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The first patient etherised by David John Thomas was James Egan, an Irish bounty immigrant who lived on a pastoral lease about 120 km from Melbourne. Egan had injured his left hand and forearm in a shooting accident. It would take Egan five or six days to reach Melbourne where he had his forearm amputated on 2 August 1847. Egan had fainted frequently in the cart on the way to Melbourne and was fortunate to survive the etherisation and surgery. In September 1847, Thomas presented a paper on etherisation at a monthly meeting of the Port Phillip Medical Association--this is the earliest known presentation of a paper on etherisation in the Australian colonies. The original manuscript of Dr Thomas is now held by the Medical History Museum at the University of Melbourne. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In September 1847, David John Thomas read a paper on etherisation at a monthly meeting of the Port Phillip Medical Association. Thomas' paper is the earliest known presentation of a paper on etherisation in the Australian colonies. Almost half of Thomas' 27-page manuscript was published in October 1847 in the Australian Medical Journal. The original manuscript was acquired at an unknown date by the Medical Society of Victoria. Although a full transcript of the manuscript was published in 1933, the original manuscript of Dr Thomas remained unknown to anaesthesia historians and is now held by the Medical History Museum, University of Melbourne. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]