The ether discovery. R.Littell's living age, no. 201, 18 March, 1848.

Date:
[1848]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The ether discovery. R.Littell's living age, no. 201, 18 March, 1848. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    have had almost uniform success to this day, the results of which are known to the world. And I wrill here state that, on the evening of the 30th of September, after the first experiment had been made with success, Dr. Morton spoke about going to the hospital and using the ether there, and thus bring out the new discovery. After several other successful experiments, the question came up anew, how to introduce it to the world, when Dr. M. stated, that Dr. Jackson had declined to coun¬ tenance it, or aid in bringing it out, and then he (Dr. M.) said he would see Dr. Warren, and have his discovery introduced into the Massachusetts General Hospital. He went out and soon returned, stating that Dr. W. had agreed to afford him an opportunity to apply the vapor, as soon as practi¬ cable, in the hospital. For more than four weeks after our first experi¬ ment, it was well understood, and often spoken of in the office, that Dr. Jackson repudiated all share, pretence of, or interest in, the discovery. He was never in Dr. M.’s office during all our experiments, to my knowledge, until the 21st of October, and I never knew that Dr. M. advised with Dr. J. as much as with many others, or in fact but once. Grenville G. Hayden. In corroboration of the statements as to the con¬ nection Dr. Morton formed with Dr. Hayden and his object in forming it, the editor offers his own letter to Mr. Bowditch, one of the trustees, and that of his kinsman, Francis Dana, Jr., M. D., taken from the trustees’ report. 30, Court-street, Jan. 8, 1848. My dear Sir—On the 30th June, 1846, Dr. W. T. G. Morton came to my office, in company with Dr. G. G. Hayden, to have a contract drawn, the object of which was to provide, that Dr. Hayden should take the entire charge of Dr. Morton’s busi¬ ness for a time, in order that Dr. M. might be able to give his attention to something else. Dr. Mor¬ ton did not state what it was that he was engaged upon ; but my impression, founded on my own recollection alone, is very strong, that he said it was something of great importance, which, if suc¬ cessful, would revolutionize the practice of dentis¬ try. I am entirely confirmed in this impression by Dr. F. Dana, whose note on the subject I enclose. It was agreed that I should keep the instrument, and I have it now before me. It bears date June 30, 1846, and was to take effect the next day. The charG e in my account-books for drawing the contract is of the same date. 1 Truly your friend and servant, Richd. H. Dana, Jun. Nathaniel I. Bowditch, Esq. Note enclosed, in the preceding.—To R. H. Dana, Jun.: Dear Sir,—During the summer of 1846, in the course of a conversation on the subject of dentistry, you mentioned to me that Dr. Morton had told you he was engaged upon something of great conse¬ quence, which would revolutionize the practice of dentistry. This conversation was during the ex¬ treme hot weather of that summer, a long time before the discovery of the effect of ether, in pro¬ ducing insensibility during operations, was an¬ nounced ; I should say, so well as I can judge, between two and three months. Jan. 10, 1848. Fras. Dana, Jun. In justice to Messrs. Brewers, Stevens, and Cushing, from whom Dr. Morton obtained the ether in August, it should be said, that they are large dealers, selling articles of every grade of excellence, and the purchaser was perhaps not sufficiently specific in his requirements. Highly rectified ether was also quite rare at this time. Dr. Morton contends that if this ether had been highly rectified and of the best quality, he should have made the discovery in August, before seeing Dr. Jackson. As evidence of the character of this ether Dr. Morton offers the following certifi¬ cates :— . Boston, June 22d, ’47. Examination of Mr. Leonard’s liquid :_ It is essentially an impure sulphuric ether. It contains more impurities than usual in the best ethers sold at the druggists. The proportion of alcohol is very large, not far from a quarter part of the liquid being this substance. It contains, beside the other impurities of common ether, particularly sulphur acids. It contains a trace of oil of wine. Martin Gay. P. S. The above general information is given, not knowing the object of the examination. Boston, June 22d, 1847. A-t the request of Mr. G. G. Hayden, I hereby certify that the contents of a demijohn, handed me by him, is unrectified sulphuric ether. Joseph Burnett. . I certify that the ether—analyses of which are given above—has been constantly in my possession since August last, and is the same brought by Wm. P. Leavitt from Brewer, Stevens & Co.’s, as stated in his affidavit. Grenville G. Hayden. Boston, June 22, 1847. chapter iv. THE INTERVIEW WITH DR. JACKSON. The great points of inquiry as to this inter¬ view are, — The intention, the animus, with which Dr. Morton sought out Dr. Jackson, and the precise nature of the communication made by Dr. Jackson to him. Dr. Morton, in his memorial to the French Academy, after describing his experiment with the sulphuric ether from Brewers & Co., says : — This experiment was early in August, and it be¬ ing hot weather, and, being somewhat out of health, I went into the country, and abandoned the experi¬ ments until the middle of September. With the autumn and the restoration of health, my ambi¬ tion led me to resume my experiments, and I men¬ tioned to Dr. Hayden that I feared there was so much difference in the qualities of ether, that in so delicate a matter there would be great difficulty in bringing about any generally useful and reliable results. Thinking that a surer effect might be produced by inhaling the ether through some apparatus, I called repeatedly on Mr. Wightman, a philosophi¬ cal instrument maker, for the purpose of procuring or contriving an apparatus. While examining his bags for inhaling nitrous oxide gas, the thought struck me that I could put the ether into one of these, and by making an opening to be closed by a valve, for the admission of atmospheric air, could