The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1920-11-27

use of ether for general surgical work.
First Painless Operation.
One of the greatest events in the
worlds history was the public demon
stration of the first painless surgical
operation, and the use of ether, in the
Massachusetts General hospital, be-
fore such great surgeons as Profess
sors Warren and Biglow. Through
their influence and reputation the use
of ether was at once received by the
medical profession. This demonstra-
ton took place on the sixteenth day
of October, 1846. 1t is a day that is
memorable in the history of the hui
man race, for on that day be-
fore a great public audience was
pital in Boston the first operation per-
formed upon a patient under the influ-
ence of an anaesthetic, which at once
and forever established the practical
use of anaesthetics in surgery. Before
that time men sought for the relief
from pain during surgical operations,
but they sought in vain.
% Dr.. Longs Work.
Crawford w. Long graduated in
1889 from the medical department of
the University of Pennsylvania and
settled at Jefferson. Ga. He began
to experiment, as he claimed, with
ether and he administered it to his
PATIENTS who were about to undergo a
surgical operation as early as 1912.
He is said to have been known to the
people of Jefferson as the mar who
gave "ether frolics." Long lived $50
miles from a railroad, and news in
those days did not travel fast, so that
the first public account of Longs work
appeared in 1916. and was suggested
by an account of Morton's work which
Long read in the editorials of the Med.
ical Examiner for December, 1916
Long died in 1873, and the unfortun.
ate controversy in which the four al
ready mentioned participated was not
yet concluded. Nevertheless, there is
every reason to believe that Long is
entitled to the credit of having first
used suIphuric ether for the purpose
of producing insensibility to pain
That, however; does not carry with il
the honor of his being the discovere1
of anaesthesia. The world "a not
benefited by his experiments. There
is no evidence that he recognized the
value of his discovery or took any
method to make it known to others.
Dr.. Wells Experiment.
Horace Wells began the study Of
dentistry in 1914 in Boston, and later
opened an office at Hartford, Conn
To him is to be credited the first oper
alton ever performed without pain by
the use of nitrous oxid gas. In 1884,
a DR.. Cotton, a well known chemist
delivered a lecture upon the subject o
nitrous Oxid Cas-" A young mar
who inhaled gas so that DR.. Coltor
could demonstrate it, became great,
excited, and jumping on" of the chail
ran against some furniture, badl!
bruising himself, but made no com
plant. Wells, who attended the lee
ture, noticed this and he said that h.
"believed that if a person inhaled
sufficient quantity of the gas one couls
have a tooth extracted or a leg ampu
tated without pain" The followin.
day Wells himself inhaled the ga
which was administered by DR.. Coltol
and had a tooth extracted by DR.
Riggs. When Wells regained con
seriousness he cried out: "a new er,
in tooth pulling! 1t did not hurt a.
much as a prick of a pin. 1t is tn
greatest discovery ever made"
In 1874 Wells visited Boston in or
der to bring his discovery before thu
medical men of that city. Calling OF
DR.. Warren of the Harvard Medica
College, he communicated the facts t.
him and was referred to the student
| for examination. Before them he ad
ministered the gas to a young mai
who desired to have a tooth extracted
but probably from the bag which con
tanned the gas being withdrawn to-
soon, the patient made some noise du1
ing the operation, although he after
wards asserted and took oath that h
felt no pain. From this unfortunat
circumstance the majority presen
thought the experiment a failure, al
| tho,yoh manv copcidorod that oomn1et
anaesthesia had been produced an
afterwards made oath or publishe'
statements to that effect.
jackson and Morton.
While in Boston at this time an
previous to his experiment at the Hal
ward Medical College. Wells calle'
upon DR.. Charles r. Jackson and d.
William T. G. Morton, the latter a:
old pupil and partner of his. Well
told these gentlemen of his discovery
This it will be remembered was i
December, 1874. These gentlemen e'
pressed the disbelief that surgica
operations could be performed withou
pain. Both admitted that this mod
of operating was entirely new to then
Wells was discouraged with his lac
of success in Boston and returned t
Hartford and continued the frequer
use of nitrous oxid gas. but he me
with no encouragement in introducin
it for general surgical work. Well
died in January, 1913, a few days b.