Baraboo weekly news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1912-197?, 1918-05-30
CURE FOR PAIN IS
AMERICAS FIND
ENGINEER DISCOVERS NlKALGIN.
WHICH STOPS SUFFERING. >
Sprayed on Wound, 1t Immediately
AIIeviates Soldiers Hurt on the
~
= Battlefield.

r0aGGiCIiSi0s
= Gordon Edwards is 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 a local anesthetic called ma
kalgin.
Anesthstics, you may exclaim, are
nothing new No, and yes. The kind
of an anestbetic he has discovered is
brand-new, says Edgar Mowrer, in Col
lier's. Instead of applying it through
injection, it is sprayed onto 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. It is a 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 Drained American, a fakir, a
quack. This was discouraging but 1t
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 had something important and
the anesthetic "nikalgin" (frOm the
Greek, meaning victory over pain) was
officially adopted. This was not the
last obstacle, however.
The British government found it too
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
cOTery.
Then he offered to supply the
French army with as much as it need
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
method Of applying the anesthet1c
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
inferno were relieved of pain and the
wounds healed without suppuration or
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. It was found that
when the wounded were relieved OF
pain they recovered with a rapidity
that astonished the surgeons. Now it
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
evidencing great wealth as the result
of his achievement. The picture is
what might be expected but it is not
IIuS VI I1llAs IIO 10 hOL 14C4I5 ONNe"dOS
he has not tried to make money out
of his discovery.
Not only temporary relief is afford.
ed but the painless redressing Of
wounds is possible after spraying
through the bandage. The public will
wait to see the attitude Of our gov
eminent 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. He
quite engineering and became bond
salesman in San Francisco until he
decided to provide surgery with a real
pain killer. Few stories of the war are
more unique than the facts in his ca
reer