The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1896-12-28
ADVANCE IN SURGERY
HOW IT DIFFERS NOW FROM WHAT 1T
WAS FIFTY YEARS AGO.

e"'ory VI Ahesthesia-Danger as Well
as Pain In the Operation-First Use of
Ether by DIR. William T. G. Morton.
One or the most interesting papers
read at the celebration in Boston of the
fiftieth anniversary of the first admins
tration of ether in surgical operation,
says the Philadelphia Record, was that
by DR.. John Ashhurst of this city on
Surgery Before the Days Of An@sthet-
les" 1t wildly recalls the horrors Of
those days when the surgeon knife was
an object of far greater terror than now
and inflicted untold tortures upon the
conscious patient.
"A study of the condition of surgery
| before the days of an@sthesia, said DR..
| Ashhurst. ''reveals ON the one hand
| picture of heroic boldness and mastery
self control on the part of the surgeon,
and on the other CHASTITY panorama,
sometimes Of stoio fortitude and endur-
ance, sometimes of abjeot terror and hu-
miliation-but always of agonizing
wretchedness and pain-on the part of
the unhappy victim who required the
surgeons aid.
"The 'pitilessness which Ceicus urged
as an essential trait in the operative sur
geon was, before the days Of anesthesia,
feature in the surgeons career which
impressed very strongly the public gen.
orally as we'll as those Immediately con-
nected with the operation. 1t is inter-
esting to recall that Sir James Simpson
of Edinburgh, shortly after beginning
his professional studies, was SO affected
by seeing the terrible agony of poor
Highland woman under amputation OF
the breast that he resolved to abandon
O medical career and seek other occupa-
ton. Happily his intention was recon-
sidered, ana he returned to his studies,
asking himself, Can anything be done
to make operations less painful?' and,
as every one knows, in less than 20
years he became high priest of an@s-
thesia and the introducer into surgical
and obstetrical practice Of ether's great
rival, chloroform.
ono Drawer or more gallant gentle
mtn ever lived than Admiral Viscount
Nelson, and after his right elbow had
been shattered by q French bullet in the
assault at Tenerife he manifested the
utmost courage, refusing to be taken to
the nearest ship lest the sight of his in
jury should alarm the wife of fellow
officer whose own fate was uncertain,
and when his own ship was reached he
climbed up its side without assistance,
saying: Tell the surgeon to make haste
and get his instruments. / know must
lose my right arm, so the sooner it is oil
the better. He underwent the amputa-
tion, we learn from a private letter OF
one of his midshipmen, with the same
firmness and courage that have always
marked bis character. And yet so pain
fully was he affected by the GOODNESS OF
the operators knife that when next 60
ing into action at the famous battle OF
the Nile he gave standing orders to his
surgeons that hot water should always
be kept in readiness during an engage
ment, so that if another operation shoulc
be required he might at least have the
poor comfort of being cut with warm
instruments.
son the side of the surgeon we fin
throughout the ages constant effort tt
diminish the terrors of operations and
continuous reprobation OF the distress
full, not to say cruel, modes OF prac
: tice adopted by preceding generations
And vet the time is not very far distan
from ours when they Topped Off lim'
by striking it violently with a heav.
knife; that time when they knew nei
7 Their how to stop nor how to proven
: hemorrhage but by burning the par
e whence the blood jetted with boiling oil
q or the redhot iron; that time when sur
: geons armed themselves at every mo
ment with pinchers, with burning eau
teries and with instruments the repre-
V sensations even of which cause terror.
t "But the presence of pain was not tn
only evil dreaded by our predecessors J.
attempting important operations. In
great risk Of fatal accident from some III
voluntary movement of the patient wa
}. constantly present to the mind or tn
conscientious surgeon. How often, say
a DIR. Valentine Mott, when operating Il
some deep, dark wound, along the cours
of some great vein, with thin walls al
i ternately distended and flaccid with tn
| VlC3l CuTTeuU-uOW OltSh ho'O NASe~'~
e that some unfortunate struggle OF tn
= patient would deviate the knife it'll
a from its proper course and that i. VIII
= fain would be the deliverer, should IN
. voluntarily become the executioner, see
! ing my patient perish in my hands b
L the most appalling form of death! Ha
d he been insensible should have felt n
alarm.
"Coming down to the days more i'm
mediately preceding the date OF tn
/ great discovery, we find that opium an
e alcohol were the only agents which cor
:, tinued to be regarded rs OF practices
=. value in diminishing the pain of oper'
q tions, though the attendant disadvar
v tages Of their employment were OF cours
Il recognized. Meanwhile facts were acct
: mulating the Significance of which W
:, :, now plainly recognize, but which e.
{. cited no attention.
N "Sir Humphrey Davy, in the earl