William T. G. Morton, M.D. -- Sulphuric ether. 1852 : Referred to a select committee : Dr. William H. Bissell, of Illinois, chairman : The select committee to whom was referred the memorial of Dr. William T.G. Morton, asking remuneration from Congress for the discovery of the anaesthetic or pain-subduing properties of sulphuric ether.

Date:
[1852]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: William T. G. Morton, M.D. -- Sulphuric ether. 1852 : Referred to a select committee : Dr. William H. Bissell, of Illinois, chairman : The select committee to whom was referred the memorial of Dr. William T.G. Morton, asking remuneration from Congress for the discovery of the anaesthetic or pain-subduing properties of sulphuric ether. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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

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    vexed, and resolved to take it myself, and did so, the next day, at my office. I inhaled from my handkerchief all the ether that was left, but was not completely lost, yet thought myself so far insensible that 1 be- lieved that a tooth could have been drawn with but litt le pain or consci- ousness, I was unwilling to send to Burnett's again for the same arti- cle, he being a near neighbor, and his young men well acquainted with mine, lest the knowledge of my experiments should get abroad. I ac- cordingly sent a student, William P. Leavitt, to druggists in a different part of the city. Brewers, Stevens and Co., a firm in excellent standing, with directions to get sulphuric ether. After some persuasion I induced Spear, who had taken it at school, to inhale it. He did so, and became so far insensible as to drop the handkerchief, and seemed very drowsy and torpid. As this passed off he became excited and furious, so that he had to be held down in the chair; but this subsided, and on coming to he expressed himself delighted with his sensations. Leavitt then took it, with much the same effect. 1 was much discouraged by these attempts. The effects produced were not such as I sought for, nor were the young men affected in the same manner that I had been, and as I o'bserved the dog to be. They M^ere much more excited and less insen- si^jle. Yet I cannot help remarking, in this connexion, that had this sul- phuric ether been pure and highly rectified, I should have demonstrated, its effects then, instead of at the subsequent period in September. This ether has since been analyzed, as appears by the affidavits in the ap- pendix, and found to contain a large portion of alcohol, sulphur acids, and other impurities. This experiment was early in August; and it being hot weather, and I being somewhat out of health, I w^ent into the country, and abandoned the experiments until the middle of September. With the autumn and the restoration of health,' my ambition led me to resume my experi- ments; and I mentioned to Di'. 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 re- liable results. Thinking that a surer effect might be produced by inhaling the ether through some apparatus, I called repeatedly on Mr. Wightman, a phi- losophical 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 at- mospheric air, could convert it into an inhaling apparatus. Upon sec- ond thought I had an impression that ether would dissolve India rubber, and put the question to Mr. Wightman. He thought it would. I then put the same question as to oil silk. He said he did not know, but ad- vised me to consult a chemist, and named Dr. Jackson. I took from Mr. Wightman a glass tunnel, purchased an India rubber bag on my way, and returned to my office. I then sent Leavitt to Dr. Gay, a che- mist,'to ask the simple question whether ether would dissolve India rub- ber.' He returned, saying that Dr. Gay was not in. In the meantime I became satisfied that the bottle and glass I had were not large enough for my purposes, and not wishing to go to unnecessary expense, I said to Dr. Hayden that I would borrow a gas-bag from Dr. Jackson's labor- atory. He then suggested to me to ascertain from Dr. Jackson some-