Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1918-01-17
CURE FOR PAIN IS
AMERICAS FIND
ENGINEER DISCOVERS NlKALGlN,
WHICH STOPS SUFFERING. >
Sprayed on Wound, It Immediately
Alleviates Soldiers Hurt on the
Battlefield.

Allevates Soldiers Hurt on the
Battlefield.
Gordon Edwards is a name the pub |
lie will know more Familiarity before |
long. Every parent with son in the |
trenches or preparing to enter the |
trenches will feel grateful to him.
Edwards has conquered pain, or a |
large part Of pains territory, by In
venting local anesthetic called ma
kalgin.
Anesthetics, you may exclaim, are
nothing new. No. and yes. The kind
of an anesthetic he has discovered is
brand-new, says Edgar Mowrer, in Col
lier's. Instead of applying it through
injection, it is sprayed onto a wound,
or dabbed on with cotton, to any ex-
terror part Of the body where pain is
felt. The patient remains conscious.
There is glory enough in being the
discoverer of such surgical aid, but
Edwards has another distinction to his
credit. You may have been ransack-
ing your memory to identify him
among the worlds great physicians
and surgeons. 1t is futile effort, be-
cause until four or five years ago he
knew no more of medicine or surgery
than any layman.
His story is the record Of man
who, was trained in one profession
and who perceived deficiency in an
other professionalism of surgery
and started out to supply the need.
The need was an anesthetic which
could be used locally, act instantan-
eously and leave no bad effects.
Coming events evidently do cast
their shadows before, for Edwards be-
gan his research before the great war
broke out in 1914. His idea was per.
fected by the time the German hordes
were sweeping through Belgium and
pain was rampant, but the overwork-
ed army surgeons had no time to ex-:
pertinent with his preparation.
In London he was accounted a
crack k-brained American, fakir,
quack. This was discouraging but it
was not crushing. The surgeons used
cocaine, which is dangerous and
chloroform, which acts quickly.
From November, 1914, to July, 1915,
Edwards knocked at the door of the
British army in vain. Then isolated
experiments convinced the British
that he mad something important and
the anesthetic ''nikalgin" (from the
;. Greek, meaning victory over pain) was
officially adopted. This was not the
: last obstacle, however.
p m D,:& oay,k n fnp
expensive to make, it was said. The
| ingredients are fairly common and the
, ] only secret Edwards held was the
formula for preparing it. He began to
| fill orders and to send the bills to the
, war office, and, although presumptu.
GUS proceeding, he ultimately was
paid. Still he was not satisfied that
the best use was being made of his dis.
covery.
Then he offered to supply the
French army with as much as it need.
i. ed without cost. To finance this gift he
turned to wealthy Americans and Miss
, Anne Morgan receives credit for in
, valuable assistance through generous
gifts. BY this time he had perfected a
method of applying the anesthetic
with atomizers instead of using soak,
, ed cotton. 1t was at Verdun that the
greatest triumph came. The terribly
mangled bodies Of the wounded in that
7 inferno were relieved of pain and the
: wounds healed without suppuration OF
secretion.
The remainder of the story in Col
lier's is a record of successive tri
umphs. Miss Morgan continued to be
the "angel," and the Italian army ad
? opted it as well. 1t was found that
when the wounded were relieved oi
4 pain they recovered with a rapidity
t that astonished the surgeons. Now IL
2 remained for the Russian and Amer
lean armies to adopt it.
Perhaps you are picturing Edwards
: riding in limousines, dressed in the
most expensive clothes and otherwise
n evidencing great wealth as the result
of his achievement. The picture is
: what might be expected but it is no,
S true of him. He is not rich, because
! he has not tried to make money out
! of his discovery.
Not only temporary relief is afford
= ed but the painless redressing Of
4 wounds is possible after spraying
e through the bandage. The e'public viii
d wait to see the attitude of our gov
e ernment at Washington toward this
American addition to the worlds
} knowledge of relief measures.
Edwards was born in Milwaukee, Is
under 40 years of age, and was gradu
ated from Stanford university. Hi
quite engineering and became bono
salesman in San Francisco until HI
decided to provide surgery with rea
pain killer. Few stories of the'war are
more unique than the facts in his ca
> reer.
u MAR RRIDES NAV BE TEACHERS