Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1868-03-04
From the Atlantic Monthly for March.
ETHER AND CHLOROFORM.

Metic agents, OF the use Of chloroform and
ether. A just idea Of this ineati nable
boVn to suffering humanity cannot be
better arrived at than by first imagining
ones self in II surgical amphitheatre twen-
ty.five ye,rs ago, during an opetation-
an amputation. for instance Observe the
writhing of tAat human form as the keen
two edged knife pierces the qulvcring
flesh /; listen to the harsh grating of the
surgeons saw as it separates the living
bone, and hear those agonizing g,oans,
and shriehs, and praye for mercy !
Then, visit to-day amy well conducted
hospital or college, aud witness similar
operation. The patient is placed upon
his bed, a handkerchief saturated with
the ansesthetic is applied to the nos'rils.
and slumber steals over him 50 deep, so
profound, that not a mnscle moves us the
knife goes through the flesh, not quiver
passes through Ills frame. not prayer to
God or man for help, not a groan escapes
hiM. lie wakes from his su,nber to iud
himself comfortably arranged in his bed,
without single unpleasant sensation Of
any note, and totally unconscious of the
operation he has undergone. 1 eau recall
Instances wherein the sufferer has awak-
eueI from his lethsrgy, and, looking up
with imploriug eyes, has asked "Are
you not almost ready to begin 2" BE
gin? Why, my dear sir, the operation is
over, is successful, and you will soon be
we'll again," | can see now. while
wlite these lines, the tears of gratitude
and Of hope that slowly trickle down the
checks of the unfortunate victims of dis
else or accident, aud forthwith | turn t.
my big bottle of chloroform Duncan and
Inckhart's best Scotch), and take con.
gratulatory suiff from pune admiration,
respect, and thanklulness. ....
But there are other very great advan
tages to be derived from these anastheties
No surgeon in the oden time could have
performed those difficult and ptotracted
operations on the living body which are
from the frequency of their occurrence
now, justly considered the triumphs o.
modern surgery and simply because i
would have been utterly impossible fol
the patient to keep himself or be kept b.
others, in a quiet position during a pr.
longed and painful dissection, wher'
knives and propes and forccps are thrus
in and out Of gaping and bleeding wounds
The human system in most cases would
succumb to the shock of the prolonged
agony, in an operation Of two, three, oil
four hours duration, when every seconC
seems minute, and every minute al
hour. u.f
The two aLasthetic agents which ar,
now most in use among surgeons are etl
er and chlorofurm, some preferring one
s2mc The other, others using compound o
both. From time Imncmorial the sur
geon's knife has possessed such terror fo
mankind, that many have been the at
tempts to diminish the torture Of opera
tioDs. Even as far back as the thirteentl
century the idea of painless operations
was ca5efully considered. In curiou
old surgical treatise by one Theodoric. tn
recipe is found for tho preparation Of al
article called spOnyia somnifera, whiel
was said to accomplish the desired result
pliny and Dioscoridcs speak of the man
dragore, or mandrake, being stepped il
wine to cause iusensibility to pain. ar 4
The discovery Of ether as on auesthet
il belongs to America. On the 30,l
day Of December, 1916, at No. 10 IRE
mont Row, in Boston, a man named Eros
had tooth extracted without pain by d
Morton and new era commenced in tn
surgical world, Chloroform bclongs I
|
England. On the 4th Of November
1917, it was discovered by Sir J. Y
Simpson Of Edin burg Drs Keith an,
Duncan being present at the time 1h
blessings Of the appropriate application
of these agents arc not fully appreciated
because those outside the pale Of the pro
fession rar'ly have time or opportunity t
witness the wonderful effects produce
thereby. Think, dear reader Of ma
having on his back an excrescnce large
'han knapsack, and occupying the sam
position that accoutrement would on th
human body--a tumor that had bowe
his head upon his breast for twenty yoal
and had never permitted him to sleep i
any position except lying on his face
a tumor filed with blood vessels, and Il
. srowih Of which was attended with e:
cruci.ling pain ~ ..s
Think Of such man in the hands
? two surgeons on each side Of u
! table, with their shining knives cuttiI
deeply into the aesh-tbipk Of him !