First use of stomach pump to counter ingestion of plant poison

The first use of a stomach pump to counter the ingestion of plant poison occurred in 1805. This was when the aptly named Philip Physick, an eminent American surgeon dubbed the "Father of American Surgery", used a stomach pump at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia to effect gastric lavage with two children who had swallowed opium, derived from the opium poppy. His washing out of their stomachs saved their lives. The stomach pump had been pioneered in 1767, by Scottish physician Alexander Monro secundus, who used it to perform paracentesis (surgical puncture of a body cavity in order to drain fluid).

British surgeon Edward Dukes was another early utiliser of the stomach pump in countering poison ingestion. Following a series of preliminary experiments using animals, Dukes deliberately swallowed opium and then employed the stomach pump upon himself, which, thankfully for him, once again proved successful.