Frederick P. Batchelder, M.D. (1868–1942), was a Bostonian homeopath who chose to specialize in delivering anesthetics. His trade card (above) sidesteps the ethics of “physician advertising” by announcing to fellow physicians that Dr. Batchelder was “prepared to conduct Anaesthesia according to the new method with Etherated Air (Packard’s).” By referring to the “new method” (an inhaler) designed ca. 1885 by his fellow Bostonian homeopath Horace Packard, M.D., Dr. Batchelder has helped us date his otherwise dateless trade card. (Copyright © the American Society of Anesthesiologists, Inc.)

Frederick P. Batchelder, M.D. (1868–1942), was a Bostonian homeopath who chose to specialize in delivering anesthetics. His trade card (above) sidesteps the ethics of “physician advertising” by announcing to fellow physicians that Dr. Batchelder was “prepared to conduct Anaesthesia according to the new method with Etherated Air (Packard’s).” By referring to the “new method” (an inhaler) designed ca. 1885 by his fellow Bostonian homeopath Horace Packard, M.D., Dr. Batchelder has helped us date his otherwise dateless trade card. (Copyright © the American Society of Anesthesiologists, Inc.)

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George S. Bause, M.D., M.P.H., Honorary Curator, ASA’s Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology, Schaumburg, Illinois, and Clinical Associate Professor, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. UJYC@aol.com.