Tat k 'Or\ , ( / No. 4848. The United States of America. To all to whom these letters patent shall come: Whereas Charles T. Jackson and William T. G. Morton, Boston, Massachusetts, have alleged that they have invented a new and useful improvement in surgical operations, (the said Jackson having assigned his right, title, and interest in said improvement to the afore- said Win. T. G. Morton,) which they state has not been known or used before their application; have made oath that they are citizens of the United Slates, that they do verily believe that they are the original and first inventors or discoverers of the said improvement, and that the same hath not, to the best of their knowledge and belief, been previously known or used; have paid into the Treasury of the United States the sum of thirty dollars, and presented a petition to the Commissioner of Patents signifying a desire of oblaining an exclusive property in the said improvement, and praying that a patent may be granted for that purpose: These are therefore to grant, according to law, to the said William T. G. Morton, his heirs, administrators, or assigns, for the term of fourteen years from the twelfth day of November, one thousand eight hundred and forty-six, the full and exclusive right and liberty of making, constructing, using, and vending to others to be used, the said improve- ment, a description whereof is given in the words of the said Jackson and Morton in the schedule hereunto annexed, and is made a part of these presents. In testimony whereof, I have caused these letters to be made patent, and the seal of the Patent office has been hereunto affixed. Given under my hand at the city of Washington, this twelfth [l. s.] day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-six, and of the independence of the United Slates of America the seventy-first. JAMES BUCHANAN, Secretary of State. Countersigned and sealed with the seal of the Patent office. EDMUND BURKE, Commissioner of Patents. The schedule referred to in these letters patent, and making part of the same. To all persons to whom these presents shall come: Be it known, that we, Charles T. Jackson and William T. G. Mor- ton, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts, have invented or discovered a new and useful improvement in surgical operations on animals, whereby we are enabled to accomplish many, Vv Ti; i if nol all, operations, such as are iviially attended with more or \em pain and suffering, without any, or with very little, pain lo or muscu- lar action of persons who undergo the same; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full and exacl description of our said invention or discovery: It is well known to chemists that when alcohol is submitted lo dis- tillation with certain ncids/» peculiar compounds termed ethers arc formed, each of which is usually distinguished by the name of the acid employed in its preparation. It has also been known that ihc vapors of some, if not all, of these chemical distillations, particularly those of sulphuric etKer, when- breathed or introduced into the lungs of an animal, have produced a peculiar effect on its nervous system, one which has been supposed lo be analogous to what is usually termed intoxication. It has never (to our knowledge) been known, until our discovery, that the in natation, of such vapors (particularly those of sulphuric eiher) would produce insensibility to pain, or such a state of quiet of nervous action as to render a person or animal incapable to a great extent, if not entirely, of experiencing pain while under the action of the knife or other instrument of operation of a surgeon calculated lo produce pain. This is our discovery, and the combining it with or applying it lo any operation of Minrary for the purpose of alleviating animal suffer- ing, as well as of enabling a surgeon to conduct his operation with little or no struggling or muscular action of the patient, ami with more ccr tainty of success, constitutes our invention. The nervous quiet and insensibility to pain produced on a person is generally of short dura- tion; the degree or extent of it, or time which it lasts, depends on the amount of eiherial vapor received into the system, and the constitu- tional character of the person to whom it is administered. Practice will soon acquaint an experienced surgeon with the amount of ctheric vapor to be .administered lo persons for the accomplishment of the stir gical operation or operations required in their respective cases. For the extraction of a tooth the individual may be thrown into the insensible stale, generally speaking, only a few minutes. For the removal of a tumor, or the performance of the amputation of a limb, it is necessary to regulate the amount of vapor inhaled lo the time required to complete the operation. Various modes may be adopted for conveying the etheric vapor into the lungs. A very simple one is lo saturate a piece of cloth or sponge with sulphuric ether, and place it to the nostrils or mouth so that ihe person may inhale the vapors. A more effective, one is to take a glass or other proper vessel like a common bottle or flask. Place in it a sponge saturated with sulphuric ether. Let there be a hole made through the side of the vessel for the admit^iun of atmospheric air, (which hole may or may not be provided with a valve opening down- wards, or so as to allow air to pass into the vessel,) a valve on the out- side of the neck opening upwards, and another valve in the neck, and between that last mentioned and the body.of the vessel or lln-k, which latter valve in the neck should open towards the mouth of the neck or 3 bottle. The extremity of the neck is to,be placed in the mouth of the patient, and his nostrils stopped or closdfl in such manner as to cause him to inhale air through the bottle, and to exhale it through the neck, and out of the valve on the outside of the neck. The air thus breathed by passing in contact with the sponge will be charged with the etheric vapors, which will be conveyed by it into the lungs of the patient. This will soon produce the state of insensibility or nervous quiet re- quired. In order to render the ether agreeable to various persons, we often combine it with one or more essential oils having pleasant perfumes. This may be effected by mixing the ether and essential oil, and wash- ing the mixture in water. The impurities will subside, and the ether, impregnated with the perfume, will rise to the top of the water. We sometimes combine a narcotic preparation, such as opium or morphine, with the ether. " M This may be done by any ways known to chemists by which a com- bination of etheric and narcotic vapors may be produced. After a per- son has been put into the state of insensibility, as above described, a surgical operation may be performed upon him without, so far as repeated experiments have proved, giving to him any apparent or real pain, or so little, in comparison to that produced by the usual process of con- ducting surgical operations, as to be scarcely noticeable. There is very nearly, if not entire absence of all pain. Immediately, or soon after the operation is completed, a restoration of the patient to his usual feel- ings takes place, without, generally speaking, his having been sensible of the performance of the operation. From the experiments we have made we are led to prefer the vapors of sulphuric ether to those of muriatic or other kind of ether, but any such may be employed which will properly produce the state of insen- sibility without any injurious consequences to the patient. We are fully aware that narcotics have been administered to patients undergoing surgical operations, and, as we believe, always by intro- ducing them into the stomach. This we consider in no respect to em- body our invention, as we operate through the lungs and air passages, and the effects produced upon the patient are entirely, or so far differ- ent as to render the one of very little, while the other is of immense utility. The consequences of the change are very considerable, as an immense amount of human or animal suffering can be prevented by the application of our discovery. ♦ What we claim as our invention is the herein before described means by which we are enabled to effect the above highly important improve- ment in surgical operations, viz., by combining therewith the applica- tion of ether, or the vajfor thereof, substantially as above specified. In testimony whereof we have hereto set our signatures this twenty- seventh day of October, A. D. 1846. CHARLES T. JACKSON, WM. T. G. MORTON. • Witnesses—R. H. Eddy, W. H. Leighton. 4 Jl The United States Patent Office. To all persons to fhom thcs£ •presents shall come, greeting : This is to certify, that the annexed is a true copy from the records of this office. In testimony whereof, I. Charles Mason, commissioner of patents, have caused the seal of the Patent office to be hereunto affixed, r , this eighteenth day of July, in the year of 1 -ord one thousand [Seal.J gjghj hundred and fifty-four, and of the independence of the United States the seventy-ninth. C. MASON. To all persons to whom these presents shall come : Whereas I, Charles T. Jackson, of Eddy. Received and j^corded, November 10, 184(k