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.)
![Here we « The preparation of a scent for performing surgical operations, nineteenth6 according to Master Hugo. It is made thus : Take of opium and century the the juice of unripe mulberry, of hyoscyamus, of the juice of the principle hemlock, of the juice of the leaves of the mandragora, of the juice andanac?edof the woody iv>'' of the juice of the forest mulberry, of the seeds upon, viz: of lettuce, of the seed of the burdock, which has large and round That by the apples, and of the water hemlock, each one ounce; mix the whole inhalation of t^ge together in a brazen vessel, and then in it place a new gas^surgi-sponge, and let the whole boil, and as long as the sun on the dog cai' opera- days, till it (the sponge) consumes it all, and let it be boiled away tions may m jt- a_s 0ften as there [s neec{ 0f it? p}ace this same sponge into formed1^ warm water for one nour> and Iet ll be aPPlied to the nostrils till without he who is to be operated on (qui incidentus est) has fallen asleep; Pain- and in this state let the operation be performed, (et sic fiat chi- rurgia.) When this is finished, in order to rouse him, place an- other, dipped in vinegar, frequently to his nose, or let the juice of the roots of fenigreek be squirted into his nostrils. Presently he awakens. Again, in A. French physician, residing in the neighborhood of Toulouse, teenth^en'-M- Dauriol, asserts that, in the year 1832, he employed a method tury we find analogous to that of Theodoric, and specifies five cases in which a similar he succeeded in performing painless operations. Ported to6 SePtember 23> 1828> M- Girardin read a letter before the Acad- emy of Medicine, addressed to his Majesty Charles X, by Mr. Hickman, a surgeon of London, in which this surgeon announces a means of performing the most delicate and most dangerous ope- rations without producing pain in the individuals submitted to them. This proceeding consists in suspending insensibility by the methodical introduction of certain gases into the lungs. Mr. Hick- man had tested his proceedings by repeated experiments on animals. See Sir qUj (]e Chauliac and Brunus are the only authors on medicine Davys ^ and surgery> besides Theodoric, who, during this period, allude to suggestion prophylactic agents to avert pain. It may be presumed, there- in connec-fore5 that their employment was not generally very successful, the above Pr0Dau'y b&d effects, such as congestion and asphyxia, and some- and Dr! times ending in death, followed their unskillful empiricism. J. Wells' at- Canappe, the physician of Francis I, in his work printed at Lyons v!vePtthesem 15*32, Le Guidon pour les Barbiers ct les Chirxcrgiens, the investiga- Surgeon's and Barber's Guide, describes the method of Theodoric tions, nest and his followers, as already given above, and adds: Les autres Page* donnent opium a borie, et fontmal, specialement s'il est jeune; et le apergoivent, car ce est avec une grande bataille de vertu ani- male et naturelle. J'ai ou'i quilz encourent manie, et par conse- quent la mort. Thus far had the superinduction of anaesthesia, .as a preventive of pain, made its way into surgical practice in the middle ages ; and even then it must have been most beneficial in its influenc](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21142695_0044.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
