Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1920-02-08
ANAESTHETIcS NO
SECRETS TO ANClENTS
Proof That II Is Wrong 10 Claim I.ain-
saving Agencies Mod
ern Discovery.
ny PAUL DORMSTER.


The publicity recently given to the
di7covery or development OF new
form OF nnaesthctic which Is said TO
eliminate pain without loss of cons
ciousncss. seems. l think. to warrant
attention to u subject concerning which
there appears to be great deal Of
public nis!nfOrniati ton
1t is customary 10 refer to anaeS-
thcticS as a discovery OF the nineteenth
century. and to think with horror of
the as9nics that must have been en-
dured by the ancient peoples with no
means of alienation. But when one
looks studiously into the matter. he
discovers that pain-saVing agencies
era.
1t Is true that the use OF sulphurlc
Dr.. Morton. OF Boston, In 1916. and
OF chloroform by Dr. Simpson. Of iIdin-
bursh. in 1917 but 1t appears from the
practice of the Scythian.s. several CEN
turtles before Christ. that iDtoXicatin
vapors werc employed by way of inha-
Illny, IN his description OF the plant
known as the Inandragora, or circe!us,
says: 1T Is drunk before cuttings or
puncturlngs., lest they be felt" Dios-
corides. "a Greek physician OF C!licia,
who "as born about the time Pliny
died. wrote concerning. nandragora:
1T les used to cause the insensibility OF
those who arc TO be cut or cautcrized.
Tho same Greek physician hcscribes
the stone. Memphitis-aiso mentioned
hy Pl!ny--and says that when II is
powdered and applied to Parts to be
cut or cauterized, they are rendered.
without the S!!shteat danger, insens'ble
to pain.
The expressions used by Apuieius Of
Madurc, who nourished about century
after p!iny. are Htill more remarkanie
older authors. no says, in speaking
OF rnandragora: nc any one Is to have
"a member mutilated. burned or sawed,
la lNiK II rtv.tF boil nr
till the member ia cut away without
any pain or sensation: Ter tantun dor
MET. quosque ahscindatUr membrum
aliquo sine dolore ct sensu),'
II was not in Europe and In Western
Asia alone that discoveries of lethean
were made.
not neglected. Among the therapeutic
methods confirmed by tho experience OF
thousands OF years, fhe records OF
which they have preserved with re-
an anaethctic agent TO paralyzs the
nervous sensihility before performing
surgical operations is distinctly set
forth.
in tho National Library in Paris are
volumes containing biographical no
tees or several hundred of the most
past. In the biography OF Hoa-tho.
who lived during the dynasty Of Wei,
the years :2o TO 23o OF our era, the
following significant passages occur;
which the needle, rnnxa. or liquid mcdi-
Garments could not operate, for example,
in the bones, or tho marrow OF til.
bones, or in the stomach or the iateS-
tincs-he gave the patient prena-
ration OF hemp fin the Chinese Ian
guagc mayo) and after few minutes
the patient became as !asensibIe as
though ha had been dead. Then. as
the case required. he performed oper-
ationa, incisions or arnputations and
removed the cause of tho malady; then
he brought together and secured the
tissues and applied linimcnts. After @
certain number OF days the patient re-
the slightest pain during the opera
covered without having experienced
ton
1t Is certainly the part OF wisdom TO
look into the past before we pride our-
selves too much upon our own su-
pcriority and accom- lishrnents