Newton’s 1864 UK patent for a dry powder inhaler described a box with several rotating veins which would waft finely pulverised powder into a cloud. The patient would sit with their mouth into an opening on the top of the box and would crank the handle and inhale.
This, however, was not the earliest dry powder inhaler, recently references back to 1848 of Dr Chambers of London having made dry powders for inhalation of silver nitrate with lycopodium for the treatment of consumption have been located. The search for the earliest reference to dry powder inhalation continues!
