The usual administration of these pearls was done by crushing them between the fingers, followed by a popping sound. Īmyl nitrites were originally enclosed in a glass mesh called 'pearls'. Brunton reasoned that the angina sufferer's pain and discomfort could be reduced by administering amyl nitrite-to dilate the coronary arteries of patients, thus improving blood flow to the heart muscle.
Brunton was inspired by earlier work with the same agent, performed by Arthur Gamgee and Benjamin Ward Richardson. Sir Thomas Lauder Brunton, a Scottish physician born in the year of amyl nitrite's first synthesis, documented its clinical use to treat angina pectoris in 1867 when patients experiencing chest pains would experience complete relief after inhalation. The French chemist Antoine Jérôme Balard synthesized amyl nitrite in 1844. This section needs expansion with: a sourced paragraph on the transition from its use in medicine to its use as a recreational drug.
