Samuel Guthrie: Discoverer of Chloroform

Samuel Guthrie was a doctor, chemist and inventor who was born of Scottish ancestry in 1782 in Brimfield, Massachusetts. Guthrie was married to Sybil Sexton Guthrie and lived in Chenango County, New York before moving north to Sackets Harbor, New York. He settled in Sackets Harbor after serving in the War of 1812 as a surgeon.

A Congregationalist, he studied medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, or Columbia University. He was the first to invent and manufacture percussion pills. He also invented the punch lock for exploding the percussion pills. The punch lock replaced the flint lock in firearms and the punch lock was later replaced by the percussion cap (a small container that holds a charge which explodes when it's struck, such as in firing a gun). The percussion cap did not come about until after Guthrie's death.

In 1830, Guthrie discovered a process that converted potato starch into molasses. He published his findings in Silliman's "American Journal of Science".

Guthrie was the first to discover chloroform, however, other men such as French scientist Eugene Soubeiran and German chemist Justus Liebig discovered chloroform about a year later, but Guthrie was unaware of this. Soubeiran and Liebig's discoveries were made in January and March of 1832, while Guthrie's chloroform was distributed and the process to make it was repeated and verified by Professor Silliman at Yale University in 1831. Guthrie's process to make chloroform involved distilling alcohol and chloride of lime together. Afterward, Guthrie purified the distillate and in doing so, obtained pure anesthetic chloroform. The chloroform was first used in amputations in Sackets Harbor, NY.

Aside from being a doctor, Guthrie was a also a successful businessman. He was known for manufacturing vinegar, chloric ether and priming powder for firearms.

Guthrie had two sons Alfred Guthrie, and Edwin Guthrie, and two daughters Cynthia Guthrie Burt and Harriet Guthrie Chamberlain.

Guthrie died in Sackets Harbor, New York on October 19, 1848. He is buried in the village's Lakeside Cemetery not far from the grave of Augustus Sacket, the founder of the village.

RESOURCES:

http://famousamericans.net/samuelguthrie

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Guthrie_(U.S._physician)

http://www.nndb.com/people/793/000166295/

http://www.answers.com/topic/guthrie-samuel

http://www.yourdictionary.com/percussion-cap