An invention which is said to mark a revolutionary development in the administration of anaesthetise and which, it is predicted, will be the means of saving the lives of thousands of wounded soldiers, has been patented here by two German Jewish scientists, Dr. Kurt Mendelson and Dr. Hans Epstein.
The invention known as the Oxford vaporizer is an automatic apparatus enabling anaesthetists to determine the exact amount of anaesthetic vapor a patient has received. At the same time, it permits the anaesthetist to control several instruments simultaneously, thus making it peculiarly serviceable in cases where a mass of wounded soldiers or civilians are involved. It not only expedites operations but makes them safer, it is said.
Dr. Mendelson is thirty-five and his colleague thirty-two. Both had been engaged in research on the problem at Berlin University prior to the advent of Hitler. Dr. Mendelson was the first to come to England, leaving Germany three years after Hitler’s accession to power, while Dr. Epstein was unable to get out of Germany before 1939, when he resumed his joint labors with his former colleague, which have now been crowned with success.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.