Son of James William Braine (qv), a medical man in large practice; born at St James’s Square, London, on December 28th, 1837, the eldest of eleven children. He entered St George’s Hospital in 1854, and was successively House Surgeon, Surgical Registrar, and Demonstrator of Anatomy. He acted as private assistant to George Pollock (qv), Surgeon to the hospital, and thus gained experience in the administration of chloroform. Henry Potter, Chloroformist to St George’s Hospital, gave up his position unexpectedly owing to the death of a patient to whom he was giving the anaesthetic. The post was offered to Braine, who until then was educating himself for a post on the surgical staff of the hospital, and was Resident Medical Officer at the Children’s Hospital, Great Ormond Street. The offer was accepted with some reluctance. Braine took Potter’s house in Maddox Street, and became one of the early specialists in the administration of anaesthetics. He soon attained a European reputation. For twenty-six years, from 1868-1894, he was anaesthetist to the Dental Hospital in London, where he was appointed a Vice-President on his resignation of office. During this period Braine was the first to adopt in England the use of nitrous oxide gas for the production of anaesthesia. From 1873-1890 he was Chloroformist and Lecturer on Anaesthetics at Charing Cross Hospital, where his lectures were the first systematic course on the subject in this country. He was also Anaesthetist to St Peter’s Hospital for Stone, acting for sixteen years and retiring with the rank of Consulting Anaesthetist. He was one of the founders and the first President (1893-1895) of the Society of Anaesthetists, and was Hon Secretary of the Medical Society of London when it moved from George Street, Hanover Square, to Chandos Street, Cavendish Square, in 1871. For his services the Society awarded him a silver medal in 1875 and made him a Vice-President. He was twice married. He died on October 28th, 1907, and was buried at Harrow. Braine was an adept boxer, whip, and rider to hounds, his love of sport being an inheritance from his grandfather, who is described as a wealthy gentleman farmer living in Oxfordshire. In his younger days he took part in swimming matches under the assumed name of ‘Frank Stanley’. He was also devoted to games of skill. For many years he acted as Hon Secretary of the Fellows of the College of Surgeons’ dinner, which was held on the date of the Election to the Council, and by his social qualities and administrative ability did much to make the gathering successful. He held high rank as a freemason, and was appointed in 1901 to the acting rank of Senior Grand Deacon in the Craft, and Assistant Grand Sojourner in the Royal Arch. His life synchronized with the rise and development of the art of anaesthesia from experimental beginnings. He was one of the great practical pioneers, and lived to see it established on a firm scientific basis. Nitrous oxide could not be brought in cylinders when Braine began to practise. It had to be made at home and conveyed to the patient in a large bag from which the gas leaked, as often as not, until it frequently happened that hardly enough would be left to produce anaesthesia. It was so often impure that to the last day of his practice Braine always satisfied himself by inhaling a few whiffs before he gave it to the patient. He was greatly in favour of chloroform at the beginning of his career, but soon became an advocate for the use of ether, in the administration of which he was very expert. He always used the Ormsby inhaler, and was a firm believer in rapid induction, giving nitrous oxide first to full narcosis and then changing to ether, using separate inhalers. He very rarely used mixtures containing chloroform in later life. Publications:— Braine’s contributions on anaesthetics are to be found in *Brit. Dent. Jour.* and *Brit. Med. Jour.* for 1869-1871 and in *Lancet* for 1872, ii, 782.