the gift of painless surgery - history of anesthesia · brated the fiftieth anniversary of this...

A HISTORY

OF

THE GIFT OF PAINLESS SURGERY

BY

EDWARD WALDO EMERSON, M. D.

[REPRINTED FROM THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY FOR NOVEMBER, 1896]

IOSTON AND NEW YORK

HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANYEfbw i1tiberoi ae IPreoe;, Oambvibge

1896

f C> (-!! L-4- IL

Thy godlike crime was to be kind,To render with thy precepts lessThe sum of human wretchednessAnd strengthen Man with his own mind.

BYroN's Prometheus.

PREFATORY NOTE.

ONE can hardly state strongly enough the debt that the present genera-tion owes to painless surgery, even if, accustomed to its benefits, they for-get the weight of suffering and terror it has removed. This year is cele-brated the fiftieth anniversary of this wondrous gift.

The writer of the following short history of the discovery and introduc-tion of Anaesthesia has been painfully impressed by seeing that at thistime of rejoicing the eminent and gifted man who was the principal, thereal giver of that boon, seems well-nigh forgotten. In various articles onthe Ether discovery which have recently appeared in the newspapers andmagazines, his name is hardly mentioned.

It is well known that when an invention or discovery proves a brilliantsuccess, many claimants to the honor appear, and in this case the abundantand weighty evidence in favor of the true discoverer seems to have beenneutralized and obscured in the public mind by the activity of the friendsof the introducer, who might well have rested content with his own impor-tant share in the good work.

The heat of controversy has passed away and the claimants themselvesare gone. The evidence remains. It is to this rather than to extreme par-tisan statements that the present generation should look in assigning themeed of gratitude and praise for this discovery,- a blessing to man onlysurpassed by Prometheus's gift of fire to miserable early men.

The writer has examined with care the writings containing the statements,and, more important, the evidence adduced in behalf of both the importantclaimants to the discovery, and without hesitation refers the readers to these,giving at the end of his own representation of the facts a list of the princi-pal works issued by both sides during the years of the controversy.

Let not gratitude, in contemplating the ready Will and Hand, forget theMind without which these were vain.

EDWARD WALDO EMERSON.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

A Statement of the claims of Charles T.Jackson, M. D., to the Discovery of the Appli-cability of Sulphuric Ether to the Preventionof Pain in Surgical Operations, by Martin Gay,M. D., Member of the American Academy ofArts and Sciences and of the Boston NaturalHistory Society. Boston, 1847.

Report of the Board of Trustees of theMassachusetts General Hospital. Boston,1848.

The Ether Controversy. Vindication of theHospital Report of 1848, by N. I. Bowditch.Boston, 1848.

Ether and Chloroform, a Compendium ofthe History, Surgical Use, Dangers and Dis-covery, by Henry J. Bigelow, M. D., from theBoston Medical and Surgical Journal and theTransactions of the American Medical Asso-ciation. Boston, 1848.

The Ether Discovery, by R. H. Dana, Jr.Littell's Living Age, No. 201, March 18th,1848.

A Defense of Dr. Charles T. Jackson'sClaims to the Discovery of Etherization, con-taining testimony disproving the claims setup in favor of Mr. W. T. G. Morton in theReport of the Trustees of the MassachusettsGeneral Hospital and in Number 200 of Lit-tell's Living Age. By Joseph L. Lord andHenry C. Lord. Reprint from Littell's LivingAge, No. 213, June, 1848. Boston, 1848.

Principles recognized by Scientific Men asapplied to the Ether Controversy, by JosephHale Abbot, Member of the American Acad-emy of Arts and Sciences. Littell's LivingAge, No. 214, June, 1848.

Congressional (Majority) Report of theselect committee to whom was referred theMemorial of William T. G. Morton askingcompensation from Congress for the discoveryof the anaesthetic or pain-subduing propertyof Sulphuric Ether. Thirtieth Congress, sec-ond session, February, 1849.

Congressional (Minority) Report of Hon.Edward Stanly of North Carolina and Hon.Alexander Evans of Maryland on the EtherDiscovery. Thirty-second Congress, first ses-sion, 1852.

Trials of a Public Benefactor, by Nathan P.Rice, M. D. New York, 1859.

A Manual of Etherization, etc., etc., compris-ing also a Brief History of the Discovery ofAnaesthesia, by Charles T. Jackson, M. D.,F. G. S. F., etc. Boston, 1861.

The Discovery of Etherization, by JosephHale Abbot. Atlantic Monthly, June, 1868.

The Invention of Anaesthetic Inhalation orthe Discovery of Anesthesia, by W. J. Mor-ton, M. D. N. Y. Appleton & Co., 1880.

Dr. Jackson's Discovery of Ether, by Wil-liam Barber. National Magazine, October,1896.

A History of the Gift of Painless Surgery.

A HISTORY OF THE GIFT OF PAINLESS SURGERY.

" THE escape from pain in surgicaloperations is a chimera which it is idleto follow up to-day. 'Knife' and 'pain'in surgery are two words which are al-ways inseparable in the minds of pa-tients, and this necessary associationmust be conceded."

Thus wrote one of the greatest sur-geons of his time, Velpeau, in the year1839. Yet within a decade after thesehopeless words were written, their au-thor, in common with all the surgeonsof the civilized world, was proving thatthe incredible good news which hadcome across the ocean from Bostonwas more than true: painless operativesurgery was an established fact, andthe way stood open to successes in sur-gery in all its branches, previously un-dreamed of, and to-day unexhausted.

A miracle had been wrought. Notonly pain, but long anxiety and terrorpreceding operation - almost worse andmore hurtful - have been removed. Insuch operations as were practiced be-fore the days of anesthesia, the surgeonis no longer hurried and distracted bythe cries and struggles of the patient.The treatment of fractures and disloca-tions now, when the resulting spasmsof muscles are loosened by ether, is asmuch more satisfactory as the riding of atrained horse is than the catching of awild zebra and riding him. Orthopedicsurgery owes a great debt to ether.Childbirth has lost half its terrors.Tracheotomy can be practiced. easily;hence is resorted to in time. In hope-less cases, medical as well as surgical,long misery of difficult breathing oracute or wearing pain can be relieved.But over and above these blessings, agreat field has been opened of desperate-seeming operations, now common, prac-tically impossible without anesthetics,

the healing after which has been ren-dered by Lister's priceless teachings therule instead of the exception.

All the world now knows and dailyprofits by this boon of anesthesia. Hencethe fitness of a jubilee over fifty yearsof painless surgery was recognized, andthe anniversary was celebrated in thecity where the discovery was made, andin the noble institution where it was firstdemonstrated to the world, the Massa-chusetts General Hospital. The gener-ation of surgeons who, having found thepractice of their art changed in an in-stant from a dire duty to pleasure, werethankful as no others can ever be, aregone: the gift of anesthesia remains;its value increases year by year; but thetwo men to whom the world owes its dis-covery and introduction are gone in sor-row to their graves.

Is it graceful to hold fast and rejoicein a gift without ever a thought of thegiver? Let the bitterness of the oldether controversy die, as it rightly shouldafter this lapse of time, but let us notfail to remember to-day with due shareof gratitude those by whose agency greatmisery is every day averted, alike inhomes and in hospitals.

It is now fifty years since it was firstshown that pain in surgery could beannulled, yet the story of the discoveryof this fact is absolutely unknown tomany of the present generation ; to othersknown only in imperfect or highly par-tisan statements. Because no adequateor fair narrative has been presented atthis time the writer has been impelledto recall the facts. He hesitated, feelingthat there was a certain disqualificationfor the task because of his kinship toDr. Jackson. On this account he hasfelt bound to deal fairly with Dr. Mor-ton's claims. He relies on the factswhich seem to be established by good


evidence, after examining the leadingworks in behalf of each of the claimantsduring the years of the controversy.Readers are referred to these. In theinterest of peace and propriety he re-frains as far as is possible from comment.At best the evidence is sometimes sadlytangled with sworn affidavits in some de-gree conflicting. No new evidence cannow come, and it is right that the oldshould be known. But to our story.

First as to the claimants. CharlesThomas Jackson was born in 1805. Histaste for scientific pursuits had beenmarked even from boyhood. He tookhis medical degree at Harvard Universi-ty in 1829, and then studied diligentlyfor three years in Europe, principally inParis, devoting much attention also tochemistry and geology. Returning toBoston in 1832, he began the practiceof medicine, but was more and moredrawn into his favorite scientific pur-suits. His attainments becoming known,he was commissioned by the State ofMaine to make a geological survey ofand report on its territory, and soonafter received similar commissions fromthe States of New Hampshire and RhodeIsland. In 1844-45 he explored the un-broken wilderness on the southern shoreof Lake Superior, and discovered andopened its mineral resources. His ex-aminations and reports were minute andvaluable, and the amount of work in-volved in field examinations, subsequentchemical analyses, and then the prepar-ing of full reports, with maps and dia-grams, was enormous. He opened achemical laboratory and instructed stu-dents there, and had the constant officework of an analyzing chemist. He wasa member of various scientific societies,for which he wrote papers, and he gavelectures upon chemistry.

William T. G. Morton was born in1819, and graduated at the BaltimoreCollege of Dental Surgery in 1842. Hethen established himself in Boston, wherehe soon had a large practice. He de-

cided to study for a medical degree, andentered himself as a student in Dr. Jack-

son's office in 1844. He claims to havemade experiments as to painless sur-

gery. in the summer of 1846. On the

30th of September, 1846, after a visit to

and conversation with Dr. Jackson upon

sulphuric ether, he extracted a patient's

tooth painlessly. On October 16 he ad-ministered ether to a patient of Dr. John

Collins Warren, at the Massachusetts

General Hospital, from whom a tumor

was removed without the sensation of

pain. He received a medical degreelater.

What was the discovery claimed?

Sulphuric ether and its composition had

been long known; that it would stupefy

and intoxicate if inhaled, and that fatal

results had followed some experiments,

was also known ; yet it had been used as

a medicine internally, and cautious inha-

lation of it had been prescribed for re-

spiratory or intestinal spasmodic troubles,

notably for the painful spasm resulting

from accidental inhalation of chlorine

gas, apparently on a theory of its being

chemically antidotal. The dangers of

ether were emphasized by the textbooks ;

no mention of its surgical possibilities was

made, and officinal ether was very impure.Dr. Jackson, in 1842, distinctly ad-

vanced the medical knowledge of the

period, in the opinion, after most careful

consideration, of the French Academy of

Arts and Sciences, and also of Baron von

Humboldt, although some distinguishedBostonians at the time contended that he

had found nothing new. His interest in

sulphuric ether was awakened by the re-

markable results he experienced on inhal-

ing it to relieve the effects of chlorine gas,

and the next day he deliberately inhaled

ether to unconsciousness for the sake

of observing these phenomena further.

He found that vapor of sulphuric ether,

washed wholly free of alcohol and acids,

and mixed with a considerable quantity

of atmospheric air, could be inhaled withentire safety to the extent of somewhat


prolonged complete unconsciousness, andthat by it the sensory nerves were ren-dered incapable of feeling pain, even be-fore consciousness was quite lost, and alittle while after it was regained. Thisfact Dr. Jackson communicated clearlyand confidently, in the year 1842, to Mr.John H. Blake, a manufacturing chemist(father of the distinguished aurist, Dr.Clarence J. Blake); to Dr. William F.Channing, inventor of the electric fire-alarm system; to Dr. S. A. Bemis, ofBoston, a respected dentist of large prac-tice, urging him to use it to prevent painin his dental surgery; and to Dr. GeorgeT. Dexter, of New Hampshire, recom-mending it at a consultation over one ofhis patients with a diseased and painfulspine. In 1843 Dr. Jackson told hisdiscovery to H. D. Fowle, an apothecary,speaking of it as suitable for surgicaloperations, and of his own desire, whenrelieved from the immediate pressure ofhis geological and chemical work, tointroduce it for this purpose. In thesame year he spoke to the same purposeto Mr. D. J. Browne, a former pupil,and finally, in February, 1846, to Mr.Joseph Peabody, a pupil suffering fromtoothache, on whom he urged the inha-lation of ether during the removal ofthe teeth; but Mr. Peabody was deterredby the statements in the best textbooksof the danger of this agency. All thisevidence of most respectable gentlemen- by affidavit or witnessed letter - hasnever been shaken. Dr. Jackson, drivenby the mass of work which he had un-dertaken to perform for three States asto their important mining or agriculturalresources, with his reports to write andthe press of ordinary office work,.had notime properly to develop and bring outhis discovery ; and one can well conceivethe pleasure he took in his plan of do-ing so in the hospitals of Paris, then themetropolis of medical, and indeed of allscience.

In the latter half of this period, name-ly in 1844, Mr. Morton, a dentist, then

twenty-four years old, being desirous ofobtaining a medical degree, asked Dr.Jackson to take him as a pupil, and alsoto let him board in his family. Dr.Jackson consented, and Mi Morton andhis wife were for some time inmates ofthe household. Any one who, like thepresent writer, remembers Dr. Jackson'sbrilliant conversation and utterly openway of telling all the new scientific facts,of which his mind was full, will knowwhat an advantage this was for a stu-dent. Dr. Morton himself shows, in hismemoir to the French Academy, 1 notonly that he desired and profited bythese opportunities, but that the use ofchloric ether locally to deaden the sen-sitiveness of a nerve in dentistry wastaught him by Dr. Jackson, who gave himsome ether, which he tried with success,and that at the same time Dr. Jacksontold him of the intoxicating effects ofsulphuric ether, though he says he didnot tell him of any other effects of it.But from that time began the admitted-ly unsuccessful and unsatisfactory exper-iments on inhalation of ethers which Dr.Morton alleged that he made at varioustimes, until September 30, 1846.

On that day, Mr. Morton, who hadnot yet taken his medical degree, andhad moved away from Dr. Jackson'shouse, and had been busily engaged, toquote his own words, "almost exclusive-ly in mechanical dentistry or plate-work,requiring him often to extract a greatnumber of teeth at a time," came intoDr. Jackson's laboratory, where the lat-ter and his two assistants were at work,and borrowed an india-rubber bag. Dr.Jackson asked him for what he wantedit. Mr. Morton said that he proposedto inflate it with air to work on the im-agination of a female patient who dread-ed the pain of having a tooth drawn.Dr. Jackson urged him not to resort tosuch means, on the grounds of medical

1 Printed in full in Littell's Living Age, No.201, March 18, 1848, in an article setting forthDr. Morton's claim to the ether discovery.


propriety and also of his own interests,and took away the bag, but said thathe would tell Morton of something thatwould produce a real effect on his pa-tient, and procure insensibility while heremoved the teeth at leisure. He fur-ther told him where he could obtainsulphuric ether of the requisite purity;

showed him some, at his request, and alsoshowed exactly how it was to be adminis-tered by inhalation; and assured him ofits absolute safety if so given, taking uponhimself the whole responsibility. Hesuggested to Mr. Morton that he shouldgo home and first try the experimentupon himself. Not only is this Dr.

Jackson's account of the interview, butit is fully confirmed by the affidavits ofthe two gentlemen at that time his as-sistants, Mr. Barnes and Mr. McIntyre,who were present.' Dr. Morton's ownaccount, in the memoir referred to, con-firms to a great extent this account ofthe interview. He claims, however, tohave made previous unsatisfactory exper-iments with sulphuric ether, which ledhim to go to Dr. Jackson to get impor-tant chemical information with regardto ethers which he needed, as well as agas-bag, which last shows his want ofknowledge of safe means of inhalation.He alleges that he feigned ignorance of

sulphuric ether to conceal his schemes,while he was getting from the man whohad the knowledge the information anddirections essential to his "discovery."

It is also asserted that, during theprevious summer, Mr. Morton had men-tioned to various persons a discoverythat he hoped soon to bring out, whichwould revolutionize the whole practiceof dentistry; but this, he told some ofhis assistants, was a method of preparingartificial teeth and plates.

Mr. Morton immediately took Dr.Jackson's advice, bought the pure sul-

1 In the Report of the Trustees of the Mas-sachusetts General Hospital, January, 1848, Mr.N. I. Bowditch, who claims the discovery forMorton on the ground of his first administer-

phuric ether, and, as he asserts, inhaled ithimself, remaining unconscious for sevenor eight minutes; and that very even-ing, following Dr. Jackson's directions,he gave it to a patient in his office, andsucceeded in extracting a tooth withoutpain to the patient. He reported hissuccess to Dr. Jackson next morning inthe presence of Mr. Barnes. Dr. Jack-son showed no surprise, but told him thatthis test was not enough, and that hemust now persuade the surgeons at thehospital to let him administer it duringa surgical operation; if possible, a capitaloperation. Mr. Morton, although appar-ently reluctant, took the advice, and ob-tained Dr. John Collins Warren's sanctionto his etherizing a patient on whom thelatter was to operate. He did not tellDr. Warren that Dr. Jackson had senthim or instructed him, nor did he tellDr. Jackson when the operation wouldbe performed. It was done at the Mas-sachusetts General Hospital on the 16thof October, 1846, with fair success, andwas soon followed by a complete successin a more important operation.

Dr. Jackson, with the carelessness ofhis own interests which characterizedhim through life, trusting in others' hon-or, and, moreover, being driven with thearduous work he was doing for several

States, which frequently called him away,was not at the hospital at the first opera-tion, and did not immediately publish hisclaim to the discovery. There is the best'of evidence to show that he consideredit, of course, his own, looking upon Mr.Morton only as an agent, previously igno-rant (in this matter), and now minutelyinstructed; and that when he learned ofMorton's neglect, in many instances, of an

all-important part of the discovery, name-ly, the admission of atmospheric air to

prevent asphyxia, he began to express

regret that he had entrusted a discovery

ing ether successfully in a surgical case, admitsMorton's debt to instructions and directionsthen received.


of such consequence to mankind to handswhich, from disregard of essential pre-cautions, might discredit it. His expres-sions on this subject have been twistedinto want of confidence in the safety ofanmesthesia by ether. His confidence init was absolute and fearless when admin-istered by the method he had proved onhimself and Dr. Channing.

Charles G. Loring, Esq., a lawyer ofhigh standing in Boston, testifies inwriting to his having attended a meet-ing at Dr. Jackson's in November, 1846,of eminent legal, scientific, and medicalgentlemen, to whom Dr. Jackson madea full statement of the circumstances ofhis alleged discovery and his claims, in-cluding his relations with Morton, andexhibited evidence ; and Mr. Loring addsthat his own conviction was entire thatDr. Jackson was entitled to the credit,as between him and Morton, to theentire merit of the discovery, and nointimation of a contrary opinion was sug-gested at the meeting. Hon. EdwardEverett, who first heard of the discov-ery at the meeting of the AmericanAcademy of Arts and Sciences on No-vember 3, wrote to Dr. Jackson, sevenyears later, after the matter had beenfully discussed, "I have always consid-ered it [the discovery] to have beenmade by you ; " and again, " I have readseveral publications on both sides of thequestion. . . . Nothing has come to myknowledge which shakes my original im-pressions as above stated." In this letterMr. Everett said that, at the Academymeeting above mentioned, Dr. Henry J.Bigelow, describing the dental operationsperformed by Dr. Morton under the in-fluence of the newly discovered " com-pound" (as it was then called), "statedthat Dr. Morton had derived his know-ledge of the substance used from you."Mr. Everett stated that Dr. Bigelow hadalso, in the Boston Medical and SurgicalJournal of November 18, 1846, "as-cribed the first suggestion to Dr. C. T.Jackson, and its application, under his

advice, for the purpose of mitigatingpain, to Dr. W. T. G. Morton." It shouldbe observed that at first, in marked con-trast to Dr. Jackson's openness, Mortondid not disclose what drug he was using,and called it a " preparation " or a "com-pound," but soon after was forced to tellthe hospital authorities what the anaes-thetic was, because they refused to allowits administration there without knowingits nature.

Dr. Morton very early applied for apatent. His counsel informed him thathe could do so as being the first personwho used the discovery; but on hearinglater of Dr. Jackson's claims, this law-yer advised Dr. Morton that it would besafer to have a joint patent, and advisedDr. Jackson that he had better unitewith Morton. To this Dr. Jackson, as aphysician and a liberally educated man,was strongly opposed ; but being urgentlycounseled that it was the only way tosave his rights of discovery in the publiceye, and also being assured that the Mas-sachusetts Medical Society's regulationswere only against secret remedies, hevery reluctantly complied, not for profit,but to hold on to his rights of discovery.He had before charged Mr. Morton afee for the all - important professionaladvice which he had given him on the30th of September. Morton agreed topay this charge by a percentage on thefees that he should receive for licensesuntil the amount should be made up,and gave his bond for it. This bondDr. Jackson, regretting that he had evertaken any share in the patent matter,soon after destroyed. He never receivedany pecuniary advantage from the use ofthe discovery, and refused some moneythat should have come to him under theabove arrangement. It was a great er-ror of judgment and taste that he al-lowed his name to be used with Mr.Morton's in the patent, but, being un-practical in business matters, he yieldedto advice of counsel, and later annulledhis action. The hospitals should be

5


grateful to him for having from the out-set urged upon Morton the measure ofgiving freely to hospitals and charitableinstitutions the use of this great boon.The zeal of the latter gentleman to turnthe invention to the greatest pecuniaryadvantage and appropriate the wholecredit of it soon made relations so un-comfortable that Dr. Jackson decided tosubmit his case to the Academy of Artsand Sciences of France, the highest sci-entific tribunal in the world. He honor-ably warned his rival of his intention, andboth claimants made their statements tothe Academy.

The discovery had been hailed with joythroughout Europe, but the claims of thetwo alleged discoverers were long andcarefully weighed. Much unpardonablemisrepresentation having been made onthis subject, I will state the exact facts.

After a consideration of the respectiveclaims for more than two years, theAcademy awarded "a prize of 2500francs to M. Jackson for his observa-tions and experiments on the anaestheticeffects produced by the inhalation ofether, and a similar prize of 2500 francsto M. Morton for having introduced thismethod into surgical practice accordingto the instructions of M. Jackson." Nowmuch has been made in publications, oldand recent, of Dr. Morton's having re-ceived " the great gold medal " of theFrench Academy, and Dr. Jackson only asum of money. The prizes were exact-ly equal, but to take a portion of theaward in the form of a medal was op-tional. Dr. Morton chose to do so, andreceived the ordinary Montyon prizemedal, not one especially struck for him,worth 300 francs ($60), which sum wasdeducted from his 2500 francs. Dr. Jack-son, who had received from the Frenchgovernment the cross of the Legion ofHonor, preferred to take his Montyonprize in money. M. Elie de Beaumont,perpetual secretary of the Academy,wrote to Dr. Jackson that the medal wasnot struck especially for Morton; Dr.

Jackson could have one precisely like it,only in that case he would receive 2200francs instead of 2500. Dr. Morton choseto use the money in having a highly ornatecircular gold frame with laurel boughsfitted around his medal, which more thandoubled its apparent diameter. At firstDr. Morton did not accept the award, but,being advised that he would lose it unlesshe did so within a given time, he finallyaccepted it, yet, it is said, with a protest.

The Academy never revised their de-cision, as has been implied. The dis-tinguished Baron von Humboldt, on be-half of the Prussian government, sentthrough its minister at Washington a re-quest that the Secretary of State (Hon.Daniel Webster) would procure andtransmit to him the evidence of the vari-ous American claimants of the discovery.After a prolonged examination of this,Humboldt decided in favor of Dr. Jack-son, and the king of Prussia conferredupon him the order of the Red Eagle.The king of Italy and the sultan ofTurkey sent decorations to Dr. Jackson,and the king of Sweden, urged by thegreat chemist Berzelius, sent Dr. Jack-son a gold medal especially struck forhim as discoverer. Dr. Morton receiveda testimonial from the trustees of theMassachusetts General Hospital and citi-zens of Boston of one thousand dollarsin a silver casket, and also orders ofhonor from the governments of Russiaand Sweden.

It is proper to state here that there ismuch evidence that Dr. Morton's firstinterest in the matter was mainly in itsbusiness possibilities, and that only afternearly three months had elapsed fromhis first successful experiment did hebring out a claim to previous experi-ments. The array is very large of sworntestimony of the principal assistants athis office, and of physicians and othersin various cities and States, whom heemployed to sell rights to the use of hispatent, to the fact that at first he as-cribed all his information about the new


agent to Dr. Jackson, who was a greatauthority, referred to him as to its safety,and spoke of himself as being most for-tunate in having been the first to getthe benefit of this new idea derived fromDr. Jackson. To this is opposed, of hisassistants, only the evidence of one ofthe principal ones, whom another witnessdeclares to have admitted to him thathe juggled in his testimony with the word"ether " (when the difference betweensulphuric and chloric was important), andof three minor assistants, one of whom,a boy, had his testimony very stronglydiscredited, and one was Morton's bro-ther-in-law. The only really strong wit-nesses are Mr. Metcalf, the apothecary,and Mr. Wightman, the philosophical-in-strument maker: the former testifies toMr. Morton's having some sulphuricether in his possession in July, 1846,and to a conversation upon its proper-ties, in which Mr. Metcalf told him ofthe dangers attending its excessive in-halation; Mr. Wightman states that atabout the same time Morton made in-quiries of him as to india - rubber bagsfor holding sulphuric ether, and thathe advised him to call upon Dr. Jack-son; also that soon afterward Mortoncame again, and after some mystery toldof his wish to have some sort of an etherinhaler to use in producing insensibilityto pain in his dental operations. Inanswer to a question, he said that he hadinhaled ether himself, and that Dr. Jack-son said it was not injurious.

On the other hand, the testimony onDr. Jackson's side, not only of his ownassistants, Messrs. Barnes and McIntyre,but of Dr. Morton's assistants, Messrs.Wilson and Hunt, is very strong. Still,it can never be proved that Dr. Mortondid not make independent experimentsfor a surgical anaesthetic; but that willnot materially affect the case, if theywere not successful. It is hard to seehow any person who reads attentivelyall the voluminous testimony on bothsides of the question can avoid the con-

clusion that Mr. Morton's visit to Dr.Jackson's laboratory on September 30,1846, was all important for his successin giving ether; that he there receivedessential instructions as to the kind andquality of ether, and the method andcautions which would render its admin-istration safe and effective for surgicaluses. Before, if he had tried, he hadhad no success; immediately afterwardsuccess was complete.

The age, education, history, and attain-ments of the claimants, as well as theirpersonal traits, affect the inherent pro-babilities of the rightness of their claimto the discovery. Both men may havebeen seeking painless surgery. Bothowed to previous investigators, especial-ly Davy, important hints. But the factthat chemically pure sulphuric ether, ifduly mixed with atmospheric air, could bebreathed with entire safety to the extentof unconsciousness, lasting long enoughfor the performance of most surgical op-erations and accompanied as well aspreceded and followed for a short timeby insensibility to pain, was discoveredby Dr. Jackson, and announced to andurged upon others, men of character andprofessional standing, with the assurancethat dental and surgical operations couldbe made painless by this method, at va-rious times between 1842 and Septem-ber 30, 1846 ; this cannot be denied. Dr.Morton did not come upon the scene un-til the middle of this period, and thenas a student, and he made no claim toexperiments until the latter part of it.Even if we grant his experiments, Dr.Jackson's claim stands firm.

Whether we take the high or the low-er meaning of the word " discovery,"namely, authorship or demonstration,Dr. Jackson has a claim; for his ex-periment upon himself in 1842 was notmerely using the prescribed remedy forchlorine poisoning, as has been asserted;having already done that on a chemi-cally antidotal theory, he was so muchinterested in the remarkable effects that


the next day, taking his life in his hand,according to the best medical authori-ties of the day, he deliberately inhaledpure ether and air, observing carefully,as a trained physiologist, the symptomsof the agent and their sequence up tothe moment of loss of consciousness, andagain upon its earliest return; he recog-nized at once that it was no mere localanodyne to the lungs, but that the senso-ry nerves were affected before those ofmotion, and without injury to those of or-ganic life. This was new knowledge, andthe bearings of it were marked to a phy-sician who had studied physiology andsurgery with enthusiasm under the greatmasters in Paris. But it is given to fewmen to realize all that their discoveriesimply. Would not Watt have been asamazed as a peasant could he have passeda day in the signal-tower at Rugby Junc-tion and seen what steam power meant ?

As to what discovery means, two in-stances, already used by others, are soapt that I venture to repeat them. Gallefirst saw the planet Neptune, but it wasby directing his telescope to the part ofthe heavens where Leverrier had decidedthat the author of the perturbations ofUranus must lurk. Sir David Brews-ter said before the British Association," The planet Neptune was discovered byAdams and Leverrier before a ray ofits light had entered a human eye." AsMr. J. H. Abbot well says, " Mr. Morton,because he extracted the first tooth with-out pain, is no more to be considered thediscoverer of the new use of ether thanthe sailor who first shouted ' Land !'from the mast-head, and not Columbus,is to be considered the discoverer of theNew World." Discovery in its propersense was gratefully conceded to Dr.Jackson by the whole European scientificworld. It was reserved for certaininfluential Bostonians to maintain that

1 Report of the Board of Trustees of theMassachusetts General Hospital, January,

1848. On page 30 of that report is a chargeof a dishonest use of the American Academy's

" he [Mr. Morton] administered it [sul-phuric ether] to a patient. By doingso he made the discovery." 1

But Mr. Morton had the enterpriseand the courage, without quoting Dr.Jackson's authority and assumption ofresponsibility for the safety of the meansand method, to go before the world andalone etherize a patient for a prolongedcutting operation at the MassachusettsGeneral Hospital, and to repeat the ex-periment at a capital operation shortlyafter before the most eminent surgeonsof Boston. It was an important and abold act, an era in surgery, whetherit was an honorable act or not. It isbut just to admit that, taking Dr. Jack-son's previous delay and many interestsand occupations into account, the publicverification of his discovery, and thepriceless boon that such action broughtto humanity, might have been long de-layed. Therefore let us forget Dr. Mor-ton's failings as far as we can with jus-tice to Dr. Jackson's sacred rights, andgive him the honor due to the coura-geous and enterprising introducer of sur-gical anaesthesia. Let us concede, too,that Dr. Jackson, in natural indignationat the attempt to rob him of his claim tothe real discovery, did not give creditto Dr. Morton for his public verificationand introduction of painless surgery.Let the reader only in imagination puthimself in Dr. Jackson's place, and hewill see why, if he has any human weak-ness. Both Dr. Morton and Dr. Jack-son, by accepting the respective awardsof the great scientific tribunal of theday, the French Academy, lost theirright to claim more, and closed theircase. Why should we try to rob eitherof these men, now dead, of his share ?

In a petition of Massachusetts physi-cians and surgeons addressed to Con-gress in 1852, protesting against any

name by Dr. Jackson, which was unfounded,and was overthrown by the testimony of NathanHale, Esq., and Hon. Edward Everett.

8

A History of the Gift of Painless Surgery. 9

grant of money exclusively to Dr. Mor- should do well to abide : in relation toton for the discovery, and headed by this great discovery of etherization, Dr.the honored Dr. Morrill Wyman, is Jackson was the head, and W. T. G.contained this wise verdict by which we Morton the hand.

Edward Waldo Emerson.

the gift of painless surgery - history of anesthesia · brated the fiftieth anniversary of this...

Documents