[The Lance-parfum (perfume-squirter), a medical equipment which became a carnival article].
The perfume-squirter was a glass or metal tube. It contained parfumed ethyl chloride and was very famous as carnival article. Therefore, ethyl chloride in tubes existed before, and was used by surgeons for local anesthetics. The authors study patents to prove this relationship and analyse letters written before the First World War by the Swiss perfumer Givaudan and a French physician, Dr Besançon.
Raynal
Cécile
C
UFR Sciences du vivant, secteur SMS (Sciences Médias Sociétés), Université Paris VII-Denis Diderot, 2 place Jussieu, 75251 Paris cedex 05.
Lefebvre
Thierry
T
D000779:Anesthetics, Local / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000266:history*; D004864:Equipment and Supplies / Q000266:history*; D005018:Ethyl Chloride / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000266:history*; D005602:France; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D009330:Nebulizers and Vaporizers / Q000266:history*; D010476:Perfume / Q000266:history*
D000779:Anesthetics, Local; D010476:Perfume; D005018:Ethyl Chloride