chloroformist

chloroform +‎ -ist

chloroformist (plural chloroformists)

1. (medicine, archaic) One who uses chloroform as an anaesthetic.
   • 1851 December 6, Homeopathic Times, volume 3, page 283:

     But his whole account of the correspondence between the chloroformist, by profession, and our colleague is erroneous.

   • 1865, Robert Druitt, The Surgeon's Vade Mecum: A Manual of Modern Surgery, page 721:

     This must be a result of the quality of the chloroform, of the quantity used in a given time, of the mental and bodily condition of the patient, of the care and skill of the chloroformist, and of the patience of the surgeon who has to operate; for if he be in a hurry, and pull out his watch, and if the chloroformist take the hint, and push the vapour suddenly, the patient is in imminent risk.

   • 1897, British Journal of Dental Science and Prosthetics, page 969:

     In the Lancet cases the methods of giving the anaesthetic were almost uniformly dangerous even in the hands of the most expert and experienced chloroformist.

• chloroformism