The invention of anaesthetic inhalation, or, 'Discovery of anaesthesia' / by William J. Morton.

  • Morton, William J. (William James), 1846-1920.
Date:
1880
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The invention of anaesthetic inhalation, or, 'Discovery of anaesthesia' / by William J. Morton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Dr. Long had absolutely no relation with the event of 1846 which constituted the Anaesthesia known to-day. The revival of his claim in 1877 as “ the true discoverer of Anaesthesia ” was not warranted by the facts, and was unnecessary. If, final- ly, he had really made the discovery in 1842, he deserves the execration, rather than the praise, of mankind for not having made it public; for he is then responsible for the sum-total of human agony endured from 1842 to 1S46. It is impossible to believe that, if he had been successful in his five experiments, he would have been cruel enough to have kept his knowledge to himself, or, on the other hand, so unconscious of the value of his success as not to have published his knowledge in some medical journal. VI. There are also numerous other after-claimants whose claims are not at present especially urged, and not therefore alluded to. VII. Dr. Morton’s contribution to Anaesthesia was in it- self final; his effort brought all previous knowledge upon the subject to a focus; the past (up to 1846) had brought forth onlv abortive results; the future has added but detail and sub- 6titution. Hi6 work, by reason of its extent, its sufficiency, and its completeness, now first constituted invention—by rea- son of its novelty and publicity, was a veritable revelation. And he had faith in his convictions and in his results; he had the courage both to speak and to act; what he said, he proved and made public. He demonstrated that ether would produce complete, safe, and repeatable insensibility to pain (before un- proven by ether, or by any agent); that this state was applica- ble to surgery (before inapplicable), and this he made plain to experts (physicians) and to the world. His labors stand the true test of invention or of discovery—that of a “consecutive and continuous history ” dating from the truth which he made evident. The world uses ether and other anaesthetics to-day, not because Long or Wells or Jackson used them, but because Morton used them. Dr. Morton and the beginning of practical Anaesthesia are, therefore, not alone coincident, but inseparably related aB cause and effect. lie is, then, the true inventor and revealer of anaesthetic inhalation—the true “ discoverer of Anaesthesia,” and his the title to the exclusive honor.