The story
From the names of Scottish physician John Cheyne (1777–1836) and Irish physician William Stokes (1804–1878).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Cheyne-Stokes
Today it means: An abnormal pattern of breathing involving apnea alternating with periods of compensatory hyperventilation and with smooth, gradual transitions between the two, characteristic of those in a coma or suffering cardiac or cerebral episodes. Full definition →