Evening star., 1900-12-15
WITHIN A CENTURY
Wonderful Advances Made in Medi-
cine and Surgery.
THE DISCOVERY OF ANAESTHESIA
Results of the Adoption Of the
Germ Theory.
REDUCED DEATH RATE

| .A
Written for The Evening Star BY Cyrus Edison NJ d.
While one of the greatest practical oIs-
| coveries made during the first ha.f CT
| the century, namely, that of anaesthesa,
nevertheless the first fifty years WAS mark
| Ell by very slow advance. In point oi
TACT. the last twenty-five years Of the CEN
| tury seem to have been the ripeniug time
| the harvest of medical discovery. In STAT
ing this / would not rob the pioneers IN
medicine Of any credit, for undoubtedly
| they deserve great deal, since the seeds
| TO- this harvest of discovery were sown
| bv those who labored during the cary
| SEASONS, but who were destined to pass
away before the results of their labo3s
| fructified.
| AS early as 1900 the discovery Of anaes-
! thesia was foreshadowed by Sir Humphrey
| Davy in describing nitrous oxide gas. Sir
| Humphrey wrote follows: LAS nitrous
| oxide gas in it's extensive operation seems
capable of destroying physical pain. 1t NAV
probably be used with advantage during
| surgical operations in which no great loss
| OF blood takes pace" 1t was not how
ever, until fGrty-four years later that this
| observation bore fruit. This seems espe-
| ciallI remarkable in view of the fact that
| The gas was frequently used for amuse-
| ment many people submitting themselves
| TO its effect for this purpose, and from such
| use 1t received the name of Laughing gas
| II remained for Horace Wells. a dentist If
| Hartford Conn.,, to demonstrate its true
| Va.ue. On December II, 1914. Wells had 4
| tooth extracted without suffering while
urder the influence of laughing gas. His
| exclamation on awakening was that "a new
| era in tooth drawing had been entered
upon" Two years after Wells. success
! will nitrous oxide, DR.. T. G.. Morton @.
| Boston, another dentist, administered ether
| for the purpose of removing a tooth with
| out pain. On October H. 1916 ether was
| first used In a surgical operation by Or.
Warren, who was led to try it by Mortons
opportunities OF course, Mortons claim to
tht discovery was contested DR.. Charles
j. Jackson Of Boston urged that he hal
suggested the use of ether to Morton. and
that he, therefore. was entitled to the
hnr or: yet the testimony of those who had
personal knowledge of the facts is that
Jackson refused to be present at any of
the earlier operations and disclaimed all
responsibility for any accident which might
occur. To Simpson of Edinboro', who, on
November 10. 1Si7, introduced the new
anaesthet'c, the discovery Of chloroform
| has been credited and in 1864 the A. c. r.
mixture was first brought before the chlor-
oform committee of the Medical and CHR
urgical Society of London This mixture,
which consists of one part alcohol, two
parts chloroform and three parts ether has
probably been used more extensively than
any other anaesthetic, though its inventor
is unknown.
The Germ Theory.
OF far greater Importance than even the
discovery of anaesthetics was the discov-
cry that the communicable diseases were
due to bacteria. The germ theory may
perhaps be said to be an evolution, since
1t was evolved from the observations of
many workers. The first person who wrote
concerning it was a Jesuit, named Anhanas-
ius Kircher. This observer found living
organisms in all sorts of foul matter, de-
composing blood, infected air, water. etc.
The date of Kircher's observations seems to
have been about 1867. OF course, he was
unable to bacteria, for the microscope
Of his time too crude for this purpose
What he did see, and how he saw re-
mains mystery, but he drew his conclu-
sions that If putrefaction caused out
side Of the body by microscopic life, then
these minute living organisms in the blood
within the body must necessarily cause
putrefaction there also, and thus give rise
to disease. OF course, the development OF
the microscope. Improvements made i'll the
polishing and construction of lenses, have
been of the greatest Importance in the
evolution of the germ theory. and 1t is
not strange when we remember this to
find Anthony Won Leuwenhoeck of De,ft,
lens maker was the first to see and de-
scribe bacteria.
Inc next great step IN LHG evolution OF
the germ theory was the classification Of
the germs. While contributions We're made
to this al various times during the opening
years of the century, 1t was not till 1S3s
that Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg made
more or less systematic classification En-
renbergs observations We're made with
improved microscope and he seems to have
been the first observer to take up the color
ing of the bacteria by means Of pigments.
Ehrenberg created a new era IN the study
of bacteriology.
Mark New Eras.
The years 1863. 1870 and 1Sl, all mark
new eras. In 1863 Pasteur commenced his
work In 1870 Sir Joseph Lister applied the
teachings of the germ theory to surgery for
the purpose Of preventing the entrance of
germs into surgical wounds, and In 1915
Ferdinand Cohn contributed knowledge of
great value In still more accurately c!ass-
flying disease bacteria. The benefit con-
ferred upon mankind by Listers work cam
not be overestimated; in many surgical
operations which resulted In 95-5s per cent
mortality the percentages have been re-
versed, and 95-9S per cent of recoveries
effected, and this splendid result is the
direct outcome Of Listers work
Deductive reasoning, based upon the proof
of the germ theory, has raised medicine to
the dignity of a true science. 1t may be
said that everything in medicine. with the
exception of bacteriology. has its foundation
in pure empiricsm Nearly all the botani-
cal drugs have originated the result of
crude experiments. For cinchona, which Is
one of the most valuable remedial agents
we have, we are indebted to the instincts
of the Peruvian Indians, and it some
thing Ike 2f0 years before the medical pro-
fession ceased decrying it. Exact knowl-
edge concerning disease germs has made it
possible for us first, to avoid Infection: sec
ond, to accurately diagnose various dis
eases; third, to nationally and successfully
treat a number of diseases by means of
antitoXins.
Distinguished Names.
The list of the more brilliant observers of
special varieties of disease germs in the i'm
mediate past would include Pasteur, who
isolated the bacillus of malignant pustule
or anthrax. also that of pneumonia and