Ohio Monovalve

Catalog Record: Ohio Monovalve

Access Key: aiqg
Accession No.: 2010-09-23-3

Title: Ohio [monovalve / designed by Graham W. Clarke and Agatha Hodgins].

Author: Clarke, Graham W.
Author: Hodgins, Agatha.
Corporate Author: Ohio Chemical & Mfg. Co.

Title variation: Alt Title
Title: Ohio Monovalve no. 3.

Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio: Ohio Chemical & Mfg Co., [1912-1930].

Physical Description: 1 anesthesia delivery apparatus : zinc alloy, steel, brass, other metals,  paint ; 37 x 48 x 46 cm.

Subject: Anesthesia Machines.
Subject: Nitrous Oxide.
Subject: Oxygen.
Subject: Ether, Ethyl.

Note Type: General
Notes: Title based on manufacturer’s markings on the object and the manufacturer’s
publications.

Note Type: With
Notes: With the three-wheel stand the apparatus measures approx. 91 x 48 x 71 cm;
The stand is painted a dark khaki color and has many scratches and indents;
The rubber on the front and right wheel is loose, and all three of the wheels
are dry and cracked.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Brown KL. Medicine in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, 1810-1976. Cleveland:
Academy of Medicine of Cleveland, 1977:452.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Thatcher V. History of Anesthesia With Emphasis on the Nurse Specialist.
Philadelphia, Lippincott, 1953:158.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: United States Army Medical Service. Medical Department of the United States
Army in the World War, Volume 5. Washington, D.C.: US Surgeon-General’s
Office, 1923-1929.

Note Type: Physical Description
Notes: An apparatus to administer anesthesia consisting of four pressure-reducing
valves (or automats) with turning control-knobs, four gas tank yokes, and two
regulating valves; For this description, the side with the two regulating
valves will be referred to as the front; The left side of the apparatus has
two gas tank yokes both marked with “N2O”; One protrudes toward the back and
the other toward the front; To the left and approx. 13 cm below the yokes is
a pressure-reducing valve (or automat), approx. 7 x 9 x 17 cm in size, that
receives nitrous oxide from the tanks; The lower automat is connected to a
second automat located approx. 18 cm above it; The second automat measures
approx. 13 x 18 cm dia.; The second automat connects to a dial-like
regulating valve approx. 8 cm in front of it; The regulating valve has a dial
that can be turned to point to markings on a small plate affixed to the
valve; The markings include, from left to right, tick-marks, “GALLONS N2O PER
HOUR”, and “OPEN”; There are short tick-marks between longer tick-marks that
are numbered 0, 15, 45, 60, 80, 100, 115, 130, 150, 170 and 180; The nitrous
oxide regulating valve connects to a second regulating valve approx. 10 cm to
the right; This second regulating valve is located in the front-center of the
apparatus, and also has a dial that can be turned; The plate with markings
for the dial is missing on the model described here; This plate on a similar
model has the following markings, from left to right: “OFF”, “PURE NITROUS
OXID”, 16 tick-marks, half tall and half short, marked with numbers in
“GALLONS PER HOUR”, 5, 15, 25, 40, 50, 55, 60, 65, “PURE OXYGEN”, “OFF”; The
right side of the apparatus has two gas tank yokes both marked with “O”; One
protrudes toward the back and the other toward the front; To the left and
approx. 13 cm below the yokes is an automat, approx. 7 x 9 x 17 cm in size,
that receives oxygen from the tanks; The lower automat is connected to a
second automat located approx. 18 cm above it; The second automat measures
approx. 13 x 18 cm dia.; The second automat connects to the dial-regulating
valve located in the front-center of the apparatus.

Note Type: Reproduction
Notes: Photographed by Mr. William Lyle, Sept. 23, 2010; In order to present an
image of the apparatus in the best state possible, this example was
photographed with the following alterations: The dial regulating-valve
assembly was replaced with one in better condition from a similar model
(accession no. 2010-09-23-04). Also added were, a monovalve vaporizer
(accession no. 106), net-bags from a New Clark Machine (accession no. 447),
and gas cylinders and rubber parts from the Parts Collection.

Note Type: Historical
Notes: The Ohio Monovalve was developed by Graham W. Clarke, a founder of the Ohio
Chemical Company, with the assistance of Agatha Hodgins, a well respected
nurse anesthetist who worked closely with Dr. George Crile (Thatcher, 1953).
The Ohio monovalve was used during WW I in some military field hospitals. A
1923 publication on US Army medical services during WW I stated that, “The
Ohio Monovalve was found the most satisfactory because it was stable and did
not get out of adjustment …” (United States Army Medical Service, 1923).

Note Type: Historical
Notes: The Ohio Chemical & Manufacturing Co. was founded in 1910 in Cleveland Ohio
and became a major US developer and manufacturer of anesthesia equipment
(Brown, 1977).