The New England Journal of Medicine
The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) is a weekly medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. It is among the most prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals as well as the oldest continuously published one. In September 1811, John Collins Warren, a Boston physician, along with James Jackson, submitted a formal prospectus to establish the New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery and Collateral Branches of Science as a medical and philosophical journal. Subsequently, the first issue of the New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery and the Collateral Branches of Medical Science was published in January 1812. The journal was published quarterly. In 1823, another publication, the Boston Medical Intelligencer, appeared under the editorship of Jerome V. C. Smith. The editors of the New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery and the Collateral Branches of Medical Science purchased the weekly Intelligencer for 1 () and, in 1928, renamed it to The New England Journal of Medicine. The journal's logo depicts the snake-wrapped Rod of Asclepius crossed over a quill pen. The dates on the logo represent the founding of the components of The New England Journal of Medicine: 1812 for the New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery and Collateral Branches of Medical Science, 1823 for the Boston Medical Intelligencer, 1828 for the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, and 1928 for the New England Journal of Medicine. Notable articles from the course of The New England Journal of Medicine history include: In November 1846, Henry Jacob Bigelow, a Boston surgeon, reported a breakthrough in the search for surgical anesthetics with the first uses of inhaled ether in 1846. This allowed patients to remain sedated during operations ranging from dental extraction to amputation.