Joshua B. Flint

Joshua Barker Flint (October 13, 1801, Cohasset, Massachusetts – March 19, 1864, Louisville, Kentucky) was an American medical doctor, Massachusetts state legislator, and professor of surgery, noteworthy as one of the pioneers of the use of ether as an anesthetic.

Early life Joshua B. Flint was the son of Rev. Jacob Flint and Sylvia Baker. He graduated from Harvard College with A.B. in 1820. He then taught for two years at Boston's English Classical School before matriculating at Harvard Medical School, where he received his M.D. degree in 1825.

Career From 1825 to 1837 he practiced medicine in Boston.

He was elected to the Massachusetts State Legislature several times. Before the Presidency of Martin Van Buren, Flint was a member of the Whig Party but, upon Van Buren's election in 1837, became a member of the Democratic Party and continued in that Party. He was a strong supporter of the Union side during the 1860s.

From May 1831 to May 1832 he was one of the curators for the Boston Society of Natural History. From 1832 to 1835 he was one of the editors, along with Abel Lawrence Peirson, Elisha Bartlett, and Augustus Addison Gould, for The Medical Magazine.

Upon the invitation of Dr. Charles Caldwell,

In the winter and spring of 1847 he administered ether for the first time in Kentucky and perhaps in the West. It was for an amputation of the lower limb, the ether being then called "letheon" and administered by the aid of a complicated apparatus. About this same time Samuel D. Gross administered chloroform for the first time in Kentucky.

Personal life In April 1841, Flint married Nannie W. Trimble, the youngest daughter of Robert Trimble. There were no children from the marriage.

Selected publications