Anaesthesia, who made and developed this great discovery? : a statement / by G.Q. Colton.

  • Gardner Quincy Colton
Date:
1886
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Anaesthesia, who made and developed this great discovery? : a statement / by G.Q. Colton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

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    nate from some casual accident or incident. Had I not given that exhibition in 1844, or had not Cooley in- jured himself, people might still have to endure the agonies of the dentist’s forceps or the surgeon’s knife. There are no doubt in this city to-day many physicians and surgeons who have witnessed or taken part in the amputation of limbs where the poor, un- happy patient, with only a glass of brandy to stimulate him, has been strapped to the cruel table and com- pelled to grin and bear the operation; and how many died from nervous shock ! Although my connection with this great discovery was incidental, yet I think it will be admitted that I was the occasion of the discovery, and that but for me it would not have been made; certainly not at that time. And is it too much to claim that the world is practically indebted to me for the anaesthetic use of the Nitrous Oxide gas, having revived and demon- strated its value after it had been abandoned and for- gotten for the space of fifteen years ? . I leave the subject to the impartial judgment of the profession and the public. G. Q. Colton. Cooper Institute, New York, June 25th, 1886.
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