION SINCE 1858 [NEW LINE]
Made in U.S.A.”; Also printed on the label is, “Full directions for opening
and using this Amplon with be found in the enclosed circular. “Amplon” is the
trade-mark used to designate the special container for anesthetic gas
manufactured and distributed by E.R. Squibb & Sons [new line] Control: 6B7841

Note Type: Reproduction
Notes: Photographed by Mr. Steve Donisch on January 17, 2013; Photographed with two
Ohio Chemical & Manufacturing Company cyclopropane ampoules.

Note Type: Historical
Notes: Cyclopropane was first produced and described in 1881 by Austrian chemist
August Freund. It was not until November of 1928 that Professor Velyien E.
Henderson and chemist George H. W. Lucas of Toronto, Canada discovered that
cyclopropane had potent anesthetic properties. American anesthesiologist
Ralph M. Waters, MD (1883-1979) was present at the 1929 Canadian Medical
Association meeting where the results of initial investigations into the
properties of cyclopropane by Henderson and Lucas were presented.

Dr. Waters, head of the University of Wisconsin anesthesia department in
Madison, was very interested in further testing the gas. Cyclopropane was
very expensive and the U.S. was in the depths of the Great Depression.
Despite Dr. Water’s especially tight budget he was able to purchase 10
gallons from the Ohio Chemical & Manufacturing Co. On August 19, 1930, after
initial laboratory testing, Waters became the first person to administer
cyclopropane for surgical anesthesia.

Although cyclopropane offered a number of advantages over the few other
inhalation anesthetics available at the time, Waters questioned whether the
advantages outweighed the disadvantages. One of cyclopropane’s advantages
included its potency. Only small amounts of the gas were required to produce
anesthesia. This allowed more than adequate amounts of oxygen to be
administered to the patient, which was not always the case with the other
anesthetics. For the patient, cyclopropane produced a fast and easy induction
of anesthesia, as well as a fast recovery. It also resulted in good muscle
relaxation, something essential for major surgery. Its disadvantages included
its high cost, flammability, and tendency to suppress the drive to breath.

In 1924, Dr. Waters had introduced a carbon dioxide absorber that allowed the
patient to rebreathe and thus ‘reuse’ the unabsorbed anesthetic. This
minimized the amount of anesthetic required for surgery and made the use of
cyclopropane more affordable. Waters continued to work with cyclopropane and
expand the investigation by enlisting anesthesiologists and laboratory
researchers associated with his department. In 1933 and 1934 Dr. Waters and
his team introduced cyclopropane to a wide audience.

For over 20 years, the advantages afforded by cyclopropane were appreciated
by anesthesiologists all over the U.S. and Canada. One of its disadvantages
became the impetus for anesthesiologists to lead in expanding the
understanding of respiratory physiology and in the development of respiratory
ventilation technology. Beginning in 1958 with Halothane, cyclopropane was
eventually replaced by newer, non-explosive, anesthetics. However, it is
recognized as having catalyzed a number of advances in anesthesiology,
surgery and intensive care.

The very small cylinders described here were introduced in 1936 and 1937, and
were advertised as being portable, disposable and, due to the smaller volumes
of gas, less of a fire hazard than large compressed gas cylinders. The
cylinder made by E.R. Squibb & Sons contained six gallons of compressed
cyclopropane, and the two cylinders made by the Ohio Chemical & Manufacturing
Company contained three gallons. Anesthesia for the ‘average’ surgery could
be administered using just two gallons of cyclopropane. This made three
gallon cylinders more than sufficient for the average patient.

Note Type: Publication
Notes: Nosworthy MD. Cyclopropane. Anaesthesia. 1975;30(4):487-490.

Note Type: Exhibition
Notes: Chosen for the WLM website (noted September 10, 2013).

Access Key: akjb
Accession No.: 125 A

Title: Cyclopropane / The Ohio Chemical & Mfg. Co.

Corporate Author: Ohio Chemical & Manufacturing Company.

Title variation: Alt Title
Title: Cyclopropane 3 liters.

Title variation: Alt Title
Title: Cyclopropane ampoule.

Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : Ohio Chemical & Mfg. Co., [1937-1947].

Physical Descript: 1 compressed gas cylinder : steel ; 7 x 2 cm.

Subject: Cylinders, Gas.
Subject: Cyclopropane.
Subject: Anesthesia, Inhalation – instrumentation.

Note Type: General
Notes: The early year (1937) in the the date range for the possible year of
manufacture is based on the date of the earliest publication found in which
the Squibb Amplon is mentioned. The late year (1947) in the date range for
the possible year of manufacture is roughly based on the year that Ohio
Chemical & Manufacturing moved its headquarters (1946) to Madison, Wisconsin.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Amplon cyclopropane Squibb [product literature]. New York: E.R. Squibb &
Sons; [1936?].

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Ball C, Westhorpe RN. Cyclopropane. Anaesth Intensive Care. 2006;34(6):701.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Bamforth BJ. Cyclopropane anesthesia: its introduction at Wisconsin. In:
Rupreht J, van Lieburg MJ, eds. Anaesthesia: Essays on Its History. Berlin:
Springer-Verlag; 1985:271-275.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Bodman R. Cyclopropane and the development of controlled ventilation. In.
Atkinson RS, Boulton TB, eds. The History of Anaesthesia. London: Royal
Society of Medicine Services; 1988:216-220.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Gavrus D. Envisioning cyclopropane: scientific product or medical technology?
Scientia Canadensis. 2010;33(1):3-28.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Lucas GHW. The discovery of cyclopropane. Anesth Analg. 1961;40(1):15-27.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Lucas GHW, Henderson VE. A new anaesthetic gas: cyclopropane. Can Med Assoc J
1929;21(2):173-175.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Ohio cyclopropane in ampoules of steel [ephemera]. Cleveland, Ohio: The Ohio
Chemical & Mfg. Co.;[undated, 1937?].

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Modern Hospital. 1937;49;20. This was taken from a Google ‘snippet view’
which displayed the following text, “1 — Filling the reservoir bag from
ampoule. 2 — Filling the bag from cylinder. 3 — Ohio ampoules of Cyclopropane
are compact and convenient, each containing three liters of gas. 4 — Ohio
ampoules are packed in two sizes — box of …”.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Stiles AJ, Neff WB, Rovenstine EA, Waters RM. Cyclopropane as an anesthetic
agent: a preliminary clinical report. Anesth Analg. 1934;13(2):56-60.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Tour 1. Historic Madison, Inc. of Wisconsin website. https://www.
historicmadison.org/Madison%27s%20Past/Places/Walking%20Tours/IndustrialTour1
html. Published 2013. Accessed September 12, 2013.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Waters RM, Schmidt ER. Cyclopropane anesthesia. JAMA. September 29,
1934;103(13):975-983.

Note Type: Physical Description
Notes: One small compressed gas cylinder for cyclopropane; It measures approximately
7 cm in length and 6.6 cm in diameter, except at the neck and opening; The
opening is approximately .8 cm in diameter; The cylinder is painted a light
beige with a red, gold and black label; The label is marked with, “OHIO [new
line] CYCLOPROPANE [new line] 3 LITERS [new line] THE [new line] OHIO
CHEMICAL [new line] & MFG. CO. [new line] CLEVELAND, OHIO”; Hand painted on
the next is the number, “125”.

Note Type: Reproduction
Notes: Photographed by Mr. Steve Donisch on January 17, 2013; Photographed with one
other Ohio Chemical & Manufacturing Company cyclopropane ampoules and one E.R
Squibb Cyclopropane Amplon.

Note Type: Exhibition
Notes: Chosen for the WLM website (noted September 10, 2013).

Access Key: akjc
Accession No.: 125 B

Title: Cyclopropane / The Ohio Chemical & Mfg. Co.

Corporate Author: Ohio Chemical & Manufacturing Company.

Title variation: Alt Title
Title: Cyclopropane 3 liters.

Title variation: Alt Title
Title: Cyclopropane ampoule.

Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : Ohio Chemical & Mfg. Co., [1937-1946].

Physical Descript: 1 compressed gas cylinder : steel ; 7 x 2 cm.

Subject: Cylinders, Gas.
Subject: Cyclopropane.
Subject: Anesthesia, Inhalation – instrumentation.

Note Type: General
Notes: The early year (1937) in the the date range for the possible year of
manufacture is based on the date of the earliest publication found in which
the Squibb Amplon is mentioned. The late year (1946) in the date range for
the possible year of manufacture is roughly based on the year that Ohio
Chemical & Manufacturing moved its headquarters to Madison, Wisconsin.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Amplon cyclopropane Squibb [product literature]. New York: E.R. Squibb &
Sons; [1936?].

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Ball C, Westhorpe RN. Cyclopropane. Anaesth Intensive Care. 2006;34(6):701.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Bamforth BJ. Cyclopropane anesthesia: its introduction at Wisconsin. In:
Rupreht J, van Lieburg MJ, eds. Anaesthesia: Essays on Its History. Berlin:
Springer-Verlag; 1985:271-275.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Bodman R. Cyclopropane and the development of controlled ventilation. In.
Atkinson RS, Boulton TB, eds. The History of Anaesthesia. London: Royal
Society of Medicine Services; 1988:216-220.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Gavrus D. Envisioning cyclopropane: scientific product or medical technology?
Scientia Canadensis. 2010;33(1):3-28.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Lucas GHW. The discovery of cyclopropane. Anesth Analg. 1961;40(1):15-27.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Lucas GHW, Henderson VE. A new anaesthetic gas: cyclopropane. Can Med Assoc J
1929;21(2):173-175.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Modern Hospital. 1937;49;20. This was taken from a Google ‘snippet view’
which displayed the following text, “1 — Filling the reservoir bag from
ampoule. 2 — Filling the bag from cylinder. 3 — Ohio ampoules of Cyclopropane
are compact and convenient, each containing three liters of gas. 4 — Ohio
ampoules are packed in two sizes — box of …”.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Stiles AJ, Neff WB, Rovenstine EA, Waters RM. Cyclopropane as an anesthetic
agent: a preliminary clinical report. Anesth Analg. 1934;13(2):56-60.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Tour 1. Historic Madison, Inc. of Wisconsin website. https://www.
historicmadison.org/Madison%27s%20Past/Places/Walking%20Tours/IndustrialTour1
html. Published 2013. Accessed September 12, 2013.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Waters RM, Schmidt ER. Cyclopropane anesthesia. JAMA. September 29,
1934;103(13):975-983.

Note Type: Physical Description
Notes: One small compressed gas cylinder for cyclopropane; It measures approximately
7 cm in length and 6.6 cm in diameter, except at the neck and opening; The
opening is approximately .8 cm in diameter; The cylinder is painted a light
beige with a red, gold and black label; The label is marked with, “OHIO [new
line] CYCLOPROPANE [new line] 3 LITERS [new line] THE [new line] OHIO
CHEMICAL [new line] & MFG. CO. [new line] CLEVELAND, OHIO”.

Note Type: Reproduction
Notes: Photographed by Mr. Steve Donisch on January 17, 2013; Photographed with one
other Ohio Chemical & Manufacturing Company cyclopropane ampoules and one E.R
Squibb Cyclopropane Amplon.

Note Type: Exhibition
Notes: Chosen for the WLM website (noted September 10, 2013).