Hundred years ago in Great Britain, Sir Thomas Lauder Brunton was acclaimed as an authority on the action of drugs on the heart. His famous work, "Pharmacology and Therapeutics" (1867), was read and appreciated all over Europe and America. He stated that nitrite of amyl has a beneficial effect on the heart. This led to the discovery of many other nitrite compounds that are now used for the treatment of angina pectoris. He also stated that mitral stenosis should be treated by surgery, i.e. by splitting the stenosed cusps. This statement paved the way for cardiac surgeons to devise the technique of closed mitral valvotomy. The results were encouraging and closed mitral valvotomy became the sheet anchor of treatment for a majority of the cases of mitral stenosis.