1894: Alabone's compressed air inhaler

In 1894, Edwin W. Alabone became the first to develop an inhaler that used compressed air "pumped up by hand," according to W.E. Collision in his 1934 book "Inhalation Therapy Technique. (1, page 3-4)

Collision said Alabone probably wasn't the first to come up with this idea, and that he probably got it when he was in the United States.  He was, however, the first to introduce this type of inhaler to Britain.  (1, page 3-4)

This was a significant invention, because in 1902 Professor Speiss of Frankfort would use a similar concept in creating a nebulizer that would become very commonly used in inhalatoriums during the 1920 and 1930s.

References:

1. Collision, W.E., "Inhalation therapy technique," 1935, London, William Heinemann