Dr. Crawford W. Long, discoverer of anesthesia / by Rosa Pendleton Chiles.

  • Chiles, Rosa Pendleton, 1866-
Date:
[1911]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dr. Crawford W. Long, discoverer of anesthesia / by Rosa Pendleton Chiles. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

    4/12 page 624
    Dr. Foy, placing the discovery of anes- thesia far above Jenner's work with vac- cine, says that it ranks second only to Har- vey's discovery of the circulation of the blood. Yet, if we compare the rewards of tion that arises is—what constituted that discovery ? Not the idea of anesthesia. That has been in the minds of men almost as long as the idea of pain itself. It was apparently CRAWFORD WILLUMSON LONG, THE GEORGIA PHYSICIAN WHO FIRST USED ETHER TO PRODUCE ANESTHESIA DURING A SURGICAL OPERATION Front ii iltoios^'tith iaki'n iica7- the end of Dr. Lottss life the two men, Jenner far outranks Long. In his case, although there were other claim- ants before Parliament, the British legis- lators unanimously voted to reward Jenner, and he received thirty thousand pounds from the public purse. On the other hand, America, as a nation, did not even bestow a medal upon Long. THE DISCOVERY OF ANESTHESIA In considering the conflicting claims to the discovery of anesthesia, the first ques- in the mind of the old Hebrew chronicler who wrote of the deep sleep which the Creator caused to fall upon Adam. The Assyrians are said to have compressed the carotid arteries to produce insensibility to pain. The Egyptians used Indian hemp and the product of the poppy for the same purpose. Homer wrote of the sorrow- easing-drug, nepenthe. Pliny the Young- er, Galen, and others, described the ability of mandragora to paralyze sensation. An old Chinese manuscript states that a phy-
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3