The invention of anæsthetic inhalation, or, "Discovery of anæsthesia." / by William J. Morton.

  • William J. Morton
Date:
1880
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The invention of anæsthetic inhalation, or, "Discovery of anæsthesia." / by William J. Morton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Dr. Long’s own statement of his “ experiments in etheriza¬ tion,” as he terms them, is that they numbered five—three in 1842, two of which were upon Yenable, one in 1843, and one in 1845. In two minor operations, in which Dr. Long specifi¬ cally states that he did not use ether, Dr. Sims states that he did use it, thus wrongfully adding to the scant record this number—an addition of no inconsiderable importance, consti¬ tuting as it does forty per cent, of the whole. Here is the evidence of this. Dr. Sims states that “ on the 9th of Septem¬ ber, 1843, Dr. Long exsected without pain three small tumors from the head of Mrs. Mary Yincent.” In recording this same incident of the 9th of September, 1843, Dr. Long him¬ self writes: “From one of these patients (Mrs. Yincent) I re¬ moved three tumors in one day; the inhalation of ether was used only in the second operation.” Again, much pains is taken to create the impression that Dr. Long “published” the results of his experiments to the world. A sort of quibble in the use of the word quoted is conveyed; this apparently for the purpose of keeping from view the fact that Dr. Long really published nothing in print until 1849. “ He,” Dr. Long, “ published it [the discovery] before all men,” writes Dr. Sims, though we have this modifi¬ cation added, “ True, his was a very contracted world. He lived in an obscure little town, where there were no railroads,” etc., etc. But we may ask, Was there no post-office in this vi¬ cinity by which communication with the outer world could be attained ? However, Dr. Long himself contradicts this idea of pub¬ lication, whether by print or public utterance. In the first place, he says : “ The question will no doubt occur, Why did I not publish the results of my experiments in etherization soon after they were made? I was waiting to fully satisfy my mind,” etc., etc. And again, more explicitly, “ The publica¬ tion of etherization did not bide my time” ; or again, “Had I been engaged in the practice of my profession in a city where surgical operations are performed daily, the discovery would no doubt have been confided to others who would have assisted in the experiments.” Compare with this Dr. Sims’s rendering: “ Dr. Long’s operations under ether were witnessed