Surgeon

 Mr Joseph Clover, Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, 1850

John Snow who anaesthetised for Clover

Clover obtained his FRCS in 1850 whilst working as the Resident Medical Officer at UCH. He left the hospital in late 1852 to set up in private practice as a surgeon, with a special interest in urological surgery.  Although he largely confined his practice to anaesthesia after John Snow's death in 1858, he continued to take an interest in surgery, attending many surgical meetings and designing a number of surgical devices.

John Snow's casebooks(1) record two occasions when Snow provided anaesthesia for Joseph Clover; both were urological procedures. 

     "Tuesday 23 December [1855] 

Administered chloroform at 69 Tottenham Court Road to an elderly man whilst Mr Clover      performed lithotomy, removing a moderate sized stone, which broke in its removal.

       Monday 7 April [1856] 

Administered chloroform to Mrs Street, 20 St Mark's Crescent, Regent Park, whilst Mr Clover removed a vascular excrescence from the orifice of the urethra." 

On other occasions, with less experienced assistants, there is evidence that whilst he was performing the operations, he was also guiding the anaesthetist: 

"When the arteries were tied the man recovered partially so as to struggle a little & I advised more to be given, the inspiration began to be noisy and croupy"(2)

1.         Ellis R. The Case Books of Dr John Snow. London: Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine; 1994.

2.         Clover JT. Casebook. Melbourne: Geoffrey Kaye Museum of Anaesthetic History; 1846-1853.

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