Evening star., 1946-10-13


administering ether for 0nt
Nth the use of the drug at
John C.. Warren, performed
human history. Previously surgery
had been q thing Of horror, dinacult
even to imagine. There are numer-
ous accounts In medical literature,
such as:
"she is brought into the amphi-
theater and laid upon the table.
With merciful regard for the in
tensity of the agony she is to suffer,
opiates and stimulants have been
freely given her. She is enjoined
to be calm and to keep quiet and
still and, with assistance at hand to
hold her struggling form, the opera
Ton is commenced.
"But Of what avail are all her at
tempts at fortitude7 At the first
clear, crisp cut Of the scalpel,
agonizing screams burst from her
and, with -convulsive struggles, she
endeavors to leap from the table.
But force is nigh. Strong men
pinion her limbs. Shrek after
shrek make their horrible way into
the stiffness of the room, until the
heart of the boldest sinks into his
BOSOM like q lump of Lead
Hartford Dentist
Used Laughing Gas
This was far from an unusual
picture before ls46. Twelve years
before a Hartford, Conn, dentist,
Horace Wells, had begun the use OF
nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, for
tooth pulling. He is regarded as the
first man to have made Use OF any
anesthetic. He had been inspired
to try the gas after attending a
lecture at which the speaker had
allowed members of the audience to
inhale nitrous oxide. He noticed
that those under its influence
seemed insensible to the pain Of
stumbling against furniture.
Unfortunately one Of his first
patients died in the chair. The
anesthetic was blamed. wells with
drew from practice and committed
suicide. He had partner named
William Morton. Morton moved to-
Boston and continued to practice
dentistry and enrolled as a student
at the Harvard Medical School.
There he met DR.. Charles jackson
who told him that ether had effects
much like nitrous oxide and that
inhaling its fumes caused an "ether
jag:
1t occurred to Morton that the
gas might be used as an anesthetic.
He tried it out on a pet dog, then
on himself. Finally he used it, with
complete success, to pull patients
tooth. Oaly then did he suggest
its use to Dr. Warren. The latter
was highly skeptical, but agreed to
the experiment.
The patient was carried into the
smphitheater. There stood the
guards whose duty it was to hold
her on the table during the agonies
of the operation. Morton did not
appear. After waiting few minutes,
Warren prepared to 60 ahead in
the usual fashion.
Professional Opinion,
This Is No Humbug'
"As DR.. Morton has not arrived I
presume he is otherwise engaged" u
he remarked sardonically.
Just then Morton came in. He
administered the gas. The woman
did not struggle or scream as the
operation proceeded. At its con-
clusion, Warren turned to the
spectators and said simply:
Gentlemen, this is no humbug." y
Thus was introduced to the world
one of the greatest boons ever given
the human race. Then came a
fierce controversy. Jackson, who
admittedly had suggested to Morton
the use of ether, claimed all the
credit. The same man disputed
with Morse the invention of the
telegraph. Morton died of apoplexy
a few years later, his death hastened
by the controversy.
1t is now generally admitted that
the actual first use of ether as an
anesthetic was by Dr. Crawford W.
Long of Athens, Ga, several years
earlier. Long had got the idea from