Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The ether discovery. R.Littell's living age, no. 201, 18 March, 1848. Source: Wellcome Collection.
21/56 page 545
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The ether discovery. R.Littell's living age, no. 201, 18 March, 1848. Source: Wellcome Collection.
![committee of vigilance to ascertain and publish every instance in which experiments had failed, or produced unfortunate effects. A communica¬ tion in the shape of a report from a committee of twelve dentists, of which Dr. J. F. Flagg was chairman, appeared in the Daily Advertiser of Dec. 12, 1846, in which several cases were de¬ tailed, (the names of patients not being given,) where serious results had followed inhalation. Young ladies were represented as leaving Dr. Morton’s office delirious, and remaining so for several days, with bleeding at the lungs, melan¬ choly, and other dreadful results. They admit that inhalation may he used to good purpose in surgical cases, under the care of men of thorough scientific training, at once chemists and physiolo¬ gists ; but give their opinion that it will prove to be of little use in dentistry, and especially warn their fellow-citizens against trusting themselves to men not possessed of certain indicia and certificates from colleges or medical schools, not physiologists and pathologists,—in short, such men as their brother dentist, Mr. Morton. As these dentists used the ether themselves so soon as it appeared that the patent could not be enforced, their warn¬ ing and opinion have no new value ; but, at the time, their manifesto was a most serious obstruc¬ tion to the success of Dr. Morton, and was quoted throughout the Union, as evidence against the util¬ ity and safety of etherization itself. CHAPTER VI. SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY. more than in any other case of his advice, arising out of our previous relations, as mentioned at the opening of this memoir. He said that his advice had been useful to me, that I should make a good deal out of the patent, and that I ought to make him a compensation. I told him I would do so if I made much by the patent, independent of what 1 gained in my business. He then said he should charge me $500. I told him I would pay him that, if ten per cent, on the nett profits of the patent amount¬ ed to so much. He said he was perfectly satisfied with this arrangement, and so the interview ended. The next morning he told Mr. R. H. Eddy what had passed, and two or three days afterwards Mr. Eddy suggested to me that instead of paying Dr. Jackson a fee, I should interest him in the patent, and give him ten per cent, of the nett profits. Mr. Eddy made this suggestion out of friendship to Dr. Jackson, whom he wished to benefit. He added that the patent would thus have the benefit of Dr. Jackson’s name and skill; that he would thus have a motive to give his attention to the prep¬ aration and the apparatus, and we should be able to keep in advance of the improvements that might be suggested by others. He also said that if a suit was brought, and Dr. Jackson should be a witness, as he doubtless would be, the aid he had given me might be made a handle of by persons impeaching the patent, to invalidate my claim as the discoverer. At this time the dentists had organized a formidable opposition to the use of ether, and all the medical magazines in the Union, except Boston, w'ere ar¬ rayed against it. I felt the need of all the aid I could get, and was conscious of a want of thorough scientific education myself. I was induced by these motives to accede to Mr. Eddy’s request, but did not then understand that Dr. Jackson-claimed to be a discoverer at all. But on this head I refer to the affidavits of the Messrs. Eddy. The next stage in this history is the procuring of the patent right by Dr. Morton. The gentle¬ man whose evidence throws the most light upon this, is R. H. Eddy, Esq., a civil engineer and commissioner of patents. Mr. Eddy is well known in our community as a man of intelligence and honor, and the trustees say his testimony is “ entitled to the most implicit credit.” The 23d day of October, nearly a week after the second experiment at the hospital, and when the discovery had been taken up by men of distin¬ guished name, Dr. Jackson, for the first time since the discovery was announced, saw Dr. Mor¬ ton. He called at Dr. Morton’s office, where an interview took place, the account of which is drawn from Dr. Morton’s memoir. On the 23d October, I saw Dr. Jackson for the first time since the interview last described. I take my account of this interview from a memorandum made at the time, the accuracy of which is attested by two witnesses of the highest respectability who were present. He said he thought he would just look in, that he heard I was doing well with the ether, and learned from Mr. Eddy that I intended to take out a patent, and would make a good deal by it. I replied that it had been a cause of anxiety and expense to me, but that I thought I should now do well with it. He said he thought so too, and that he believed he must make me a professional charge for advice. I asked him why in this case, CCI. LIVING AGE. VOL. XVI. 35 This statement is confirmed by the following letter from Mr. Eddy, drawn out by the letter from the surgeons of the hospital, given above. The italics are by the editor. Boston, May 22, 1847. To Drs. Geo. Hayward, do e o S. D. Townsend, ! Sr?eon of t]?e Samuel Parkman, f , fenera H. J. Bigelow, J HosPltal Gentlemen—I have received your communica¬ tions of the 18th and 20th instant, in which you state that you have understood me to be “ in pos¬ session of important information relative to the dis¬ covery of the new property of sulphuric ether, and of its subsequent history,” and are desirous that I should “ furnish such a statement of the matter as will elucidate so important a subject;”—also, “ to state how the names of Drs. C. T. Jackson and W. T. G. Morton became associated in the letters patent, and what share each had, in my opinion, in making the discovery.” “ Also, any other facts I may choose to communicate tending to the same end.” The friendly relations which, for many years, have existed between myself and Dr. C. T. Jack- son, have heretofore caused me to refrain from making known many facts in my possession in rela¬ tion to the late discovery of the new effect of sul¬ phuric ether. The difficulties, between him and Dr. W. T. G. Morton, I hoped to see settled by an impartial reference—one, where the evidence, pro¬ duced by both parties, could be subjected to a rigid](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b29337665_0021.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
