The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-02-03
importance of the Discovery of
A~naesthesia.

Anaesthesia.
After vaccination, the most important
surgical event Of the century Is the discov-
cry of anaesthesia- While there were some
prior attempts at anaesthesia, practically II
dates from October 16. 1876. when Doctor
John c. Warren. in the Massachusetts, Gen.
eral Hospital. first performed a major sur
gfcal operation, without infiicting the slight
est pain. / cannot enter into the merits of
the various claimants for the credit Of first
using an anaesthetic. but ether was then
for the first time publicly administered by
Morton. and the very sponge which was
then used Is now q precious trophy of the
Massachusetts General Hospital. / may
perhaps quote from an address which / de-
hvered before the Medical and Chirurgical
Faculty of the State of Maryland at their
centennial anniversary. in April, 1880. the
following In relation to anaesthesia:
The news went like wildfre, and anaes-
thesia was soon introduced into every clinic
and at almost every operation throughout
the civilized world. Prior to that timo q
surgical operation was attended with hor-
rors. which those who live In these days
cannot appreciate. He was the best sur
geon. who could perform any operation in
the least possible time. The whole object
of new methods Of operating was to shorten
the period OF frlghtful agony which every
$1,000 1oAe- h&L cCNOAu Va
saved was an incalculable boon.
To submit to any operation required then
q heroism and an ~eloQuence which are al
most incom~prehensible to US now. All of
the more modern. deliberate, careful, pains
taking operations involving minute dissec-
ton, amid nerves and blood vessels, when
life or. death depends on the accuracy OF
almost every touch Of the knife. were alb
sciutely impossible. II was beyond human
endurance quietly to submit ones self for
an hour. for ar hour and q half, for two
hours or even longer, to such physical
agony.
ut IL . striking commentary on he I'm
mediate results Of the Introduction of an
to learn that in the five years
before the Introduction Of ether only 1A
were willing to submit themselves
to such a dreadful ordeal in the Massa-
.husetts General Hospital, an average of
t~hirty-seven operations per annum, or three
per month. In the five years Immediately
succeeding its Introduction. although the
old horror could not at once be overcome.
fS7 operations. or almost 100 annually. were
performed In the same hospital. During the
last year In the same hospital. q Mecca for
every surgeon the world over. over 300
were performed. II Is not an un-
common thing at the present day for any
one OF tho moro active surgeons Of this
to do as many as 400 to 600 opera
In q year. I have known as many as
nineteen operations to be done In the JEFF
ferson Medical College Hospital In a single
six months work in Boston
before the introduction Of ether"
The next year, iS47. witnessed the intro
AUCTION OF chloroform by Sir James Y.
simpson Of Edinburgh. Until I became ac-
quainted with tho striking figures Just
I had often wondered at the hos
pital scene In that most touching story,
'Rab and His Friends" by the late gifted
weli-beloved physician. Doctor John
Brown Of Edinburgh. Nowadays students
40 not rush into the surgical amphitheater
when they learn that ar operation is to
be done, but II Is taken as q matter OF
for practically every day many op-
pitals. But at the time when Rab's mistress
was operated upon. an operation. as has
been stated. was q very rare event. Few
had the fortitude to endure its dreadful
pangs. Now, thanks to the blessed sleep
" snaesthesia, sufferers from even the
most dreadful disorders can have long and
iinicult operations done. accurate and tedi-
Jus dissections made. and yet feel not Q
of pain.
Besides general anaesthesia By ether.
shloroform and other agents. there rave
been introduced several means for produc-
lng local anaesthesia''-i. e., agents which
destroy the senslbility of the part of the
body to be operated upon while not produc-
Inconsistencies. Freezing the part by
Zee ano salt or by a quickly evaporating
spray Of rhigolene or chloride of ethyl are
sometimes used. But cocaine and a some
what similar substance. Sucaine, have OF
been more extensively used on man
after their harmlessness had been first
by experiments on animals. In 1855
of New York injected a solution
Of cocaine as near to the spinal cord as
nQqSibla and nradrroad tpcopofhflftxr .
the body below the point of injection by
me effect OF the cocaine upon the spinal
,ord. A few years ago Quincke of Kiei. in
Germany. devised Q means of puncturing
he spinal canal itself in the lumbar region
the lowest part Of the small of the back)
or the purpose OF drawing on some of the
1uid for examination. This suggested to
Bier. then Of Kiel. who was apparently ig-
1orant OF Coverings work. that cocaine
Gould be injected through a hollow needle
Inserted INTO the spinal canal by lumbar
,uncture' and 30 produce anaesthesia of all
he body below this point. This method was
by him In 1893 and was soon re-
peated in America. In France, however, IT
has been practiced more than elsewhere.
OF Paris having successfully done
over 100 operations by spinal anaesthesia."
All OF the body below the diaphragm can
'hus be deprived Of sensibility. The meth
ID VIII probably never replace ether and
-hhohotorM, put IN many cases Is q yalua-
Die aid to the surgeon. But 1t has its Ian
yers and inconvenience. The ideal an
aesthetic In not hat which destroys sensi-
oility and yet leaves the patient perfectly
as spinal anaesthesia does. A
patient to whom 1 recently proposed it for
'ertain special reasons rejected it. saying,
With probable truth, that she could never
Dear the strain OF lying on the table per-
fectfy conscious of all tina was being done
Ind frightened by any surgical emergency
which might easily arise in such a long.
lificult and dangerous operation. The ideal
is that which will abolish pain
Ind consciousness without danger to life.
The Twentieth Century will undoubtedly
zee the discovery Of this safe and efficient
anaesthetic.
But We have not yet reached the limits of