The connection between Dr. Harold Griffith and Richard Gill: new insights into the history of curare use in anesthesia from previously unknown correspondence

Abstract

Dr. Harold R. Griffith and Richard C. Gill figure prominently in curare’s storied history. In 1938, Gill returned from an Amazon expedition with over 11 kg of curare. After scientists at E. R. Squibb & Sons identified a plant source (Chondrodendron tomentosum) and isolated a stable extract of uniform potency (marketed as Intocostrin), Griffith administered it in the operating room in 1942, showing its advantages and safety. In this article, we report correspondence between Griffith and Gill, heretofore not appreciated, after finding a letter from Gill to Griffith affixed to the inside back cover of a book contained in a private library.

Following the serendipitous discovery of this previously unknown letter, we interrogated archived correspondence and material associated with Griffith and Gill in the Osler Library History of Medicine (McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada), Arthur E. Guedel Memorial Anesthesia Center (University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA), the Wood Library Museum of Anesthesiology (Schaumburg, IL, USA), the Anaesthesia Heritage Centre (London, UK), and the Wellcome Collection (London, UK). Further, we searched for information on the historical background of curare via Google, Ovid MEDLINE, Adam Matthew Explorer, Project MUSE, and Latin American History databases.

We found seven letters. The first is a letter to Gill dated 2 June 1943 (Wood Library) and an earlier draft dated 2 June 1943 (Osler Library). In this letter, Griffith praises Gill’s success in procuring curare and informs him of its usefulness in anesthesia. The second letter is a letter from Gill to Griffith dated 10 July 1943 (found affixed to a book that was donated to the Osler Library). In this letter, Gill congratulates Griffith and claims he foresaw curare’s use in the operating room and predicts its routine use to produce muscle relaxation during surgery. The third letter is a letter to Griffith dated 17 April 1945 (Osler Library). In this correspondence, Gill disputes Squibb’s claim that curare derives solely from C. tomentosum and asks Griffith to retract published statements on this point. The fourth letter is a letter to Gill dated 25 April 1945 (Osler Library), in which Griffith declines to retract and emphasizes that Gill receive credit for making curare available to medicine. The fifth letter is a letter to Griffith dated 24 May 1945 (Osler Library), in which Gill accepts Griffith’s retraction decision and indicates negotiations with another drug company. The sixth letter is a letter to Griffith dated 11 July 1945 (Osler Library), in which Gill requests anesthesia morbidity and mortality data and continues to remonstrate against Squibb’s claim of curare’s botanical source. The seventh and final letter is to Gill and dated 21 July 1945 (Osler Library). In this letter, Griffith indicates the lack of morbidity and mortality information, mentions a new Squibb curare product, and cites data suggesting curare may exert dose-dependent CNS effects.

These seven letters between Dr. H. Griffith and R. Gill reveal a professional relationship heretofore not appreciated. We discuss and consider these letters in the context of curare’s remarkable history.