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]
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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![The present object of quoting these letters is to show the account which Dr. Jackson then gave of his experiment in 1841-42. It, in truth, goes no further than prior experiments had made familiar to the medical faculty. The Edinburg Medical Journal of April 1st, 1847, speaking of if, says: In the administration of ether vapor there is, therefore, nothing new. Its narcotic and anodyne effects have been long well known to experi- enced and well-informed observers. The application of ether vapor, neverthless, as an anodyne previous to surgical operations, suggested a mode of exhibition which, besides being new, has the merit of being more efficient than the methods in ordinary cases. Dr. Jackson's trial in ]841-42, as stated by him in the above letter, was a mere application of its well-known narcotic and anodyne proper- ties. In a paper published by Dr. Jackson in the Boston Daily Adver- tiser of March 1st, 1847, he adds to the statement in his letter to M. Elie de Beaumont but one distinct fact—relief from the pain of his catarrh during the eflect of the inhalation of the vapor of sulphuric ether, and its return presently afterwards. The same fact is stated as having oc- curred in Dr. Thornton's practice, first published in 1795-'9G. In a letter written by Dr. Jackson to Dr. Martin Gay, dated May 1, 1847, be professes to give an account of his experiments and observa- tions made several years ago on the inhalation of the vapor of pure sul- phuric ether. He states his experiments as follows: The first: I moistened a cloth and laid it over my mouth and nostrils, and laid myself back in a rocking chair, and inhaled the vapor, noticing its ef- fects on the system. The first impression was that of coolness, then a sensation of warmth and exhilaration, with a singular feeling of excite- ment in the chest. This was followed by a loss of consciousness, from which I in a short time awoke; soon afterwards I entirely recovered from the effects of the ether. The second: Afterwards, still suffering from the effects of the chlorine, I thought I would try the ether vapor again, and for a longer time. I went, there- fore, into my office, which is connected with my house, and taking the bottle of pure sulphuric ether from the laboratory, I soaked a folded cloth in it, squeezed it out slightly, and seating myself in a rocking chair, with my feet resting upon another chair, I commenced inhaling the ether from the cloth, which was placed over my mouth and nostrils, while my head was laid back against my chair, so that I was quite at ease in a fixed position. The effects of the inhalation Avere as before described, excepting that it made me cough at first. I was, therefore, led to be- lieve that the paral3rsis of the nerves of sensation would be so great, during the continuance of the insensibility, that a surgical operation might be performed upon a patient under its influence, without giving him any pain ; for the loss of consciousness was remarkable, perhaps re- sembling that of epilepsy more than any other kind of insensibility. On the 18th of May, 1848, something more than a year afterwards, the contest about the discovery all the time going sharply on, and new- facts daily developing themselves in the use and effects of sulphuric ether. Dr. Jackson addressed a letter to Joseph Hale Abbott, Esq., giving,](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21482913_0046.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
