The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-11-08
SURGERY .WI1H0Ur AN.ESTnErICs.

SURGERY .UITHOUT AN.ESTHETICS.
The Horror Of the knife Tn TO the Di-cov-
cry OF An;esthcsia Fifty Years Ago.
From the Phiiadeiph ID Record.
One Of the most interesting papers read at tho
recent celebration in Boston of the iftieth an
niversary o the first administrator Of ether in q
surgical operation was that BY DIR. John Ash
hurst OF this city on Surgery Before the Days
of Anesthetics." 1t wildly recalls the horrors
of those days when the surgeons knife was an
object of far greater terror than now. and innict-
ed untold fortunes upon the conscious patient.
"A study Of the condition Of surgery before
the days of annsthesia," said DR.. Ashhurst.
reveals on the one hand u picture of heroic
holdness and mastery self-control on the part
of the surgeon. and on the other a ghastly pan
Drama, sometimes Of stole fortitude and endur-
ance, sometimes of abject terror and humili-
ation-but always Of agonizing Indebtedness
and pain-on the part of the unhappy victim
VINO required tile surgeons aid.
The pitilessness' which Ceicus urged as an
essential trait in the operative surgeon was, be-
fore the days OF anmsthesia, a feature In the sur
genn $ career which impressed very strongly the
public generally as well as those Immediately
connected with the operation. 1t is interesting
TO recall that Sir James simpson of Edinburgh,
shortly after beginning his professional studies,
was 80 affected by seeing the terrible agony OF
a poor Highland woman under amputation OF
the breast that he resolved to abandon a meGi-
cal career and seek other occupation: happily
his intention was reconsidered, and he returned
to his studies. asking himself Can anything
be done to make operations less patnful!' and.
as every one knows. In less than twenty years
became a high priest OF anGnsthesia, and the in
PRODUCER into surgical and obstetrical practice
of others great rival. chloroform.
NO Drawer or more gallant gentleman ever
lived than Admiral Niscount Nelson. and after
his right elbow had been shattered by n French
the utmost courage, refusing TO be take to tho
nearest ship lest the sight of his injury should
fate was Uncertain. and 1t When " his OWN mH ship V was
reached he climbed up its side without assist.
hnss, s snd ve, , Ii. t p.sru snrsssn to pnaw
sooner i is of The ,bst,er.' arm lie nndsre
private letter OF one of. his midshipmen.
with the same tirmness and courage that have
painfully was he affected BY the GOODNESS Of the
operators knife that when next going into
standing orders TO his surgeons that hot water
should always be kept in readiness during an
engagement, so that II another operation should
be required he might at least have the poor
comfort Of being cut with warm Instruments.
o the side OF the surgeon we find through
terrors OF, operations and II continuous repro
baton of the distressful. not to say cruel. modes
And Yet the time is not Very far distant from
ours when they Topped off a limb BY striking it
they knew neither how to stop nor how to pre-
vent hemorrhage nut by burning the part
whcnce the blood jetted with boiling oil or the
red-hot iron: that time when surgeons armed
themselves nj every moment with pincers. with
burning cauteries and with Instruments. the
representation even Of which cause terror.
The be lief that operations might be rendered
painless appears to have been present in tho
Witness the accounts Of tho Memphis stone.
described by DioscorIdcs and Pliny, which by
sleeping in vinegar was made to give forth the
fumes OF ~carbonic acid; and OF the mandrngora.
employed. according 10 Theodore. when mixed
with other narcotics, by in halution, and causing
n Hlppn from which fha tafianf rnuli only ha
aroused by the fumes OF vinegar. so profound
was the stupor induced by this drug that Bodin
assures us that under its influence n mar sub
mitted without consciousness to n painful
operation and continued to sleep for several
"NiGo speaks OF the whole body being
brought asleep by tho smelling OF a sponge
the practice is dangerous. because the use OF
opium is sometimes followed by ganGrenc. In
his work on Natural Magic Baptistn porta
which produced sleep when applied To the nos
trils. and Perrin suggests that this may actually
have been ether or some olher of our modern
anpsthetic agents.
Mental preoccnpation was sometimes sought
as a means OF preventing pain. Richard Wise
man found that soldiers dreaded The loss of a
limb much less II 1t were removed Immediately.
while they were in the heat of the fight than
II the operation was postponed until next day:
WHEREFORE he says. cut II or quickly. while
the soldier Il heated and in mettle;' and Re-
nauldin recalls The case of tho amiable Dolo-
mieu, who, exposed TO the pangs of starvation
in q Neapolitan dungeon. measnrably .llevi-
btNA ii'S w" 81 w IkhkluS u NV tIlI
sition of n treatise OH mincralogy. while his un-
fortunate servant and fellow prisoner. who had
not the same intellectual resources, was hungry
enough for both.
But the presence Of pain was not the only
evil dreaded By our predecessors in attempting
important operations: the great risk OF fatal
accident from some involuntary movement of
tho patient was constantly present to the mind
OF tho conscientious surgeon. How often
says Or. Valentine Mott. when operating in
some deep. dark wound; along the course Of
some great vein. with thin walls alternately
distcnded and taccid with the vital current
how often have dreaded that some %unfortu-
who TAIN would be the dclivcrer. should invol-
unfairly become the eXccutionor, seeing my
ing form OF death! Had he been inseusible |
should have felt no alarm
Coming down to the days moro Immediately
find that opium and alcohol were the only
agents which continued TO be regarded as OF
practical value IN diminishing the pain ofopera-
tions, though the attendant Ii-Ri ~yantages OF
Meanwhile facts were accommodating. the sig
nilcanCe OF which W" now plainly recognize.
but which excited no attention.
Sir Humphrey Davy, in the carly days of
the nineteenth century, suggested the use OF
nitrous oxide gas rs nm anirsthctic in minor
operations. and IL WAS tho custom ut some OF
our medical schools at the University OF Penn
sylyania, for one Tor students 10 breathe
laughing gas, ~ u was then called. for diver
every country, cutting and burning. and pa
ticnts went o. w~rithins and screaming. until
on the 10Th day of October, in the year lSIG. in
the Massach usrtts General Hospital. DR.. John
man who had previously been etherizel by DR..
William Il. e. Norton, and surgical anHsthe-
sia became the priceless heritage of the civil
lied world
Kansas City's Giant Policemen.
IRON. the Kansas Ctv Times.