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The Proceedings of the 150^th Anniversary Celebratory Meeting held jointly with the Association of Anaesthetists and the History and Anaesthesia Sections of the Royal Society of Medicine is now available. This 120 page publication contains augmented, illustrated and fully referenced versions of the papers read on 16 January 1997.

The papers all relate to the first twenty years after the introduction of general anaesthesia. After a general introduction to the historical background, and a description of the way the news was spread, the impact on surgery and obstetrics, and the reception by the general public as seen in contemporary newspapers and magazines is discussed. After a review of developments in apparatus, and contemporary pharmacology and physiology, the role of medical journals, and some medico-legal considerations, were recounted. Speakers included Chris Lawrence of the Wellcome Institute, Aileen Adams, David Wilkinson, David Zuck, and Sir Christopher Booth. A full list of delegates is included.

This copy of the proceedings also contains accounts of celebrations at Dumfries and Prague, and a complete index of the first 20 volumes of the Proceedings of the History of Anaesthesia Society. Specially produced in gilt boards bearing the emblems of the three participating bodies, it is likely to become a collectors piece in years to come. A number of copies are available for purchase by non-members, at a cost of five pounds sterling plus packing and airmail postage, which works out at one pound fifty for Europe, two pounds fifty for the rest of the world. Sterling remittance with order please; credit card facilities not available.

Order from the Editor,

Dr A M Barr, Norscot, Rosebery Road, Tokers Green, Reading RG4 9EL, UK.