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... ed to have Morton's possessions taken because he had taken out so many loans to make his inhalers. Jackson even destroyed Morton's dentistry business. Jackson made false claims that Morton demanded immediate payments from his patients, which at that time was a major offense. After losing more and more patients to Jackson's schemes, it was apparent that Morton had very slim chances of escaping his debt. 39 As Morton's problems grew, Horace Wells' problems seemed to disappear.
During his trip to Paris to buy paintings, Wells was convinced by Dr. Christopher Brewster, an American dentist living in Paris, to speak before scientific societies on the discovery of anesthesia. After a few speeches, Wells moved into the spotlight in Paris. The French adored his kind, gentle nature and his honesty in admitting that the catastrophe at the Massachusetts General Hospital was his fault. The French scientists informed Wells that he must first write up his claims in order to be given full recognition as the discoverer of anesthesia. Inspired by new dreams, Wells immediately began writing. 40 While still in Paris, Wells published Galignani's Messenger, a letter that established his claims.
After publishing his letter, Wells left for the Hartford to write a full statement of his claims. On March 30, 1847, Wells published History of the Discovery of the Application of Nitrous Oxide Gas, Ether, and Other Vapors, to Surgical Operations. Copies of his claims and testimonies from his patients were spread all over Europe. 41 Wells realized he had another problem besides proving he was the first to discover anesthesia. Many people doubted that nitrous oxide was strong enough for a capital operation.
Thus, many Europeans claimed that although Wells might have been the first, he still should not be declared the discoverer of anesthesia. This prompted Wells to begin practicing dentistry again. He began to perform radical experiments on himself and on his own patients. It is during this time when Wells' experimentation surpassed scientific measures. He began to crave anesthetics for his own use to take away the pressure. 42 The last few days of Wells' life ended with a whirlwind of great success and complete humiliation. First, Wells successfully administered nitrous oxide to a man before a leg amputation and to a woman who was having a tumor removed on her shoulder.
Wells believed he was proving that nitrous oxide could be used in capital operations. 43 Figuring that the best place to achieve fame was New York City, Wells moved his office there and decided that he would later send for his wife and child when he was completely settled. However, Wells never accomplished his goal of fame in New York. Instead, he was struck with bitter loneliness. 44 To ease his pain, Wells began inhaling ether and chloroform more frequently. One night, Wells went out on the streets of New York, carrying a bottle of chloroform and a bottle of acid. Spotting two prostitutes he knew, Wells sprinkled the acid on their clothing, thinking that earlier one of the prostitutes had sprinkled acid on a derelict Wells had befriended on one of his walks.
The acid did not injure the women, but Wells was arrested and locked in the Tombs Prison, where he continued to inhale chloroform and ether. On January 22, 1848, Wells inhaled just enough of chloroform to make himself partly insensible, and then ended his life, tragically, by cutting himself with a razor across his left femoral artery and bleeding to death. Just a few short days after his death, a letter came from Dr. Brewster, stating that the Paris Medical Society had just voted that Horace Wells was due "all the honor of having successfully discovered and successfully applied the use of vapors or gases whereby surgical operations could be performed without pain, " and that Wells was elected an honorary member of the Society. Brewster went on to write that the "first person, who first discovered and performed surgical operations without pain was Horace Wells, and to the last day of time must suffering humanity bless his name. " 45 Meanwhile, many doctors were petitioning the government to investigate and then reward the discoverer of anesthesia $ 100, 000. This prompted Morton to abandon dentistry, thinking if he could get the reward, then he could pay all of his debts.
Somehow, Jackson found another way to attempt to destroy Morton's plans. After reading Dr. Crawford Long's article in the December 1849 issue of Southern Medical and Surgical Journal, Jackson wrote to the Georgia senator William Dawson. He persuaded Dawson that Long deserved recognition for his discovery, and Dawson vowed to conduct an investigation. 46 Jackson visited Long in Georgia, convincing Long that he was the first to use an anesthetic. Jackson tried to make a deal with Long, claiming that if Jackson would help Long to become recognized as the discoverer of anesthesia, then Long and Jackson would split the $ 100, 000 from Congress.
Long refused to make a deal with Jackson, simply because he was not the kind of man to exclude Morton and Wells. So Jackson decided to give Long another proposal: he would unselfishly help Long present his claims before Congress. 47 Hatred for Morton was not reason enough for Jackson to support Long. Still thinking he had a chance for going down in history as the discoverer of anesthesia, Jackson thought he could use Long to knock Morton and Wells out of the contention, and then he could later defeat Long. Fearing that Congress might side with Long, Jackson invented a story claiming that he had administered ether one month before Long had. By 1855, a type of civil war was emerging over the anesthesia controversy.
Usually, Southerners sided with Long, and Northerners sided with Wells, Morton, or Jackson, but there were also several other subdivisions. For instance, people from Massachusetts usually sided with Morton or Jackson, Vermont and Connecticut people favored Wells, dentists preferred Wells or Morton, doctors rooted for Long or Jackson (except in New England, where many were for Morton), pharmacists supported Long, and geologists and chemists advocated Jackson. The members of Congress positively favored Morton. 48 Yet, time and again, Congress met without granting him any reward, and finally the pressures reached Morton. His health began to fail, and his debts rose increasingly as he spent most of his time lobbying in Congress. 49 Several times Morton thought lobbying in Congress was finally going to pay off. In the spring of 1855, Morton came so agonizingly close to winning the $ 100, 000 award. William Henry Witte, a United States representative who had befriended Morton, spoke to President Franklin Pierce on his behalf.
Two days later, the president had a petition from the Massachusetts General Hospital recommending that Morton receive the award. Also, the president had the paper that would grant Morton the $ 100, 000 lying on his desk. Pierce was just about to sign the document when he suddenly froze, unsure of whether Morton's patent included all anesthetic substances. The president promised an answer the next day. 50 Fourteen months passed, and finally the president agreed to meet with Morton to discuss the patent. Pierce wanted Morton to sue the government for using his patented ether technique without compensating him. 51 Pierce explained it would just be a charade, and they would all act it out. Morton selected the Marine Hospital near Boston and Dr.
Charles Davis to sue. Morton's lawyers visited Dr. Davis to assure him that the lawsuit was a sham arranged by the president in order to reward Morton the $ 100, 000. Pierce's plan failed because the judge claimed that "the beneficent character of the discovery cannot change the legal principles on which the law of patents is founded. A discovery is not patentable. " 52 This was a tremendous blow to Morton for two reasons.
First, many of those who had previously supported Morton turned their backs on him because many thought he was being selfish. For example, the American Medical Association, which had originally embraced Morton, issued a censure, stating that they would .".. enter their protest against any appropriation to Dr. Morton, on the ground of his unworthy conduct... " 53 Second, over the years he had accumulated $ 50, 000 in debt and could no longer buy food for his family. Morton began gathering wood in the forest and selling it in a handcart in the streets. Morton was forced to postpone lobbying in Congress because in 1861 there was a far more serious matter to contend with the Civil War. 54 During the Civil War, Long and Morton offered their services by administering anesthesia to wounded soldiers.
However, Charles Jackson's life was little disturbed by the Civil War. He spent the four years devoting more and more time to his anesthesia claims. Jackson published A Manual of Etherization, a book in which he credited the discovery solely to himself. He published most of his articles during the war while Morton and Long were busy on the battlefield saving soldiers. 55 After the Civil War, the $ 100, 000 reward was withdrawn, and Morton made it his sole purpose to go down in history as the discoverer of anesthesia. 56 He traveled to New York City, although his doctor and wife advised against it because of his poor health, to present his claims one more time.
While he was in New York City, Morton suffered from a stroke and died July 15, 1868. He was buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery, where some doctors erected a monument over his grave. 57 After Morton's death, Jackson never wrote another word about anesthesia. As his writing tapered off, alcoholism became much more of a problem for Jackson. One night, five years after Morton's death, Jackson, heavily intoxicated, stumbled into Mount Auburn Cemetery and found his way over to William Morton's grave. Instantly, he became insane. Sounds of his yells attracted the attention of visitors.
Dr. Charles Jackson was taken to McLean Asylum where he spent the rest of his life. Jackson died on August 28, 1880, and was buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery, not far from Morton's grave. 58 Crawford Long suffered from a stroke and died June 16, 1878, after he had just delivered a baby. Long's life was filled with love and joy, as much of his life revolved around his family and the welfare of others. Long, although not a world-famous figure or well known among the general public, was beloved in his hometown of Athens. His saying, "My profession is to me a ministry from God, " was inscribed on his gravestone. 59 The passing of Charles Jackson, the last of the four contestants to die, ended Jackson's claims of being the discoverer of anesthesia.
Without Jackson to promote himself, his role in the discovery has been downplayed. The supporters of the other three men have continued to strive for the recognition of being the discoverer. 60 If the definition of discoverer means the first person to use a new process, then Crawford Williamson Long deserves the credit. Horace Wells was unquestionably the first to make widespread use of anesthesia, and he paved the way for the Boston doctors to be more receptive toward the next demonstrator who came along. That man, William Morton, also deserves credit because he made anesthesia an accepted part of medicine.
As for Charles Jackson, he destroyed his credibility by claiming the discovery exclusively, yet it is undeniable that his suggestion played a key role in Morton's success at the Massachusetts General Hospital. 61 Even today no one is singled out as the discoverer of anesthesia. Many choose the side of Oliver Wendell Holmes, who coined the word anesthesia. Inscribed on the Ether Monument, which honored the discovery, in Boston's Public Garden are Holmes' words: "To e (i) ther. " 62 Nonetheless, the impact of the discovery of anesthesia has made a profound impact on humanity. After the discovery, surgeons, who were once frightened and reluctant to perform surgery because of the patient's agonizing pain, wanted to operate. Those who were opposed to having surgery because of the immense pain changed their minds because of anesthesia. In the United States alone, each year more than twenty million surgical procedures are performed that require anesthesia.
Without anesthesia, most surgeries could not be performed because anesthesia allows the patient to become insensible to pain. It also gives the doctor more time to perform the operation, which is one reason why surgeons can now operate on the brain, remove tumors from deep within the body, and even perform transplants. Over time, the discovery of anesthesia has increased the average life span of humans. No matter whom the discoverer was, the ultimate tribute to Long, Wells, Morton, and Jackson are all of those who have enjoyed the blessings of anesthesia, for they are their living memorials. 63 1 Dennis Brindell Fradin. "We Have Conquered Pain": The Discovery of Anesthesia (New York: Margaret K. Mcelderry Books, 1996), 2. 2 L. J.
Ludovici. The Discovery of Anaesthesia (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1961), 9. 3 Dr. John Collins Warren quoted in Irwin Shapiro.
The Gift of Magic Sleep: Early Experiments in Anesthesia (New York: Coward, McCann, & Geoghegan, Inc. , 1979), 9. 4 Ibid. , 8. 5 James Tayloe Gwathmey, M. D. Anesthesia (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1914) 4. 6 Shapiro, Gift, 15. 7 Frederick Prescott. Control of Pain (Great Britain: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1964), 22. 8 Judith C.
Galas. Anesthetics: Surgery Without Pain (San Diego: Lucent Books, Inc. , 1992), 23. 9 Prescott, Control, 22. 10 Fradin, Conquered Pain, 24, 25. 11 Victor Robinson, M. D. Victory Over Pain: A History of Anesthesia (New York: Henry Schuman, Inc. , 1946), 87. 12 Fradin, Conquered Pain, 26. 13 Sherwin B.
Nuland, M. D. , F. A. C. S. The Origins of Anesthesia (Birmingham, Alabama: The Classics of Medicine Library, 1983), 52, 53. 14 Gardner Quincy Colton quoted in Robinson, Victory, 95. 15 Nuland, Origins, 54. 16 Galas, Anesthetics: SWP, 27. 17 Wells quoted from a letter addressed to the editor of the Hartford Courant in Nuland 55, 56. 18 Robinson, Victory, 104. 19 Fradin, Conquered Pain, 46. 20 Galas, Anesthetics: SWP, 28, 29. 21 Robert T.
Davis. "Reminiscences of 1846 " in Massachusetts General Hospital. Semi-Centennial of Anesthesia (Cambridge, Massachusetts: H. O. Houghton & Co. , 1897), 20. 22 Galas, Anesthetics: SWP, 29, 30. 23 Davis, "Reminiscences" in Massachusetts, Semi-Centennial, 20. 24 Dr. John Collins Warren quoted in Robinson, Victory, 128. Nuland, Origins, 70. 25 Fradin, Conquered Pain, 69 - 71. 26 Ibid. , 74, 75. 27 Dr.
John Collins Warren quoted in Ibid. 28 Galas, Anesthetics: SWP, 31. 29 Robinson, Victory, 129. 30 Ludovici, Discovery, 138. 31 Wells quoted in Fradin, Conquered Pain, 76, 77. 32 Ibid. , 84. 33 Nuland, Origins, 73. 34 Ludovici, Discovery, 49 - 54. 35 Fradin, Conquered Pain, 90. 36 Nuland 91. 37 Morton quoted from Littell's Living Age in Nuland, Origins, np. 38 Fradin, Conquered Pain, 91 - 93. 39 Ibid. , 94. 40 Nuland, Origins, 89. 41 Robinson, Victory, 130, 131. 42 Fradin, Conquered Pain, 94, 95. 43 Ibid. 44 Ludovici, Discovery, 192 - 194. 45 Dr. Brewster quoted in Nuland, Origins, 60, 61. 46 Fradin, Conquered Pain, 105, 107. 47 Ibid. , 109. 48 Ibid. , 112, 113. 49 Robinson, Victory, 136. 50 Ludovici, Discovery, 206 - 210. 51 Ibid. , 199, 200. 52 Judge quoted in Fradin, Conquered Pain, 117. 53 Dr. Henry D. Noyes, president of the American Medical Association, quoted in Nuland, Origins, 99. 54 Fradin, Conquered Pain, 116, 117. 55 Ibid. , 118 - 121. 56 Galas, Anesthetics: SWP, 32. 57 Robinson, Victory, 132, 133. 58 Ludovici, Discovery, 220. 59 Dr. Crawford Long quoted in Fradin, Conquered Pain, 126 - 130. 60 Ludovici, Discovery, 220. 61 Fradin, Conquered, 131 - 138. 62 Oliver Wendell Holmes quoted in Galas, Anesthetics: SWP, 32. 63 Fradin, Conquered, 143, 144. Bibliography Primary Sources Davis, Robert T. "Reminiscences of 1846 " in Massachusetts General Hospital.
Semi-Centennial of Anesthesia. Cambridge, Massachusetts: H. O. Houghton & Co. , 1897. This is a primary account of the first public demonstration of surgical anesthesia. I used it for information on the procedures during the surgery.
It was extremely useful. Morton, William Thomas Green. "Memoir on Sulfuric Ether" in Nuland, Sherwin B, M. D. , F. A.
C. S. The Origins of Anesthesia. Birmingham, Alabama: The Classics of Medicine Library, 1983. This document is Morton's personal account on the discovery of anesthesia.
I used it for the controversy between Morton and Jackson. It was very useful. Long, Crawford W. "An account of the first use of Sulphuric Ether by Inhalation as an Anesthetic in Surgical Operations" in Nuland, Sherwin B, M. D. , F. A.
C. S. The Origins of Anesthesia. Birmingham, Alabama: The Classics of Medicine Library, 1983. This is Long's personal account of his operation on James Venable.
I used it for Long's first operation using ether. It was extremely helpful. Secondary Sources Fradin, Dennis Brindell. "We Have Conquered Pain": The Discovery of Anesthesia. New York: Margaret K.
Mcelderry Books, 1996. This book is a summary of the controversy. I used this book to gather information about the four contestants. It was very useful.
Galas, Judith C. Anesthetics: Surgery Without Pain. San Diego: Lucent Books, Inc. , 1992. This book has a summary of the developments of anesthesia to its present-day use. I used this book mostly for information on Dr. Crawford W.
Long. It was pretty useful. Gwathmey, James Tayloe, M. D. Anesthesia.
New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1914. This book covers anesthesia from ancient history to its present-day use. I used this book mostly for information before the controversy. It was not extremely useful, but it did help in learning the developments of anesthesia. Ludovici, L.
J. The Discovery of Anesthesia. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1961. This book is an account of the discovery of anesthesia, claiming Morton as the discoverer. I used this book to learn information about the relationship between Dr.
William Morton and Dr. Charles Jackson because it went into more detail than the other sources. It was extremely useful. Nuland, Sherwin B, M. D. , F. A.
C. S. The Origins of Anesthesia. Birmingham, Alabama: The Classics of Medicine Library, 1983. This book has a detailed account of the discovery and controversy over anesthesia. I used this book mostly for its primary documents.
It was extremely useful. Prescott, Frederick. Control of Pain. Great Britain: Thomas Y.
Crowell Company, 1964. This book covers different types of anesthetics. I used it for information before the discovery and the history of the discovery. It was useful. Robinson, Victor, M. D.
Victory Over Pain: A History of Anesthesia. New York: Henry Schuman, Inc. , 1946. This book is an account of the discovery of anesthesia. I used this book mostly for information on the controversy between the four contestants. It was also extremely useful. Shapiro, Irwin.
The Gift of Magic Sleep: Early Experiments in Anesthesia. New York: Coward, McCann, & Geoghegan, Inc. , 1979. This book covers the discovery of anesthesia. I used it mostly for contributions that led to the discovery. It was useful.
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