Evening journal., 1897-01-04
ADVANCE In SURGERY
HovgiT DIFFERS NOW FROM WHAT 1T
WAS FIFTY YEARS AGO.


Ether by DIR. william T. C. Morton.
One of the most interesting papers
read at the celebration in Boston of the
fftieth anniversary of the first admins
tration of ether in a surgical. operation,
says the Philadelphia Record, was that
by Dr. John Ashhurst Of this city on
Surgery Before the Days Of Anjesthet-
les" It vividly recalls the horrors of |
those days when the surgeons knife was /
an object of far greWter terror than now
and inflicted untold tortures upon the |
conscious patient
"a study of the cSadition Of surgery |
kRfore the days Of anestkSria " said DIR. |
Ashhurst, ''Nveals on the ono hand q
picture Of heroic boldness and mastery |
self control on the part Of the surgeon,
and ON the other a CHASTITY panorama,
sometimes of stoic fortitude and endur-
ance, sometimes of abject terror and hu-
milistion-but always Of agonizing
wretohedness and pain-on the part Of
the unhappy victim who required the
surgeons aid.
"The 'pitilessness' which Ceious urged
as an essential trait in the operative sur
geon was, before the days of anesthesia,
a feature in the surgeons career which
impressed very strongly the public gen.
erally as we'll as those Immediately con.
nected with the operation. It 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
a medical career and seek other occupa-
tion. Happily his intention was recon-
sidered, ana he returned TO his studies,
asking himself Can anything be done
to make operations less painfulg' and,
as every one knows, in less than 20
years be became a high priest of an@s-
thesia and the introducer into surgical
and obstetrical practice Of ether's great
rival, chloroform.
mo braver or moro gallant gentle-
man ever lived than Admiral Viscount
Nelson, and after his right elbow had
been shattered by 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 a 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 l know / must
! lose my right arm, so the sooner il is off
the better He underwent the amputa-
tion, we learn from private letter Of
one of his midshipmen, with the same
firmness and courage that have always
marked his character. And yet so pain.
fully was he affected by the coldnoss of
the operators knife that when next go
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
meut, so that if another operation should
be required be might at least have the
poor comfort Of being cut with warm
instruments.
son the side Of tho surgeon we find
throughout the ages a constant effort to
diminish the terrors of operations and a
continuous reprobation of the distress
full, not to say cruel, modes of prao-
tice adopted by preceding generations.
And yet the time is not very far distant
from ours when they Topped off a limb
by striking it violently with n heavy
knife; that time when they knew nei-
ther how to stop nor how to prevent
hemorrhage but by burning the part
whence the blood jetted with boiling oil
OF 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-
sentations even Of which cause terror.
''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 come in
voluntary movement Of the patient was
constantly present 10 the mind Of the
conscientious surgeon. How often, says
DR.. Valentine Mott, when operating IN
some deep, dark wound, along the course
of some great vein, with thin walls al.
telnately distended and faccid with the
vital current-how often have l dreaded
that some unfortunate struggle oR the
patient would dsviate tho knife little
from its proper course and that I, who
fain would be the deliverer, should in
voluntarily become the executioner, see
ing my patient perish in my hands by
the most appalling form Of deathl Hat
he been insensible / should have felt NJ
alarm.
Coming down to the days more i'm
mediately preceding the date Of thu
great discovery, we End that opium ant
alcohol were the only agents which con
tinued to be regarded as of practica
value in diminishing the pain of opera
tions, though tho attendant disadvan
tages of their employment were Of cours'
recognized. Meanwhile facts were accu
mulating the significance Of which W.
now plainly recognize, bat which cx
cited no attention.
"Sir Humphry Davy, in tho earl,
days of the nineteenth century, suggest
cd the use of nitrous oxide gas as m
an@sthetic in minor operations, and i
was the custom - some Of our medica
schoOIs-at tho University Of panusvl