The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-10-24

| Hayden, who held the lamp, trembled
| vlsloly when DR.. Morton introduced the
| 1orceps into the mouth of the man and
| prepared to pull the tooth. Then came
| the strain, the wrench, and the tooth
| was out, but the patient made neither
| sign or sound; he was quite unconscienus.
Dr. Morton was overjoyed at the result.
! Ihen, as the man continued 10 make no
movement, he grew alarmed, and it flash
! ed through his mind that perhaps he
I mad killed his patient Snatching up
| glass or water, he emptied it full in the
race or the unconscious man, who pres
entity opened his eyes and looked about
MIN In bewildered way.
| Are you ready now to have the tooth
| out? asker the doctor.
i am ready" said the man.
| Wen, IT is out now said the doctor,
pointing to the tooth lying on the floor.
NO! cried the man in greatest amaze
| ment, springing from the chair, and being
| a good Methodist, shouting, GLORY! Hal
| lelujahr'
J From the moment DIR. Morton felt that
| the success of sulphuric ether was as
| sured. Thenceforward he was unceasing
| in his efforts to bring his discovery be-
| Iore the medical world, and. after many
| discouragements, he succeeded in inducing
| Dr. John c. Warren, senior surgeon in the
| massachusetts, general hospital, to allow
MIN to visit the hospital and try his dis
| coVery upon patient who was about to
be operated upon.
| The night before the operation my
| husband worked until / or o'clock in the
morning upon an inhaler he had devised,
ana then regarded as essential to the OPP
| Grafton, and although it has since been
| discarded. / assisted him, nearly beside
| myself with anxiety, for the strongest in
nuenceS had been brought to bear upon
| me to dissuade him from making this at
| tempt l had been told that one of two
| things was sure TO happen either the test
would fail and my husband would be ruin
! ed by the worlds ridicule or he would
| Kill the patient and be tried for man
| slaughter.
| After resting few hours, DR.. Morton
was off early in the morning to see the
| instrument maker, for there We're sEll
| changes necessary in the inhaler. From
| that moment l saw nothing of him for
| twelve hours, which were hours of mortal
| anxiety. How they dragged along as l sat
at the window, expecting every moment
| some messenger to tell me that the patient
| had died under the ether and that the doc
| tor would be held responsible! Two o'clock
came, 8 o'clock, and it was not until nearly
| that DR.. Morton walked in, with his
| usually genial face so sad that l felt fail
ure must have have. He took me in his
arms, almost fainting IS / was, and said
! tenderly; well, dear, 1 succeeded
| OF the three men now living who saw
| this first operation upon a patient under
! llle lllhlu6IlES OF eJIl6Ts one IS LIT. ROBERT
| Davis of Fall River. He was then a med
| ical student in Boston, and he has given
me the description of what happened on
| this memorable occasion. The amphi-
| theater of the operating room was crowd
! ed with members of the medical profession,
| doctors and students, all curious and all
| skeptcal, as to the outcome of the expert
ment to be made. All the great surgeons
| of Boston were present, including the Gel
| ebrated Dr. Jacob Bigelow, whose son, DR..
/ Henry ]. Bigelow, a young and enthusiast
| tic surgeon of about DR.. Morton's age,
was a warm friend of Dr. Morton, and
| perhaps the only man present who had
faith in him. 1t must be said, however,
that he had more grounds for his belief
| than the others, since he had been priv
! LEGGED to witness some of my husbands
previous tests with ether in private.
The hour for the operation arrived and
| DR.. Morton was not on hand. Five min
utes passed. ten minutes, and then Dr.
| Warren, the eminent surgeon, looking
| around with a smile ON his face, Slightly
| sarcastic, suggested that, as DR.. Morton
was not present. it might be well to let
| the operation go on in the usual way. The
patient had meantime been brought in
| and was lying on the operating table,
deathly white doubly 'apprehensive of
| what was to come At that moment Dr.
| Morton came in, breathless from haste
| carrying the inhaler which had just been
delivered to him by the maker and had
| nearly been the cause of the failure of the
| test.
Without any delay, and with a cool
| ness and self-possession in strong con-
| trast with the general nervous tension of
| the assembly, DR.. Morton proceeded to ad-
minister sulphuric ether to a human being
| for the purpose of destroying pain by
| forced enaesthesia in a surgical opera tion
for the first time In the worlds history
| Pouring the liuqid into the inhaler, he
| lifted the latter to the patients nostrils
and held it there for some minutes, allow
| ing the man to breathe the fumes. Then
/ looking into his face intently and feeling
the pulse, he turned to DR.. Warren, who
stood near with his surgeons knife be-
hind him, and said, in quiet tone that
| sounded plainly through the silence:
your patient is ready doctor
Then in all parts of the amphitheater
there came a quick catching of the
breath, followed by silence almost
| death-like, as Dr. Warren stepped for
j ward and prepared to operate. The sheet
was thrown back, exposing the por-
ton of the body from which tumor
was to be removed, an operation exceed
| ingly painful under ordinary conditions
although neither very difficult nor very
| dangerous. The patient lay silent, with
| eyes closed as If in sleep; but every one
| present fully expected to hear a Shrek
| OF agony ring out as the knife struck
| uOWn INTO the sensitive nerves. but
| the stroke came with no accompany
| ing cry. Then another and another, and
| still the patient lay silent sleeping, while
| the blood from severed arteries spurted
| forth The surgeon was doing his work
| and the patient was free from pain, so
it seemed at least; and all In wonder
strained their eyes and bent forward,
| following eagerly every step in the op-
Grafton. Those in the front rows leaned
| far over or knelt on the floor, so that
those behind might better The
| operation advanced quickly and easily
to its finish The tumor was taken
| away. the arteries fastened with liga-
lures, the gaping wound sewed up then
| dressed and bandaged. Half an hour
covered the whole of 1t. During that
time no cry or groan escaped the pa
| tient, no indication of suffering.
DIR. Morton aroused the patient after
the operation was completed, and said:
Did you feel any pain?" The patient
replied mo" Then DR.. Warren, turn
ing to the company. said in his impress
sive manner; Gentlemen, this is no hum
| ltt 4 aT,, mr..