The Vermont transcript. [volume] (St. Albans, Vt.) 1864-1870, 1868-03-06
Ethe,. and ChIoroforn,.

In modern times the first great. Uery
great, step toward surgery, was the in
| PRODUCTION of what the doctors call anCe-
sthettc agents, or the use of chlOrOform
and ether. A just idea of this inestima-
bic boon to suffering humanity cannot
be better arrived at than by imagining
| ones self III Il surgical amphitheatre
| twenty-five years ago, during an opera
| tiOn-an amputatiOn, for instance. OBJ
serve the writhing of that human form
as the keen two-edged knife pierces the
| quivering flesh; listen to the harsh
| grating of the surgeons saw as it sepa-
| rates the living bone, and hear those ago
nizing groans, and shrieks, and PRAYERS
| for mercy Then, visit to-day any
| well conducted Hospital or college and
witness similar operation. The pa
| tient is placed upon his bed, 3 handker-
| chief saturated with the anasthetic is
applied to the nostrils, and a slumber
steals over him so deep. so profound.
| that not muscle moves as the knife
goes through the flesh, not culver pass
e. through his frame, not a PRAYER TO
man or God for help, not groan es-
| capes him. lie wakes from his slum-
Der tOtind himself comfortably arranged
IN his bed, without Il single UNPLEASANT
sensation OF any note, and totally I'M
conscious of the operation he has under
gone. | can recall instances wherein
the sufferer has awakened from his
lethargy, and, looking up with implor-
ing eyes, has asked: " Are YOU not al
most ready to begin ?N Z" Beqilte Why.
my dear sir, the operation is over, is
successful, and you will soon be well
again" | can see now, while | write
these lines, the tears of gratitude and of
hope that slowly rrickle down the
cheeks of the unfortunate victims Of dis
ease or accident, and forthwith | turn to
my big bottle of chlOrOform Duncan
and Lockhart's best Scotch, and take
congratulatOry sniff from pure admira-
tion respect and thankfulness.
But there are other very great advant-
ages to be derived from these anesthe-
tics. No surgeon in the olden time
could have performed those difficult
and protracted operations on the living
body which are, from the frequency of
their occurrence now, justly considered
the triumphs of modern surgery: and
simply because it would have been ut
terly impossible for the patient to keep
himself, or be kept by others. in a quiet
position during prolonged and painful
dissection, where knives and probes and
torceps are thrust in and out Of gaping
and bleeding wounds. The human
system in most cases would succumb 10
to the shock Of the prolonged agony. in
an operation of two, three, or four hours
duration, when every second seems
minute, and every minute an hour.
The two anasthetic agents which are
now most in Use among surgeons are
ether and chloroform-some preferring
one, and some the other: others using a |
compound of both. From time imme-
mortal the surgeons knife has possessed |
such terror for mankind that many
have been the attempts to diminish the |
torture OF operations. Even as far back a. |
the thirteenth century the idea of pain /
less operations was carefully considered. |
In curious old surgical treatise by one |
Theodore, the recipe is found for the |
preparation of an article called spongia |
sOmnifera, which was said to accom- /
complish the desired result. PIinv and |
Dioscorde speak of the mandragorc. or /
mandrake, a being stepped in wine to |
cause insensibility to pain
Inc discovery Ofether a. an auesthetic !
belongs TO America. On the 30th dav /
OF December, 1916, at No. 70 fremont /
Row, in Boston, a man named Frost had /
a tooth extracted without pain by DR..
Morton, and a new era commenced iD I
aAAN FetA AANtAA " UAltl- AAOtOfNLRIlli DC [
longs to England On the 4th of No (
vember, ls47, it was discovered by Sir /
}. u Simpson of Edinburgh; Drs. /
Keith and Duncan being present AZ the /
time. The blessings of the appropriate 1
application of these agents are not fully /
appreciated, because those outside the /
pale OF the profession rarely have time I
or opportunity to witness The wonderful |
effects produced thereby. Think. dear
reader OF man having on his back an /
excrescence larger than knapsack. and 1
occupying the same position that ac-
coutrement would on the human body
a tumor that had bowed his head on his
breast Tor twenty years. and had never
permitted him To sleep in any position
except lying on his 1;.ce-a tum0r filed |
with blood vessels, and the growth of
which was attended with excruciating
pain Think of such a man in the
hands of two surgeons-One on each
side of the table, with their shining
knives cutting deeply into the flesh
think Of him lying thus for three con-
secutive hours. and find the horrible
burden gone when he awoAe from his
inscnsibilityi