Wood's Glass Syringe
- When
- 1851
- Where
- Scotland (regional context; no specific locality supplied)
Wood invented the all-glass syringe in 1851, allowing dosage estimation through visible liquid levels.
Alexander Wood's main contribution was the all-glass syringe, which he developed in 1851. Its transparent barrel allowed users to estimate dosage based on the levels of liquid observed through the glass. Wood used hypodermic needles and syringes primarily for localized, subcutaneous injection (localized anesthesia) and was therefore not as interested in precise dosages. He referred to his invention as "subcutaneous" rather than "hypodermic". His broader 1853 invention of a hypodermic needle using a true syringe and hollow needle is treated in the event's wider context.
Sources
- Hypodermic needle Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-27
- Alexander Wood (physician) Wikipedia, revision of 2026-07-05
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.