The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1868-04-15
Wonders Of Modern Surgery.
From the Philadelphia Ledger.l

| Nv pioSi0oo Va ihoueEu surgery - HUSt
interestingly discussed in an article in the
March number of the Atlantic Monthly.
The first great and radical step in modern
progress was in the introduction Of what
the doctors call anesthettc agents. Ether
was brought into use on the Both of March
1864, by DR.. Morton, of Boston, who ex-
tracted a tooth from a mau without pam
by first putting him under the influence OIL
ether, DIR. G. Jackson, the geologist
claims to have made the first suggestion oil
ether, and did, unquestionably, suggest
great caution in the use Of it. Chloroform
was discovered by Sir j. Y. Simpson, a
surgeon Of Eainburg, Scotland, on Novem-
Der 4, 1851. No new operation Of per
formed without the aid of insensibility to
| pain, produced ether, chloroform or some
other anesthetie agent. It seems as fat
back as the thirteenth century the idea Of
painless operations was carefully consider.
ed, but though treated Of by one Theodo-
ric was apparently laid aside as practically
useless.
The chef effortlof the old surgeon was
apparently to produce insensibility in the
operator in inaicting suffering. By the
local application Of a sufficient degree Of
cold, insensibility can be produced in any
desired part, so that man with a most
exquisitely painful wound on his arm, OF
a felon on his finger, can now look quietly
down, in his perfect senses, upon the
knife as it enters his own body, and per-
| forms the most difficult operations without
giving him the least pain. Modern science
has constructed an instrument by which a
vapor or ether, or otheryiolatesub is
thrown out in the form Of spray, which 50
rapidly absorbs the natural heat ofthe parts
of the body exposed to its operations as to
produce perfect insensibility to pain, with
out the loss Of volition or consciousness
This evaporation is so potent that the
great Faraday was able to produce ice in a
red hot craicible! DIR. Henry j. Bigelow,
of Boston, has introduced the use Of rhigo.
/ lene, o product Of petroleum, which is ex-
tremely volatile, and will freeze up the
skin and textures beneath in a few seconds
Is degrees Of cold below zero being easily
produced in a few minutes.
Artificial legs and arms are now manu-.
featured which are light, and all the move
ments Of natural joints by means Of springs
cords and wheels, and are so perfectly
adapted to use that it is by no means easy
Ito discover which is the natural and which
is the artificial limb, when the wearer is
once used to wearing the work ofart. One
man boasts, 81 can carry an armful Of
wood quite handily," or carry pail Of wa
ter with ease;" aud another says, 81 was
fitted with pair of artificial hands, and can
feed myself very well with them, also can
write so as to be read" Another declares
he has driven horse 'stwenty miles ON the
coolest day without calling on his other
hand for assistance" This ID great i'm.
provement on the iron hook, which was
the best substitute the old surgery could
affix to the stump. These artificial limbs
however, are triumphs of mechanical ingen
Iuity rather than OF surgery.
| A French surgeon has invented an in
strument he calls the eraseer, or crusher
to perform operations dangerous in surgery
on account Of the loss of blood from the
smaller vessel, If performed with knife
It's formed Of fine chain gathered into .
loop, which encloses the part to be remov
ed, and by turning screw the chain is
frightened till the parts are separated. The
blunt chain SO turns up or twists the end;
Of the blood vessel that henorrhage is pre-
vented. A child was born with a tongue
so much too long that it protruded three
or four inches from the mouth, so that sh,
could not masticate her food, or shut he
mouth, or speak. Yet when about fifteel
years old, under the influence of chloroforn
the eraseur was applied, the superauou
portion Of the tongue removed, and nov
she talks, sings and eats with ease.
i The eye is now examined by an instru
ment called the opthalmascope, by whicl
| the depths of the globe t''the eye can b,
readily and fully explored; and through st
aid great deal of what has been writer
and coniectured about diseases of the ey
has been found to be wrong. Theintricat
passages of the ear the nose, the whole Q
the windpipe and passagesto the lungs, ar
now carefully explored. Perhaps one Q
the best results Of modern science ha
been through what is called conservative
surgery, therule of which is to save all tina
possibly can be saved from the amputatin!
] knife. Many Of our brave soldiers com
planned of the reckless haste with which
lin the late war, some surgeons would Gu
off arms and legs on account OF trlhin!
wounds. The complaint was often just
But one Of the most distinguished surge
ons, in the world has lately written, "A
Kings College it is rare to see an amputa
ton; in nine cases out Of ten, excision 70
cutting out of the diseased portion OF tn
limb should be performed in its stead.
A poor boy at the West was caught by
falling log, and his leg broken, crushed an
{ twisted upon itself at rights angles with HI b
thigh, the bones protruding through tn
flesh, and no doctor near. He lived an
was, after weeks of suffering, taken to
hospital. Modern conservatives surger
sawed off The protruding bones, turned tn
!, leg back again to its place, and put on a
instrument to keep it ofequal length Wit
) the other, and now that boy stands, run
and Jumps with two sound legs, instead
amputating the limb, as the old-fashlone
surgery would have done.