Statements, supported by evidence, of Wm. T.G. Morton, M.D., on his claim to the discovery of the anaesthetic properties of ether : submitted to the honorable the Select Committee appointed by the Senate of the United States, 32d Congress, 2d session, January 21, 1853 / presented by Mr. Davis of Massachusetts, and referred to the Select Committee to whom had been referred the petition of sundry physicians of Boston and vicinity, in support of the claim of W.T.G. Morton, M.D., for the discovery of etherization.
- William T. G. Morton
- Date:
- 1853
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Statements, supported by evidence, of Wm. T.G. Morton, M.D., on his claim to the discovery of the anaesthetic properties of ether : submitted to the honorable the Select Committee appointed by the Senate of the United States, 32d Congress, 2d session, January 21, 1853 / presented by Mr. Davis of Massachusetts, and referred to the Select Committee to whom had been referred the petition of sundry physicians of Boston and vicinity, in support of the claim of W.T.G. Morton, M.D., for the discovery of etherization. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)
![ful, and both conducted on the part of Dr. Morton to the entire satisfaction of the surgeons of the hospital. But at this time Dr. Jackson's confidence in Dr. Morton, if he ever did confide in him, is wholly gone. He denies, in the conversation with his neighbor and friend, Caleb Eddy, that under the influence of ether the flesh of a patient can be cut without pain; says Mor- ton ' is a reckless man for using it as he has; the chance is he See Caleb wj]j ].jjj someb0dy yet;' and in the interval between the 30th of 286.7' P* September and about the 23d of October, he declared that he did not care what Morton did with it, or how much Morton advertised, if his own name was not drawn in with it. It would seem that as Dr. Morton acquired eclat by his con- stant success, as he continually and rapidly rose in the estimation of other scientific men, he as continually and as rapidly sunk in the estimation of Dr. Jackson. The evidence of Francis Whit- man and Mr. Caleb Eddy show that, prior and up to the 23d of October, Dr. Jackson spoke doubtingly of the effect of ether, and condemned its use ; and there is no proof whatever that, within that time, he lent the slightest countenance to Dr. Morton to sustain the discovery, and all his remarks, except those stated by Mr. Hitchcock to have been made to him on the 2d and 3d of October, tend to create distrust and destroy confidence both in the operator and the agent used. His favorable mention of it to Dr. Keep occurred after the 26th of October, (the actual date not fixed,) and was accompanied with a strong general charge of ignorance and recklessness against Morton, who was then in the full tide of successful experiment. This state of facts is, in the opinion of your committee, wholly inconsistent with the assump- tion that Dr. Jackson was the discoverer; that he had employed Dr. Morton to bring out the discovery, and that the experiments of Morton were tried on the responsibility of Dr. Jackson. On the 30th of September, the first successful operation took place. On the 1st of October, Dr. Morton applied to R. H. Eddy, agent for the patents, to aid him in procuring a patent for the dis- See R. covery. Mr. Eddy took the case into consideration, and did not H. Eddy, see Dr. Morton again until the 21st. In the meantime, Dr. Mor- p. 397. ton»s experiments had been attended with the most flattering suc- cess. Two operations had been performed in the hospital to the entire satisfaction of the faculty, and the discovery had acquired a footing in the medical world; and prior to the 21st, but the pre- cise day is not stated, Dr. Jackson had a conversation with Mr. Eddy, was informed of the application of Dr. Morton for a patent, and claimed that he had some connexion with Dr. Morton in making discovery. He called on Dr. Morton on the 23d, and it was then arranged that Dr. Jackson was to have $500 for the information he had given Dr. Morton, if ten per cent, on the pro- ceeds of the patent would produce that amount.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21142695_0102.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
