The Washington herald., 1907-06-03
ADVANCE IN SURGERY
By FREDERIC J. HASKIN
By FREDERIC ]. HASKIN

American surgeons are famed abroad
because OF their great devotion to sur
gerry as an art and their brilliant achieve
ments in practical work It is said Of
Americans that they make fewer ad-
vanCes as a result Of careful study and
calm reflection than Europeans. but that
they surpass the surgeons Of all countries
In effectiveness in emergencies. In their
great desire 10 rise TO the occasion and
save a human life. when heroic methods
alone offer an opportunity to do So they
have hit upon surgical discoveries that
have given them the leadership during
the last century. Throughout the world
hundreds of lives are being saved daily
by the application Of American methods
in cases that formerly would have been
fatal
Two important factors in the success
Of modern surgery are cleanliness and
provided through the use
of antiseptics and anaesthetics, respect
lively. Here the honOrs of discovery are
divs,cs between the New World and the
Old. antiseptIcs being the discovery Of an
Englishman, and the use Of anaesthetics
being introduced by Americans. But in
the introduction Of important surgical
operations America has led since early
in the nineteenth century, and especially
during the last half century.
Formerly the patient who submitted
to an operation was literally a CULVER
ing victim under a cruel knife subject
TO various complications resulting from
the shock Of pain and the dangers Of
infection from impurities All Of this
has been changed. Operations are exc
cuted without suffering 10 the patient, |
and wounds heal without the healthy
suppurauon" that was formerly the most
encouraging sign Of progress. Before !
anaesthetics were discovered surgery was |
confined chiefly 20 treating fractures and |
dislocations. amputating limbs. removing
tumors. ligating arteries and cutting for |
the removal Of gall stones. Even the /
treatment Of a dislocation was serious
because Of the barbarOus forcible exten-
sion methods that preceded manipulation. |
The surgeon who attempted new major
operations before the discovery Of anti
septiCs and anaesthetics exposed himself
to suspicion, and in the event Of failure.
10 ostracism and possible violence. One
Of the greatest names in the annals Of
surgery is that Of Ephraim Mcdowell, of
Danvile, KY. who had the courage to
attempt an operation which opened the
way for all abdominal surgery as il IS
practiced to-day, and which has resulted
in the alienation Of untold suffering and
the saving OF countless lives in all civil
ized countries. The Mcdowell operation |
ovariotomy, was performed under the
most disadvantageOus circumstances, and
in the face Of public sentiment which
would have crystalllzed In lynching had
the patient died
DT. Mcdowell realized that the woman
under his care must die If nothing more
than the ordinary treatment under such
conditions was TO be applied. He can
didly told the patient that the operation
he proposed TO attempt had never been
performed. and that it was attended with |
the gTavest danger. After gaining her |
consent the surgeon, approaching the |
danger 10 his reputation and possibly his |
life as wei as that Of the patient, re- !
tired to his room and offered up a prayer /
for success. Without the use Of any drug
70 dull the pain, merely covering the wo-
mans face with "a towel 10 prevent her
from seeing the instruments, he per
formed the operation and the patient re-
covered His success was regarded by
the profession as q happy accident It
was looked upon as little short of a
miracle when the public learned of it
through dispatches TO the New York and
London papers.
The London Lancet, then. as now. an
authority. published an editorial ridicul-
ing the reports Of Or. McDoweus sue
cess, and although he repeated the opera
tiOn. he and others who initiated him were
bitterly criticised by their colleagues.
After a number Of years, results proved
beyond cavl the value of the Mcdowell
opera ton. and the surgeon was honOred in
this country and I'm Europe. Upon the
occasion of his visit % London. after he
had been accorded worldwide recognition.
the Lancet published an editorial giving
lh-ttl .tNflh A''l AttAhttl% tlttA'tN tliE ttif7l
marked advance I'm his profession. and re-
printed with apologies the sneering edi-
,9riaI published when the first news of
his discovery reached London. A monu-
ment raised by American physicians and
surgeons 20 the memory Of Dr. Mcdowell
now stands i'm Danville. although this
great medical pioneer was born in Vir-
ginia.
When the use Of anaesthetics became
general. there followed considerable dis
cussion as to who should have the credit
for the discovery. The story Of this dis
coyery and the ensuing controversy was
told in The Washington Herald Of Sun
day. May 10 The status of Dr. Crawford
W. Lang. OF Georgia, who made practical
use Of anaesthetics as early as 1S42, is soon
to be placed IN statuary Hall. at the Cap
itol. He viii be the first surgeon so hon
Ored. Other Americans who figured in
the early use Of anaesthetics were Dr. T.
G.. Morton and Or. Horace Wells. Of Bos-
ton. Or. Charles 2. jackson. and Or. J.
c. Warren Sir James Paget said that
while Long waited. Wells turned back. and
Jackson was thinking, Morton acted and
proclaimed results. Morton studied medi-