wryneck for a year and a half, Jaggannath ob- tion with cotton probe.-Medical Standard. tained a cure by the use of:

very decided astringent and hæmostatic prop- | Brauère advises "embalming" the limb or erties. Watery solutions of 18 to 20 per cent. portion of a limb by compresses of aseptic tarof ferripyrin are used, in which tampons of letan, spread with the following ointment:— absorbent cotton are moistened and applied to B Salol, the bleeding surface. The indications are the Resorcin, same as for the perchloride of iron. Inter- Antipyrin, Boric acid,. nally it may be given in the average dose of Iodoform, 8 grains. A solution of 1 to 1.5 per cent. may Vaselin, be tried in gonorrhoea.-La Médecine Moderne.

ǎå 3iij.

3v.

gr. xv.

3v.-M.

-La Médecine Moderne.
Mede

NUTRITIVE INJECTIONS OF EMULSIONIZED OIL.
Professor Revillod, of Geneva, has obtained
good results from the use of the following for-
mulæ :-

In addition, he that he saw decided amelioration follow the of the following use of a pill composed of:

Dr. Mayet has devised the following mixt-nally cachets made according to the formula:— ure, as a local anesthetic :

THE

Medical Bulletin.

JOHN V. SHOEMAKER, A.M., M.D., Editor.
THE F. A. DAVIS CO., Publishers.
8. C. BERGER, Business Manager.

Philadelphia, Mar., 1895.

THE DISCOVERY OF GENERAL

O

ANESTHESIA.

NE of the most beneficent achievements

Never accomplished by man

ever accomplished by man was the effective introduction into surgical practice of an agent having the power to produce unconsciousness with insensibility to pain. To us, who are accustomed to the use of anæsthetics, it is terrible to think of the mental and physical suffering of myriads of fellow-creatures who, for whatever reason, were obliged to undergo a surgical operation. The ordeal imposed upon the surgeon was oftentimes only less than that endured by the patient. There can be no doubt that many chose to die slowly from painful diseases, rather than to expose their quivering flesh to the knife of the surgeon. Within the memory of men yet living, how the picture has changed! | Some natural shrinking from the thought of an unconscious state, some reluctance to submit to the total obliteration of personal conscious ness, may remain, but, in the presence of a grim alternative, yields to the knowledge that necessary procedures can be accomplished without causing excruciating agony; that a sort of sleep may seize upon the body, and the individual awakes to find that the broken bone has been set, the dislocation reduced, or the tumor removed. Is it fanciful to find a hint of the anesthetic state in that passage which narrates the creation of Eve? "And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof."

From the historical point of view it is of much interest to observe as every one must have observed that certain great discoveries have been independently made by two or more persons. Notable instances of the kind

can be drawn from the history of art, literature, and science. Surely one of the most blessed inspirations that ever entered the minds of men was that which resulted in the worldwide diffusion of anesthesia. It is fitting that we, as Americans, should feel a patriotic pride that this great gift to humanity originated in the United States.

From remote ages, doubtless, surgeons have endeavored to alleviate pain, and we read of the various expedients made use of for this purpose prior to operations. It was not, however, till the convincing demonstration of the virtues of nitrous oxide and ether had been made in this country that the desire of humanity was realized. The anesthetic agents themselves were already known as chemical compounds, their physical properties had been studied, and glimpses even had been obtained of their anesthetic power. Ether was known to Raymond Lully in the thirteenth century. The mode of its preparation and some of its properties are mentioned by Basil Valentine. The name ether seems to have been introduced by Froben in 1730, by whom the fluid was called spiritus æthereus. Nitrous-oxide gas was studied by Humphrey Davy when, as a young man, he occupied a position in Dr. Beddoes' Pneumatic Institute, near Bristol. The genius of Davy did not fail, indeed, to recognize a possible use for nitrous oxide as an anæsthetic agent. Davy's mind, however, was fully occupied in the chemical investigations which laid the foundation of his brilliant career. He was not a medical man by profession, and his testimony on this point was unregarded. In 18co he had inhaled the gas, had found that it abolished the sense of pain, and wrote that, "as nitrous oxide, in its extensive operation, seems capable of destroying physical pain, it may probably be used with advantage in surgical operations in which no great effusion of blood takes place." But this important suggestion bore no fruit. Chloroform was discovered, in 1831, by Guthrie in this country and Souberain in France.

The dental profession of the United States celebrated not long ago the anniversary of the demonstration by Horace Wells that nitrous oxide may be beneficially used for short opera

From

better than medical men that heroism is not monopolized by the militant force of armies. The non combatant surgeon shares the danger of a campaign without being sustained by the excitement of conflict. A cooler bravery is required for field-hospital work than for storming the enemy's position. In the State House at Boston the names of fifty-three most distinguished natives of the State are to be inscribed around the base of the dome of the new chamber of the House of Representatives. Among those eminent in peace and war, literature, science, and art, an enlightened judgment has included the name of William Thomas Green Morton. The old Bay State has produced many famous sons whose names are justly honored throughout the world. The special glory of Dr. Morton is that his demonstration has the closest relation to the life of every man, woman, and child, rich or poor, learned or unlearned, who may be the victim of accident or painful disease. And from such events who can hope always to escape? The names of the fifty-three celebrated Massachusetts men have been chosen upon a good principle. so that each has either marked an epoch or had a marked influence upon the course of events. These are the tests of greatness, and no discovery has had a more signal influence than that of Dr. Morton. The names and the works, however beautiful or instructive, of poets and historians may be forgotten, but a knowledge of the effects of ether as an anesthetic can never pass into oblivion.

tions, such as the extraction of teeth. that time onward this agent has been employed, particularly by dentists. It would be equally efficient in minor surgery, but, on account of the fleeting character of its effects and, perhaps, of the bulky apparatus required to prepare and store it, has never been largely used by physicians. Its brevity of influence unfits nitrous oxide for most of the operations of surgery. When only an instant's insensibility is desired in order to allow a quick thrust of a knife we can now avail ourselves either of local anæsthesia or of that stage in the action of ether which has been denominated primary anæsthesia. An abscess may be opened under primary anesthesia without pain to the patient, who, nevertheless, recovers his consciousness in a moment. We must recognize, however, that it is to the convincing demonstration in the operating-room of the Massachusetts General Hospital, by Dr. William Thomas Green Morton, on October 16, 1846, that the use of ether and the practice of general anesthesia has spread to all parts of the civilized world. When the way has been pointed out, all can follow. We do not ignore the claims of Dr. Crawford Long. His cases, however, remained unpublished and unknown except within a very limited circle. From the hospital in Boston the announcement was quickly carried to all quarters that the medical profession at last possessed an agent which would rob surgery of most of its terrors. This is the commanding position which Morton occupies in the history of anæsthesia; and if in anæs-So, along with Bancroft, Motley, Longfellow, thesia, then necessarily in the history of medicine itself; for the introduction of anaesthetics is the great fact of the middle of the nineteenth century.

It is peculiarly appropriate, therefore, that the memory of Morton should be publicly honored by his native State. It is seldom that medical men are thus remembered. Statues are erected to warriors, to statesmen, to poets, but the physician, however distinguished in his time, is usually soon forgotten except by the members of his own profession. Yet in the material testimony to distinguished men it should ever be borne in mind that "peace hath her victories no less than war." None know

Lowell, and Whittier, and those eminent in statesmanship, law, and war, it is just that the discoverer of anesthesia should be placed.

Morton was born in Charlton, Mass., August 9, 1819. He studied dentistry in the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, and in 1843 began practice in Boston. In 1844 he commenced the study of medicine under Dr. Charles T. Jackson, and matriculated at Harvard Uni- · versity. In the meantime his attention had been strongly drawn to the subject of relieving pain during dental operations. After experiments upon himself, he administered ether for the first time to a patient on September 30, 1846, and extracted a tooth without causing