John Snow, MD: anaesthetist to the Queen of England and pioneer epidemiologist.

J ohn Snow's accomplishments in medicine, anesthesia, and epidemiology constituted an achievement that changed the face of medical practice. He conducted translational research in his home laboratory that enabled him to understand the mechanisms of vaporizing volatile anesthetic agents—ether and chloroform—so that safe delivery systems of anesthesia could be designed. He brought obstetric anesthesia into acceptance against religious, ethical, and medical beliefs by administering chloroform to Queen Victoria for the births of Prince Leopold and Princess Beatrice. He mapped out the spread of cholera and developed a transmission theory based on his knowledge of respiratory physiology. He published his theory in an essay in 1849, where he described cholera to be a communicable disease spread by contamination of the water supply. He acted on his theory of water transmission and may have expedited the end of the Broad Street London epidemic by removing the handle of the local water pump. " Gate " was the medieval Danish word for street and a cultural reflection of the ninth-century influence of the Scandinavian invaders. Even today, the Snow family graveyard can be found alongside the church. York was a Roman walled city and became a northern English capital because it was positioned at the junction of two rivers, the Ouse and the Swale. During Snow's childhood, most of the streets in Micklegate were considered unsanitary. Inhabitants drew water from wells or directly from the rivers. e river water was contaminated by runoff from market squares, cesspools, cemeteries, and dunghills. Snow's early experiences with the effects of contaminated water may have laid the groundwork for his later concerns with the purity of the water supply. In England, as early as the 16th century, university-trained physicians diagnosed and treated " internal " ailments, were recognized as true physicians, and were thus given the title " Doctor. " Barbers and barber-surgeons were considered the manual workers of medicine, and they performed venesection and treated " external " conditions such as abscess. Apothecaries, who were originally merchants and retailers in spices, drugs, and medicinal compounds, sold medications and filled prescriptions from physicians. Apothecaries and surgeons kept the title of " Mister. " James I chartered the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London in 1523—separating them from the Grocers Company. e barber-surgeons remained a city of London company. en, in 1558, Henry VIII created the Royal College of Physicians of London. Finally, in 1800, the surgeons separated …