The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1942-05-07

DR.. Clendening will answer
questions CT general interest
only. and then only through
his column.
and had used ether to put the pa
tient 70 sleep and had removed
some tumors from his neck without
any pain on the part of the pa
tient.
Tried by Young Doctor
The doctor was Crawford Will
Hanson Long, a graduate of the
University OF Pennsylvania Medi-
cal Department. He was then 26
years old and had only been in
practice for few years. This was
the first time that ether mad ever
been deliberately used as a planned
procedure for the purpose Of max
ing patient unco- scious and I'M
aware of pain during surgical
operation. Indeed, except for a
few sporadic and dubious trials
at one time or another through the
ages, 1t vas the first time any
agent had ever been used for that
purpose.
Surgery before that must have
been a horror TO watch and to ex-
perience. The great thing about
any operation was TO get it over as
fast as possible. He was the best
operator who was the quickest.
Sometimes opium and brandy were
used and hypnotism was tried. The
great French surgeon, Dupuytron,
once made an insulting remark to
a lady patient and when she
tainted away from sensitiveness,
operated on her before she had
time to regain consciousness. But
no method had been proved TO be
satisfactory.
The Doctors Discovery
When DR.. Long was a student in
Philadelphia, he and some other
students used to inhale ether be-
cause they found its effects exhila-
rating. and when he started in
practice in jefferson some young
men asked him to give them some
laughing gas in order that they
could have a good time at party.
Ee substituted ether and they
found that it caused more hveli-
ness than either laughing gas or
brandy.
In fact, parties which were
called "ether frolics" became quite
the vogue. DR.. Long noticed that
some of these young gentlemen
under ether. while lurching around,
would injure themselves quite
severely but appeared to take no
notice of the pain. In this way the
idea occurred TO him that ether
could be deliberately used to in
.duce insensibility in surgical OPP
erations.
Early in March, in 1912, 100
years ago, his opportunity pre-
scented itself. A young man named
James NJ. Venable had some tn.
mors on his neck which he wanted
removed but this he had post
poned on account of the dread Of
pain involved. Dr.. Long suggested
to him that ne could put him TO
sleep with ether and he would feel
no pain. In his little Office in a
brick building which is still stand
ing in Jefferson, Georgia, this was
accomplished in the presence of
witnesses who were friends Of Mr..
Fenable.
Later DR.. Long operated on Mr..
Venable again for the removal Of
other tumors on his neck, and dur
ing the year 1912 he operated sew
eral times under ether for such
things as the amputation of a toe,
all of which are matter Of record.
DR.. Long did not make his dis
covery known TO the medical world
until after ether had been used in
public for an operation in 1846 at
the Massachusetts General Hos
pital in Boston. This has some-
what dimmed the fame Of his
credit, but it is curious for as to-
day TO think that this great boon
to mankind is so young as to be
only 100 years old.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
D. R. L.: What causes mastitis
of the breast? Is it a durable dis
ease and is it serious,
Answer: Mastitis is a chronic
infammatory change in the breast
probably due to a disturbance in
the endocrine function. Its great
est danger is that it will be mis-
taken for cancer because it causes
Jumps TO appear in the breast and
on a diagnosis of cancer the breast
will be removed. treatment is best
left TO the discretion Of the doctor.
n. s. Y: In the past few years
a large number Of high school
girls, including my own daughter,
irs.st on wearing only anklets In
the coolest weather and often no
hats. Will this have any harmful
effects, either now or in the fu-
ture?
Answer: am also old-fash-
Toned enough to have this make me
shudder, but csndor compels me To
admit that | have never seen any
bad results from It.