Editing 1842 in science (section)

==Medicine==
* January – [[Americans|American]] medical student William E. Clarke of [[Berkshire Medical College]] becomes the first person to administer an inhaled [[anesthetic]] to facilitate a surgical procedure. After Clarke uses a towel and ether to anesthetize a patient identified as "Miss Hobbie", Dr. Elijah Pope carries out a [[dental extraction]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Artificial anaesthesia and anaesthetics|chapter=History of anaesthesia|page=6|author=Lyman, H. M.|year=1881|publisher=William Wood and Company|location=New York|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xNEIAQAAIAAJ&q=Artificial%20anaesthesia%20and%20anaesthetics&pg=PA68|accessdate=2010-09-13}}</ref>
* March 30 – American physician and pharmacist [[Crawford Long]] administers an inhaled anesthetic ([[diethyl ether]]) to facilitate a surgical procedure (removal of a neck tumor).<ref>{{cite journal|last=Long|first=C. W.|title=An account of the first use of Sulphuric Ether by Inhalation as an Anæsthetic in Surgical Operations|journal=Southern Medical and Surgical Journal|volume=5|pages=705–13|year=1849|url=http://journals.lww.com/surveyanesthesiology/Citation/1991/12000/An_Account_of_the_First_Use_of_Sulphuric_Ether_by.49.aspx|accessdate=2012-06-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/03/dayintech_0330|title=March 30, 1842: It's Lights Out, Thanks to Ether|magazine=Wired|last=Long|first=Tony|date=2007-03-30|accessdate=2007-12-29<!--DASHBot-->}}</ref>
* [[English people|English]] surgeon [[Sir William Bowman, 1st Baronet|William Bowman]] publishes ''On the Structure and Use of the Malpighian Bodies of the Kidney'',<ref>Presented to the [[Royal Society]] of London.</ref> identifying [[Bowman's capsule]], a key component of the [[nephron]].
* [[Edwin Chadwick]]'s critical ''Report on an inquiry into the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of Great Britain'' is published by the [[Poor Law Commission]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/icons-timeline/1840-1860 |title=Icons, a portrait of England 1840–1860 |accessdate=2007-09-13 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070817165102/http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/icons-timeline/1840-1860 |archivedate=2007-08-17 |url-status=dead }}</ref>