fr*
0  56
     HISTORICAL  MATERIALS
                  FOR  THE

           BIOGRAPHY     •*
                    OF

W.  T.  G.   MORTON,  M.  D.,
       DISCOVERER OF ETHERIZATION,

    (ULlitlj  an Account  ul %\vx$t\)ish,
COMPILED BY
BEN: PERLEY POORE.
vr*"
    Entered according td*Act of Congress, in the year 18.r>f),
[n the Clerk's office of the District Court for the District of Columbia.
    A few copies of this compilation have been publistied, for sucii revisions, additions or alterations
'_ 1      as Dr. Morton's friends may seem fit. The re-publication of any portion or of all
            of it, should a copy find its way into public hands, (which is
                  not intended,) is positively forbidden.
Jlo.
     WASHINGTON:
G.  S. GIDEON, PRINTER.
         1856. 
 
HISTORICAL  MATERIALS
FOR THE
BIOGRAPHY
OF
W.  T.  G.  MORTON,  M. D.,
       DISCOVERER OF ETHERIZATION,

    SKitjj m %ttmt  of ^tratjjma:,
      COMPILED BT

BEN: PERLEY POORE.
    Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856,
In the Clerk's office of the District Court for the District of Columbia.
A few copies of this compilation have been published, for such revisions, additions or alteration!
   as Dr. Morton's friends may seem fit. The re-publication of any portion or of all
        of it, should a copy find its way into public hands, (which is
              not intended,) is positively forbidden.
!».
     WASHINGTON!
G. S. GIDEON, PRINTER.
        1856. 
 
HISTORICAL  MATERIALS.
                           CHAPTER I.

  William T. G. Morton was born at  Charlton, Worcester county,
Massachusetts, on the ninth day of August, 1819.  His  family has
always occupied a prominent place in the chronicles of New England;
and in reading the biographical notices of the first Mortons who came
from the Old World, to aid in founding a republic upon our rock-bound
coast, we find displayed the same unflinching spirit, the same masterly
comprehension of facts, and the same natural mental endowments which
characterize the subject of this biography.
  Robert Morton, (the  great-great-grandfather of William  T. G.,)
married  Charity Lawton,  the daughter of a Presbyterian clergyman.
He was a resident of Massachusetts, but became a large landed propri-
etor in  East New Jersey.   Deeds show  that his possessions embraced
several thousand acres,  one large tract including the present site of
Elizabethtown, but he found it impossible  to eject settlers, who had
appropriated much of it without authority.  He brought one suit, which
he  lost,  because (as  it afterwards appeared) two of the  judges and a
portion  of the jurors were  also  residents on his claim.   They offered
to resign a large farm to  him if he would settle among  them, but he
was soon afterwards taken ill and died, leaving no heirs  who chose to
prosecute the claim.
  Robert's grandson,  Thomas Morton, (the grandfather of William
T.  G.,) was born in 1759.   Volunteering, when a mere lad, in defence
of the infant liberties of his country, he fought valiantly at  Bunker Hill,
and was an active champion of independence during the Revolution.
But he did not live to enjoy the  blessings for which he had contended.
In  1793 a faithful negro servant broke his scythe, and requested his
master,  who was going past the  blacksmith's in a  sulkey, to take
it with  him to be repaired; he  consented, but on passing out at the
gate of the house the horse started,  and as Mr. Morton leaped from
the sulkey the scythe wounded him so  fatally that he soon breathed
his  last.
  James Morton, (the father of William T. G.,) married Rebecca,
daughter of William Needham, who had erected the first framed dwell-
ing-house in the town of Charlton.   This is a beautiful  rural village,
nestled among the picturesque hills of central  Massachusetts, and dotted
by several fine  expanses of water.   The inhabitants, at the time of
young Morton's boyhood, were of that industrious middle  class, among 
4
 whom liberty and virtue respire freely; their fathers had shared in the
 perils  and the victories of the Revolutionary conflict; the community
 had grown up, as it were, with  the Republic, and were not only en-
 joying the blessings of a free government, but were receiving a recom-
 pense  for  their  labor—a comparative exemption from taxation—and a
 degree of  social  happiness unknown in other lands.  Enlightenment,
 sobriety of judgment, and  respect for the laws, are the great character-
 istics of  these New England villages, and  their sons are generally
 equally famed—at home or abroad—for public spirit, superior intelli-
 gence, and well cultivated intellects.   It was a fine  locality  for the
 development of both bodily and mental powers, for that youthful train-
 ing so necessary to enable a man  to distinguish  himself in the arena of
 intellectual life.   " The character of the scenes in which we are brought
 up," says  a  prominent writer, "impress themselves upon our  souls.
 As is the place, so is the man. The mind is a mirror before it becomes
 a home."
   While James Morton wished to  have his children brought up beneath
 their paternal roof,  he took good care that the natural genius of  his son
 should not be neglected; and in order to  gratify the  lad's thirst for
 knowledge he procured a  domestic preceptor,  and established  a high
 school in his  own house.   There, young Morton's intellectual  ability
 was  soon  manifest, and  his  vocation to intellectual  pursuits was so
 unanimously recognised, that his father sent him afterwards to the high
 school  at Oxford, and the excellent classical academies at Northfield
 and at Leicester.
   Fortune, however, did not smile upon the young student's progress.
 When he was only fifteen  years of age financial difficulties gathered
 around his father, and he was forced, by the  pressure of circumstances,
 to take the lad  from  his  books,  and place  him  in a  self-sustaining,
 although by  no  means congenial, position.   Young Morton did not
 murmur, for he did not wish to  be a burthen at home; but  it was
 evident to all who knew him, that, although his  grandfather and his
 father  had been in mercantile  pursuits, he was not destined to  be a
 votary  of commerce.   Science was the  morning  dream of his  mind,
 and, although clouds of disappointment were thus cast upon his intel-
 lectual career, it was not long ere  the beams  of  his genius came burst-
 ing forth from the gloom of pecuniary darkness, like the sunlight first
 pouring from the edges of a retreating thunder-cloud.
  Anxious that  his son might acquire knowledge, if possible, while
 attending  to  the  dutiess  into which necessity  thus forced him,  Mr.
 Morton obtained a situation for his son in a large book-store at Boston,
 kept by Mr. James B. Dow.  While there, the young man had  ample
 opportunity to read the works of standard authors, and to form acquaint-
 ances with  ladies and  gentlemen of literary position, which have  ever
been kept  up.  The city of Boston  is an admirable  place for  young
men in commercial pursuits to acquire knowledge.  There are libraries
lectures and reading-rooms, for those who crave  for their leisure hours
something more than mere amusement, and who thus make their lives 
 
 
5
something  far  exalted  above  the  practical drudgery  of  clerkship.
Young Morton (although in  mercantile pursuits) found time and op-
portunity to improve his mind, to cultivate his natural taste for science,
to stimulate  his attention to intellectual  culture, and to foster those
qualifications which  gave a wide range to his future usefulness.   He
evidently looked forward, amid the temporary discouragements, to the
time when he should be able  to build a  durable  monument of fame
upon the foundations which he so industriously laid in his mind.   Ne-
cessity delayed this work, but its progress was none the less regular.
  Even when young, Morton made an occasional visit to  his paternal
roof.  He was a diligent student.  It is curious to observe how, in the
opening of his career, every circumstance seemed to have combined to
foster and to develop the peculiar genius and the pertinacious industry
of thought which afterwards was so prominently displayed.  It would
appear as if every fresh obstacle, every new disappointment, served
only to  strengthen the native vigor and  powers  of his extraordinary
genius.   The necessity for action which continually agitated  his mind,
undoubtedly engendered  deep and original thoughts, with an energy of
action seldom possessed by the alumni of venerable universities, where
students are cramped by the musty eloquence of antiquated empiricism.
His naturally strong impulses  were controlled by patience, and his fiery
nature was steadied by fortitude, while  his soul, in its chosen compan-
ionship  with nature, imbibed the pure inspirations of untrammelled
thought.  Even in his youth, he was ranked among that courageous
class who " ask no favors and shrink from  no responsibility."
   At one time he had brighter hopes excited, by an attempt on the part
of an administrator who had in charge a legacy left him, to appropriate
it for the young legatee's education.  This laudable disposition of the
funds was found afterwards not to be in accordance with  the terms of
the bequest, which could not be paid  until  the heir had attained  his
majority, but in the  mean time young  Morton had entered Northfield
academy and enjoyed  an uninterrupted term of study.   One of his
fellow-students there informs us that he was indefatigable in his efforts,
and  that even when  the  other students would  be enjoying themselves
at their  sports, young Morton  would be  climbing the hills or delving in
the ravines in search of minerals.  He thus formed quite a collection,
which he arranged with  such skill as to attract attention, and to  elicit
warm praises from the preceptor, Dr. Wellington.   Years passed away
after young Morton left the academy before  preceptor and pupil again
met, and the meeting (strange to say) was at the Massachusetts General
Hospital, on the  memorable  sixteenth of October,  1846.  The pupil
was  then an instructor; the preceptor was one  of  many, eminent  and
learned, who sought information.
  It was at this period of young Morton's life that he displayed the first
desire to become a surgeon.  The  infant  of a relative was  deformed
with a hare-lip and cleft palate, which he  expressed a great  desire to
cure, and declared that the day would come when he could do so—an
assertion which his subsequent success in this peculiar branch of pmc« 
6
tice verified.  The germ of his peculiar turn of mind, however, was
almost smothered beneath obligatory occupations, though it lay ready
to spring forth when opportunity should offer.
  It is unnecessary to detail how for several years young Morton found
himself compelled by stern necessity to follow the fortunes of his father.
A professional and scientific career was evidently his ambition, but it
was tedious work to be forced to plod through commercial drudgery to
this goal  of his hopes.   With a consciousness of genius, and a desire to
perfect his education,  he drifted along upon the stream of  business life
like a deserted ship, with all sails set, her colors flying, but no pilot on
board to take her into  the port  of her  destination.  Now  and then (if
we may judge from his letters) he had a vague intimation from his own
heart that he would eventually claim a high place among the chosen
votaries of science, but his expanding intellect  would then become
temporarily checked with commercial care.  As might have  been ex-
pected, he was at times duped  by the  designing, and  entangled  into
unfortunate connections, but it was perhaps well for science and for
suffering humanity that success did not  crown his exertions.  These
wrecks of his business projects but stimulated him to "trim the midnight
lamp," that he  might enter into pursuits more congenial to  his feelings.
The love of science was the master passion of his soul, which kept all
others in subordination wherever he went and in whatever he engaged.
  Though not  perhaps influenced  in  character by  the unpropitious
results of his  mercantile experiences, his determined disregard of diffi-
culties in subsequent life has given abundant evidence that the severe
training of his  youth  endowed  him with resolution, hardihood, and
application.   That seemed insurmountable in others, but  nerved  him
to conquest.  On arriving at the age of twenty-one,  he was evidently
fully animated by that indomitable spirit which overcomes all obstacles
in life, with that industry and perseverance which are sure guarantees
of success.
  Fresh  hopes were now awakened in young Morton's mind that he
could  pursue uninterruptedly  a congenial course of studies, and he
turned from  the drudgeries of commercial life with the same delight
which inspired Audubon, when he too shook off the trammels of busi-
ness to give himself up to ornithological pursuits.  Having now attained
his  majority, and thinking that  he could  rely upon  the legacy before
alluded to, he went to Baltimore, (the very " hot-bed" of that branch
of medicine we find him  practising in the early part of  his professional
career,) where he attended medical lectures,  and devoted himself with
a single-hearted assiduity to an  arduous course of study.  While  thus
engaged, his studies were interrupted by the discovery that the funds
afforded  by the  legacy were quite  insufficient  to  enable  him to go
through a regular medical course, although (as will be  seen hereafter)
he finally received his diploma from the Washington University of that
city.
  Visiting his paternal roof at the North,  and fluctuating between his
studies and business for a few months, he conceived  the happy idea of 
 
 
7
perfecting himself in one  branch of medicine, the practice of which
would furnish the means for attaining the other branches.   He conse-
quently availed himself of every opportunity which presented  itself, to
enjoy intercourse with such scientific gentlemen as could give  him in-
formation upon that branch of medicine which he had  selected.  His
honorable deportment, and his ever active sympathies, drew around
him a circle of clustering hearts who have steadfastly clung to him on
his upward road to fame, with here and there an exception.
  Among those with whom Dr.  Morton enjoyed professional  inter-
course, were three gentlemen who then professed to be highly pleased
with him, but afterwards became so antagonistic—not only to him, but
to each other—in his subsequent professional career, that we find our-
self compelled to speak of them more at length than  is consistent with
the plan of this work.   One of these professional and personal friends,
at that time, was Dr. N. C. Keep, vice president of the American So-
ciety  of Dental Surgeons, to whom Dr. Morton, by an especial ar-
rangement, paid five hundred dollars for such instruction  as  he  then
desired, and who wrote, (in a subsequent communication to the above
mentioned society,) "lam happy to state that, for the last  three years,
I have known him to be a very enterprising dentist—his mind ever
active and seeking for improvement."  " I have taken great  pleasure
in exchanging professional thoughts with him, and am desirous of pro-
moting his honorable intentions."   Afterwards,  when  this prediction
was more than verified, and the whole scientific world was agitated by
the discovery of Dr. Morton's active and industrious mind, Dr. Keep
became his partner.
   Another professional friend of Dr. Morton's,  at this stage of his career,
was Dr. Horace Wells, who had met him while on a professional visit
at Mr. James Morton's beautiful residence, years previous, when that
gentleman was giving  his son that intellectual training of wrhich we
have  spoken.   When young Morton returned  to  the  North, the ac-
quaintance  was renewed, and  it resulted in an  association  of  their
names for the practice of  dental surgery in Boston, (the capital of Dr.
Morton's native State,) where Dr.  Wells had previously been profes-
sionally located, though he had since gone to Hartford.
   The first business announcement of  these gentlemen was accom-
panied  by a certificate of  the value of a professional  improvement in-
troduced by them, from  Dr. C.  T. Jackson, a mutual  friend.   The
following spring,  in pursuance with Dr. Morton's desire (heretofore
alluded to) to study the other branches of medicine, Dr. Jackson re-
ceived him as an  inmate  of  his family and as a student.   In subse-
quently recommending Dr. Morton to the American Society of Dental
Surgeons, he stated that he " entered his name with me as a student
of  medicine,  March 20, 1844, and  attended to practical anatomy, in
the Massachusetts Medical College,  during the  winter  of  that year,
where he dissected with diligence and zeal, and paid special attention
to the anatomy of the head and throat—parts of human anatomy par-
ticularly important to the  surgeon dentist.  He also studied Bell's and 
s
other standard works on anatomy, and attended the lectures of I>rs*
Warren, Hay ward, and other professors.   I would recommend him as
a suitable person for admission  as a dental surgeon.  He is a skilful
operator in dentistry, both in the surgical and mechanical departments,
and has studied the chemical properties of the  ingredients required for
the manufacture of artificial teeth."
   In \S0, Dr. Morton  married Miss Elizabeth Whitman, a daughter
of Edward Whitman, esq., of Farmington,  Connecticut.   But do-
mestic felicity no more interrupted his studies  than  had the duties of
his profession, and  he was matriculated at the medical college attached
to Harvard University, in November, 1844.
   When in after-years an opponent of Dr. Morton's assailed his private
character before a Congressional committee, declaring "in knowledge
and intellect  he is an ignoramus and an imbecile, not only not  pos-
sessed of science, but mentally  incapable  of attaining it,"  the certifi-
cates of his attendance  upon the  lectures of the University disproved
these slanderous charges most effectually.  The report  of the commit-
tee contains these certificates, which prove that  he attended lectures on:
Anatomy and Surgery, by Professor John C.  Warren;  Principles of
Surgery and Clinical Surgery, by Professor  George Hay ward; Ma-
teria Medica, by  Professor Jacob Bigelow;  Theory and Practice of
Midwifery and  Medical  Jurisprudence, by Professor  Channing;
Theory and Practice of Physic,  by Professor  Ware; and  Chemistry,
by Professor  Webster.  In  addition  to attendance  on  these lectures,
during two years,  he was a visitor at the  Massachusetts General Hos-
pital, and an  attendant at the School of Practical  Anatomy.   This
thorough course of studies  (upon which  Dr.  Morton received his di-
ploma  at the Washington University) could  not have been prosecuted
had the  student  been " mentally incapable," nor  (as the Congres-
sional report justly observes) can the evidence of it be read without con-
vincing every one that " he was in a situation  highly favorable for the
progress of his inquiries."
   While attending these lectures,  be it remembered, the young student
was a practising dentist, in  the enjoyment of a  lucrative practice, divid-
ing his time  between  his operating-room in Tremont Row, and the
Medical School  in Mason street.  A skeleton  was  kept in  his bridal
chamber, and, (rising long before sunrise,) he  used  to prepare himself
for the anatomical studies of the coming day.   Often, late in the even-
ing, he found that every table in the dissecting-room would be deserted,
save that at which his busy knife sought out the mysteries of the human
frame.
   How little could his fellow-students have dreamed, as he joined them
in their daily walk of observation through the wards  of the General
Hospital, often witnessing acute suffering, that within a comparatively
few months he would demonstrate—in that very building, before their
professors, and many of themselves—that he possessed a boon for suf-
fering  humanity that had for ages been sought in vain. 
 
 
9
  It will be remembered, that among the courses of lectures which he
attended, was that of the afterwards noted Professor Webster, on chem-
istry.  This  was  another important step  in the preparation of  his
mind for his great discovery, and we find, from the evidence submitted
to Congress, that among the scientific books which he purchased, was
Pereira's " Materia Medica,"  which contains valuable information on
chemistry and other sciences) including the effect of remedies,  ether
among the rest.
  In 1845, Dr. Morton settled upon a family estate at West Needham,
Massachusetts, adjoining the  railroad  from  Boston to Worcester.   It
was at that time a pasture, but, under his  careful and scientific  man-
agement, it  has  since had a conspicuous place  in the annals of im-
proved Agriculture and  Horticulture.  The  tract of land covered a
natural basin, watered by a  pure  brook, and surrounded by an am-
phitheatre of forest-clad  hills, dotted with  suburban residences.   On
a swelling knoll which  rises from the centre  of this level, Dr.  Mor-
ton  erected  a picturesque building in the  English style of rural ar-
chitecture, which  has been famed as a model edifice, and as the seat
of cordial hospitality.  The prospect from every window of this cottage
mansion is,  of course, superb.  In the foreground are the  serpentine
walks,  rustic  summer-houses, flower-beds,  young  trees, sparkling
streams,  extensive  farm-buildings, and other appurtenances of the Doc-
tor's homestead.   Beyond, we see  the village church, the farm-houses
of the industrious yeomanry, and  the other quiet beauties  of a New
England landscape, while an occasional train sweeps along the adjacent
railway like a fiery dragon, a type of the nervous, go-ahead spirit  of
this utilitarian age.
  This early history of Dr. Morton verifies  a remark  of the gifted La-
martine, in his biography of Bernard de Palissy : " There is a vague
instinct which leads the child of genius, and the student who aims  at
perfection, to leave his native region, and to travel in early life. Each
thinks, no doubt,, that beyond his usual horizon there lies a new moral
space, in which  they shall discover  things they knew not  before. * * *
But if there be an  instinct which drives the youth  from his home in his
early youth, there is another  instinct which draws him back when he
has seen what he desires to see.  Although man is a  wandering crea-
ture, he has, nevertheless, like a tree, invisible fibres in  his heart  or
memory which attach or recall him to his birthplace.   These fibres are
the recollections, the attachments, the regrets, and the remembrances
which bind him  to his family and his home."  How  applicable is this
to the subject of our biography, whom we find, after his long journeys
over distant  States, now returning with delight to rural life in his native
State.  His parents settled near him, and their presence brought back
reminiscences and  habits of that  domestic tranquillity which had em-
bellished his early  years.  " The man who stands upon his own soil,"
says Edward Everett,  who feels, by the laws of the land in  which he
lives, he  is the rightful and exclusive owner  of the land which he tills,
is by the constitution of our nature, under a wholesome influence, not 
10
easily imbibed  from any other source.   He feels, other things  being
equal, more strongly than another, the character of a man as the lord
of an inanimate world.  Of this great and wonderful sphere which is
rolling through  the heavens, a part is his—his from the centre to the
sky.  It is the space on which the generation  moves in its  round of
duties, and he feels himself connected by a visible link with those who
follow him,  and to whom he is to transmit  a  home.   These feelings
flow out of the  deepest fountains of the heart—life-springs of a  fresh,
healthy, and generous character."
                          CHAPTER II.
  It was while thus occupied that Doctor  Morton made  that great
discovery, which is unquestionably  the noblest  contribution which
medical science has made to humanity within the present century; and
with which, looking through all ages, no other except that of Jenner
can take rank.   Nor is there, in the eventful life of this benefactor of
his race, any period that must have found him so distracted with hopes
and  with fears, so  absorbed with generous and ardent wishes  for the
success of an idea which promised such glorious results.   He was, (to
quote from a report made to the House of Representatives of the thirty-
second Congress,) " He was young and ardent—a surgeon dentist, with
already a large business—and he was  condemned to witness daily the
excruciating pain occasioned by his more difficult operations, especially
when nervous and sensitive females were the subjects.  It is natural to
suppose, that a  humane desire to remove so much suffering,  and es-
pecially a prospect of  the enviable reputation and high fortune which
should attend such a discovery, caused it to take full possession of his
mind."
  Yet no account of  the circumstances which directed  Dr. Morton's
mind to the investigation, or of the progress of the discovery, until it had
successfully passed  the  experimentum crucis, can equal  that of the
Doctor himself.  It has, also, the high endorsement of the above-men-
tioned committee, who say that it is not only "simple and natural, but
in every step corroborated by some marked circumstance, proved by the
testimony of one or more disinterested witnesses.   A narrative such as
his,  so supported, goes far to sustain the  title which possession, undis-
puted for a time, would have given him.  It was prepared by him, and
presented to the Academy of Arts and Sciences at Paris, by M. Arago,
in July, 1847.   Notwithstanding  its  length, we have thought proper
to insert it entire.

                           "memoir."
  " In  the  summer of 1844, being in the practice of dentistry, and
desirous to improve myself in chemical and  medical knowledge,  I
studied  in the  office of Dr. Charles T.  Jackson, of Boston;  and, in
order to employ my time to the utmost advantage, I resided in his 
 
 
11
family.  One day, in casual conversation upon my profession of den-
tistry, I spoke of the operation of destroying the nerve of a tooth;  and
remarked that there was  always doubt whether the tooth could be re-
stored to usefulness,  inasmuch as the arsenic produced an irritation and
left a soreness often permanent.   Dr. Jackson  said, in a humorous
manner, that I must try  some of his toothache drops; and proceeded
to tell me that, at a time  when he  practised medicine, he occasionally
extracted teeth for particular patients; and that in one instance a patient
who could not summon courage for  the operation asked  him to apply
something to alleviate  the pain.  He applied ether, and with success,
for a few days afterwards a friend of this patient called to obtain some
of the 'toothache drops,' as  he called them;  but Dr.  Jackson, not
wishing  to be  troubled wiih dental  business,  told him he had none.
Dr. Jackson  then  added, that as this ether might be  applied with ad-
vantage  to sensitive teeth, he would send me some.  The conversation
then turned upon the effect of ether upon the system; and he told me
how the students  at Cambridge used  to  inhale sulphuric ether from
their handkerchiefs;  and that it intoxicated them, making them  reel
and stagger.   He gave no further intimation of the effect of ether, or
of the manner of applying it.  I may  add, that Dr. Jackson has con-
firmed my account of this  conversation  in his own statement  to  Dr.
Gould.
   " In a few days after this conversation, Dr. Jackson sent me a bottle
of chloric ether, highly rectified, as he had offered.  At the same time
he sent a bottle to two other dentists of high respectability in Boston. I
made an experiment with this ether  in destroying the sensibility of a
valuable tooth of a patient,  Miss-------, by direct application; telling
,her that the operation would be slow. I was obliged to apply it several
times, but in the end the sensibility seemed to be removed; and the tooth
is now, to my knowledge, in a useful condition.
   " About this time, the wife and aunt of Dr. Jackson were under my
treatment for dental  purposes; and if was  necessary to extract teeth in
each case—the operation being painful,  and  the ladies showing an
unusual degree of sensitiveness.  The last named lady, in particular,
before the extracting of each tooth,  remained several hours in the ope-
rating chair, unable to summon courage to endure  the operation, and
begging to be mesmerized, or that I would give her something to make
her insensible. Dr. Jackson was present,  and made efforts to encourage
the lady, but did not suggest any mode of producing insensibility.  His
suggestions  had not gone beyond the direst application of ether, in the
same manner that laudanum and other narcotics have always been
applied to sensitive teeth.
   " The successful  application I had made of the ether in destroying
the sensibility of a tooth, together with what Dr. Jackson told me of its
effects when  inhaled by the students at college, awakened my attention;
and having free access to Dr. Jackson's books, I began  to read on the
subject of its effects upon the animal system.   I  became satisfied  that
there was nothing new  or particularly dangerous in the inhaling of 
VI
ether—that it had long been the toy of professors and students; known
as a powerful anti-spasmodic anodyne and narcotic, capable of intoxi-
cating and stupefying, when taken in sufficient quantity.  I found that
even the apparatus for inhaling it was described in some treatises; but
in most  cases it was described as inhaled from a saturated sponge or
handkerchief.   Having some of the  ether left which Dr. Jackson had
sent me, I inhaled it from  a  handkerchief; but there was not enough
to produce a greater effect than exhilaration, followed by headache.
  "While investigating this subject I was taken quite ill, and it being
the middle of summer, I was advised by my physician to go into the
country.  1  took with me from Dr. Jackson's library, and obtained in
other ways, several books treating on  this and other subjects.  I spent
two months at the residence  of my father-in-law,  in Connecticut.
While  there  I  procured  ether from  the druggist's, and made experi-
ments upon birds and  other animals,  endeavoring to get them  under
the effect of inhalation from it.  These experiments produced no satis-
factory result, and  they being known among my friends, I was mor-
tified and vexed, and  bottled up the subjects, where they remain to
this day.
  "In the autumn I returned to Boston,  and  finding that my business,
owing  to its interruption, required  my  constant attention, I was not
able to pursue the investigation at that time.
  "In  the course of the winter (1844-'5) Dr. Horace Wells, of Hart-
ford, Conn., a dentist, and formerly my  partner, came to Boston, and
desired  me to aid him in procuring an opportunity to administer the
nitrous oxide gas, which he said he  believed would destroy or greatly
alleviate pain under surgical operations.   I readily consented, and in-
troduced him to  Dr. George  Hayward, an eminent surgeon,  who
offered  to permit the experiment, but as the  earliest operation was not
to be performed under two or three days, we did not wait for  it, but
went  to Dr. Warren, whom we found  engaged with his  class.  He
told us that, his students were preparing to inhale it that  evening, for
sport, and offered to announce the proposal to them, and ask them to
meet us at the college.  In the evening  Dr.  Wells and myself went to
the hall, and  I  took my instruments.   Dr. Wells administered the
gas, and extracted a tooth, but the  patient  screamed from pain, and
the spectators  laughed and hissed.   The meeting broke up, and we
were  looked upon as having  made  ourselves very ridiculous.  I saw
nothing more of  Dr.  Wells, but he left my instruments at my office
very early the next morning, and went directly home.  In July, being
again in Connecticut, I called on Dr. Wells, and we spent some time
in adjusting our former partnership accounts.  He  had then given up
dentistry, and was engaged in conducting an  exhibition of birds, which
he said insured him better health.   I went  with him to the office of
Dr. Riggs, where  I spoke of the gas, and asked them to give some to
 me; but Dr. Wells gave me to understand that he had abandoned the
 experiment, thinking  it could have no practical value. 
 
 
13
  "In the autumn of 1845, I returned to my business, which had now
become almost exclusively mechanical dentistry, or plate work, requir-
ing me often to extract a great number of teeth at a time.  Many of
my patients suffered extremely, and some were obliged, as is the expe-
rience of every dentist, to postpone or abandon the supplying full sets
of teeth.  I had, therefore, everything to call my attention to the de-
stroying or  mitigating of pain under these operations, and great motive
to induce me to follow up the subject.  Finding that when closed  up
in a hollow tooth, and sealed with wax, ether would gradually destroy
the sensibility of the part,  I reasoned  that perhaps when  inhaled  it
might destroy or greatly  alleviate sensibility to  pain generally.
  "In the spring of 1846, Thomas R. Spear  came to study with me,
and hearing me converse upon the subject, he said he had inhaled
ether  at the  Lexington Academy, where  he  was educated,  and de-
scribed  to me its effects.   This  increased my  interest in the subject,
and I determined, as soon as the pressure  of  the spring  business was
over,  to devote myself to it.   In the mean time I tried an experiment
upon  a water spaniel, inserting his head in a jar having sulphuric ether
at the bottom.   This was done in the presence of two  persons at my
house in West Needham, where I  reside during the summer months.
After breathing the vapor for some  time,  the dog completely wilted
down in my hands.  I then removed the jar.  In about three minutes
he  aroused, yelled loudly, and  sprung some ten feet into  a  pond of
water.
  " Immediately after this experiment, I waited on Dr.  Granville G.
Hayden, a young dentist, told him my purpose, and made an agree-
ment with  him to come to my office and take  charge of my business,
that  I might  devote  myself more exclusively to  this subject.  The
agreement, was drawn by R. H. Dana, jr., esq., to whose letter in the
appendix I take the liberty to refer  the academy  in this connection.
As  soon as Dr. Hayden  became acquainted with my business, I began
to  devote myself to  my experiments.  I inhaled  some  chloric  ether
and morphine, the effect of which was drowsiness followed  by lassi-
tude  and headache.
  " Early  in August I asked Dr. Hayden  to procure me a four-ounce
phial of sulphuric ether  from Mr. Burnett, a druggist much relied upon
by  chemists.   He did so, and I tried  to induce him to take it.   As he
declined, I took half of it into the country to try again upon my dog.
Just as I had got it ready, the dog sprang and threw over the jar.  I
felt vexed, and resolved to take it myself, and  did so, the next day, at
my office.   I inhaled from my handkerchief all the  ether that was
left, but was not completely lost, yet thought  myself so far insensible
that I believed that a tooth could have been drawn with but little pain
or consciousness.   I was unwilling to send to Burnett's  again for the
same  article, he being a near neighbor, and his young men well ac-
quainted with mine, lest the knowledge of  my experiments should get
abroad.  I accordingly  sent a student, William P.  Leavitt, to drug-
gists  in a different part of the city, Brewers, Stevens and Co., a firm 
14
in excellent standing, with directions to get sulphuric ether.  After
some  persuasion, I induced Spear, who  had taken it at school, to in-
hale it.   He did so, and became so far insensible as to drop the hand-
kerchief, and seemed very drowsy and torpid.  As this passed off he be-
came  excited and furious, so that he had to be held down in the chair;
but this subsided, and on coming to he expressed himself delighted
with his sensations.  Leavitt then took it, with  much the same  effect.
I was much  discouraged  by  these  attempts.   The  effects produced
were not such as I sought for,  nor were the young men effected in the
same manner that I had been,  and as I observed the dog to be.   They
were much more excited, and less insensible.   Yet I cannot help re-
marking, in this connection, that had this sulphuric ether been pure
and highly rectified, I should  have demonstrated its effects then, in-
stead of at the subsequent period in September.  This ether has since
been analyzed, as appears by the affidavits in the appendix, and found
to contain a large portion of alcohol, sulphur acids, and  other impuri-
ties.
  " This experiment was early in August; and it being hot weather,
and I  being somewhat out of health, I  went  into the country, and
abandoned the experiments until the  middle of September.  With  the
autumn and the restoration of  health, my ambition led me to resume
my experiments; and I mentioned to Dr. Hayden  that I feared there
was so much difference in the qualities of ether, that in so delicate a
matter there would be great difficulty in bringing about any generally
useful and reliable results.
  " Thinking that  a surer' effect might be produced by inhaling the
ether through some apparatus, I called repeatedly on Mr. Wightman,
a philosophical instrument-maker, for the  purpose of procuring or con-
triving an apparatus.   While examining  his bags for inhaling  nitrous
oxide  gas, the  thought struck  me that I could  put the ether into one
of these, and by making an opening to be closed by a  valve, for the
admission of atmospheric air, could convert it into an inhaling appara-
tus.   Upon second thought I  had an impression that ether would dis-
solve  India-rubber,  and put  the question to  Mr.  Wightman.   He
thought it would.  I then put the same  question as to  oil silk.  He
said he did not know, but advised me to consult a chemist,and named
Dr. Jackson.   I took from Mr.  Wightman a glass tunnel, purchased
an India-rubber bag on  my way, and returned to my office.   I then
sent Leavitt to Dr. Gay, a chemist, to ask the simple question  whether
ether would dissolve India-rubber.   He returned, saying that Dr. Gay
was not in.  In the mean time I became satisfied that the bottle and
glass I had were not large enough for my purposes, and, not  wishing
to go  to unnecessary expense,  I said  to Dr. Hayden that I would bor-
row a gas-bag from  Dr. Jackson's laboratory.   He then suggested to
me to ascertain from Dr. Jackson something as to the different quali-
ties and preparations of ether, with which he  said chemists were al-
ways  familiar.  I approved of the  suggestion, but feared Dr. Jackson
might guess what I was experimenting  upon,  and forestall  me.    I 
 
 
15
went to Dr. Jackson's, therefore, to procure a gas-bag, also with the
intention of ascertaining something more accurately as to the different
preparations of ether, if I should  find I could do so without setting him
upon the same track of experiment with myself.  I am aware that by
this admission I may show myself not. to have  been possessed  by the
most disinterested spirit of philosophic enthusiasm, clear of all regard for
personal rights or benefits;  but it is enough for me to say that I felt I
had made sacrifices and run risks for this object, that I believed my-
self to be close upon  it, yet where another, with better opportunities
for experimenting, availing himself of my hints and labors, might take
the prize from my  grasp.
   "1 asked  Dr.  Jackson for his gas-bag.  He told me it was in his
house.  I went for it, and returned through the laboratory.   He said,
in a laughing manner, 'Well, Doctor, you seem to be all equipped,
minus  the  gas.'  I replied, in  the same manner, that perhaps there
would  be no need of having any gas, if  the person who took it  could
only be made  to believe there was gas in it, and alluded to the story of
the man who died  from being made to believe that he was bleeding to
death,  there being  in fact nothing but water trickled  upon his leg;  but
I  had  no intention whatever of trying such a trick.  He smiled, and
said that was a good story, but added, in a graver manner, that I had
better not attempt such an experiment, lest I should be set down as a
greater  humbug than Wells was with his nitrous oxide gas.  Seeing
that here was an opportunity to open the subject, I  said in as careless
a manner as I could assume, why cannot 1 give the ether gas?  He
said that I could  do so, and spoke again of the students taking it at Cam-
bridge.   He said the patient would be dull and stupefied, that I could
do what I pleased with him, that  he would not be able to help himself.
Finding the subject open, I made the inquiries 1 wished as to the dif-
ferent  kinds and preparations of ether.   He told me something about
the preparations, and thinking  that if he had any it would be of the
purest  kind, I asked him to let me see his.  He did so, but remarked
that it had  been standing for some time, and told me that I could  get
some highly rectified at Burnett's.  As I was passing out, Dr. Jackson
followed me to the  door, and told, me that he could recommend some-
thing better than the gas-bag to administer the ether with, and gave me
a flask with a  glass tube inserted  in it.
   "1 procured the ether from Burnett's, arid, taking the tube and flask,
shut myself up  in my room, seated in the operating chair, and com-
menced inhaling.   I found the ether so strong that it partially suffo-
cated me, but  produced a decided effect.  I then saturated my handker-
chief and inhaled it from that.   I looked at my watch and soon lost
consciousness.  As I recovered, I felt a numbness in my limbs,  with a
sensation like nightmare, and would  have given the world for some
one to come and arouse  me.  I thought for a moment I should die in
that state, and that the world would only pity or ridicule my folly. At
length  I felt a slight tingling of the blood in the end of my third fin-
ger, and made an effort to touch it with my thumb, but Anuthout sue- 
16
cess.  At a second effort, I touched it, but there seemed to be no sen-
sation.  I gradually raised my arm and pinched my thigh, but I could
see that sensation was imperfect.   I attempted  to rise from  my  chair,
but fell back.  Gradually 1 regained  power over my limbs and full
consciousness.  1 immediately looked at my watch, and found  that  I
had been insensible between seven and eight minutes.
  "Delighted with the success of this experiment, I  immediately an-
nounced the result to the persons employed in  my establishment, and
waited impatiently for someone upon whom I could make a fuller trial.
Toward evening, a man, residing in Boston, whose certificate is  in the
appendix, came  in, suffering great pain, and wishing to have a tooth
extracted.  He was afraid of the operation, and asked if he could be
mesmerized.   I told  him I had  something better, and  saturating my
handkerchief, gave it to him to inhale.  He became unconscious almost
immediately.   It was dark, and Dr. Hayden held  the lamp, while  I
extracted a firmly-rooted bicuspid tooth.  There was not much altera-
tion in the pulse, and no relaxation of  the muscles.   He recovered in
a minute, and knew nothing of what had been  done  to him.  He re-
mained for some time talking about the experiment,  and I took from
him a certificate.  This was on the 30th of September, 1846.  This  I
consider to be the first demonstration of this new fact in  science. *I have
heard of no one who  can prove an earlier demonstration.  If any one
can do so, I yield to him the point of priority in time.
  "I will make a single remark  upon the subject of my interview with
Dr. Jackson.   It is not necessary to go into  the question of the origin
of all ideas.   I am ready to acknowledge my indebtedness to  men and
to books for all my information upon this subject.  I have got here a
little and there a little.   I learned from Dr. Jackson, in 1844, the  effect
of ether directly applied to a sensitive tooth, and proved, by experiment,
that it would  gradually render the nerve insensible.   I learned from
Dr. Jackson,  also, in 1844, the effect of ether when inhaled by the
students at college, which was corroborated by Spear's  account, and
by what I read.   I knew of Dr. Well's attempt to apply nitrous  oxide
gas for destroying pain under surgical operations.  I had great motives
to destroy or alleviate pain under rny operations, and endeavored to pro-
duce such a result by means of inhaling ether, inferring that if it would
render a nerve insensible, directly applied, it might, when inhaled, de-
stroy or greatly alleviate  sensibility to pain generally.   Had  the  ether
that I tried on the 5th August been pure, I should have made the de-
monstration  then.   I further acknowledge that I was  subsequently
indebted to Dr. Jackson  for valuable information as to the kinds and
preparations of ether, and  for the recommendation of  the highly  recti-
fied from Burnett's as the most safe and  efficient.   But my obligation
to him hath this extent, no further.  All that he communicated to me
I could have got from other well-informed chemists, or from some books.
He did not put me upon the experiments; and when he recommended
the highly rectified sulphuric ether, the effect he anticipated was only
that stupefaction which was not unknown, and he did not intimate in 
 
 
17
any degree a suspicion of that insensibility to pain which was demon-
strated, and astonished the scientific world.
  "As soon as the man whose tooth I extracted  left my office, I con-
sulted Dr. Hayden as to the best mode of bringing out the discovery.
We agreed it was best to announce it to the surgeons at the  hospital;
but as some time would elapse before an operation, I thought it best to
procure some assurance which would induce my patients to take it.  I
therefore called upon the man who had taken it, and found him per-
fectly well.  Thence I went to Dr. Jackson, told him what I had done,
and asked him to give me a certificate that it was harmless in its effects.
This he positively refused to do.   I then  told him I should go to the
principal surgeons  and  have the question thoroughly tried.   I then
called on Dr. Warren, who  promised me an early opportunity to try
the experiment, and soon after I received the invitation inserted in the
appendix.
  "In the mean time, I made several additional  experiments in my
office,  with  various success.   I administered  it to a boy, but it pro-
duced  no other effect than  sickness, with vomiting, and the boy was
taken home in a coach, and  pronounced by a physician to be poisoned.
His friends  were excited, and threatened proceedings against me.  A
notice  of my successful  experiment having, without my knowledge,
got into  the papers, several  persons called, wishing to have it admin-
istered.  I gave it to a  lady, but it produced  no other effect  than
drowsiness, and when breathed through the apparatus named by Dr.
Jackson, it produced suffocation.   I was obliged  to abandon this mode,
and obtaining from Mr. Wightman a conical glass tube, I inserted a
saturated sponge in the larger end, and she breathed through that.   In
this way  she seemed to be in an unnatural state,  but continued talking,
and refused to have the tooth extracted. I made her some trifling offer,
to which she assented, and I drew the tooth, without any indication  of
pain on her part, not a muscle moving.  Her pulse was at 90, her face
much flushed,  and after coming to she  remained a long time exces-
sively drowsy.   From this experiment I  became  satisfied of what is
now well proved, that  consciousness will sometimes remain after in-
sensibility to pain is removed.
   " I afterwards gave it to a Miss L., a lady of about twenty-five.  The
effect upon her was rather alarming.  She sprang up from the chair,
leaped into the air, screamed, and  was  held  down  with difficulty.
When she came to, she was unconscious  of what had passed, but was
willing to have it administered again, which I did with perfect success,
extracting two molar teeth. After this, I tried several other experiments,
some with more and some with less success, giving my principal atten-
tion to the perfecting of my modes of administering  it.
   " When the time drew near for the experiment at the hospital, I be-
came exceedingly  anxious,  and  gave all my  time,  day and night,
hardly sleeping or eating, to the contriving of apparatus, and general
investigation of the subject.
           3 
18
  "I called  on Dr. Gould, a physician who has paid much attention
to  chemistry, and told  him my anxieties and difficulties.  He sympa-
thized  with  me, gave me his attention, and we sat up nearly all night
making sketches of apparatus; he first suggesting to me an antidote in
case of unfavorable effects, and the valvular system, instead of the one
I then  used.   The  operation was to be at 10 o'clock.   I rose at day-
break,  went to Mr.  Chamberlain, an instrument-maker, and, by great
urging, got  the apparatus done just after  ten  o'clock, hurried to  the
hospital, and reached the room just as Dr.  Warren was about to begin
the operation;  he having given up all hope of my coming.   The  de-
tailed account  of this operation will be found in Dr.  Warren's commu-
nication.  There was a full attendance; the interest excited was intense,
with the most eager scrutiny of the patient.   When the operation closed,
the patient described his state, and Dr. Warren announced his belief
that there had been insensibility  to pain, my feelings may be better
imagined than described.
   "I was invited to administer it the next day, in an operation for a
tumor  performed by Dr. Haywood, and with perfect success.
   "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 1 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, 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 1 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 I gained in my business.   He then said  he should charge me
 $500.  1 told him that'I would pay him that, if ten per cent, on  the
 nett profits of  the patent amounted  to so much.  He said he was per-
 fectly  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 pay-
 ing 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 preparation and the apparatus, and we should be able to keep in
 advance of  the improvements that might be suggestd  by others.  He
 also said that  if a suit was brought, and Dr. Jackson should  be a  wit-
 ness, as he doubtless would be, the aid he had given me might be made 
 
 
19
a handle of by persons impeaching the patent to invalidate my claim
as the discoverer.  At this time the dentists had organized a formida-
ble opposition to the use of ether, and all the medical magazines in the
Union, except Boston, were arrayed 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.
   "I continued  administering the  ether in my office, and early in No-
vember I applied to Dr. Haywood for leave to administer it  in a case
of amputation, which I learned was to take place at the hospital.  Dr.
H. J. Bigelow,  in the mean time, had attended my experiments at my
office, and taking a deep  interest  in the subject, prepared a memoir,
which he read  to the Boston Society for Medical  Improvement, and
subsequently to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
   "The surgeons of the hospitals informed me that they thought it their
duty to decline the use of the preparation until informed what it was.
I immediately wrote to Dr. Warren, the senior surgeon, disclosing  the
whole matter.  The operation took place on the 7th November.  About
half an hour beforehand, Dr.  H. J. Bigelow called for me, and said he
wished me to be on the spot, in case it should be determined to admit
me.   After  remaining in the anteroom  for  some  time, it was re-
solved by the surgeons to  permit  the experiment, and I administered
the  ether with perfect success.  This was the first amputation,  lwill
also remark that Dr. Jackson was absent from the city at this time,
and knew nothing of the  operation.
   " On  the 2lst November, I administered the ether in an operation for
a tumor, at  the Bromfield  House,  in  the presence of a number of
medical gentlemen, among whom I noticed  Dr. Jackson.   This was
the first time he had seen it administered, and no one but myself had
administered it in Boston or  elsewhere, to my knowledge.  In this
instance, Dr. Jackson appeared merely as  a spectator.  On the 2d
January,  1847, he did the first act indicating to the surgeons that he
had any interest in the subject.   On that day, he  called at the hospi-
tal, with some  oxygen gas, as an antidote for asphyxia,  which he
heard was produced by the ether.  But before this time, the surgeons
had satisfied themselves that asphyxia was not produced.   With the
single exception of an intimation to Dr. Warren, which was after its
 establishment  at the hospital,  and which appears in his communica-
 tion, none of the surgeons, or other persons engaged in these experi-
 ments, had received any idea from Dr. Jackson himself, or from his
 conduct, that he  was in  any way connected iqith this  discovery, re-
 sponsible for the use of the preparation, entitled to the credit of its
 success, or liable to the odium ofits failure.
   "If death  or serious injury had occurred to any one, Dr. Jackson
 could not have been  in  the least degree implicated.  It was not until
 danger  was over, and success certain, until the discovery had arrested 
20
the attention of the world, until the formidable opposition of the dentists
and of all the  medical magazines and societies in other places had be-
come powerless, that Dr. Jackson began  to involve himself in it, and
that his claim  to have anticipated the effects, and communicated them
to me, was brought forward.
  "On the 19th October, as soon as I felt confident of success, I ad*
dressed a note  to my former partner, Dr. Wells, informing him of what
I had done, and asking him to come lo Boston, and assist me in bring-
ing the discovery into use in dentistry.  He replied  by the letter in the
appendix, of October 20, 1846,   He came to Boston, saw several ex-
periments in my office,  expressed himself alarmed, said I should kill
some one yet,  and  break myself up in my business.   He left abruptly,
but without intimating a claim to the discovery, although he could re-
cognise the ether, and was  freely told that it was ether.   1 have also
the authority of Dr. Warren and Dr. Haywood, for saying that no
allusion was made by Dr.  Wells to ether, to their knowledge, when
he made his experiment in Boston, in 1844-'5.
  " I am aware that a communication to an institution whose objects
are scientific, and not personal, gives me no right to argue the question
of my own claim to a discovery, in  opposition to the claims of others.
I have endeavored to slate no  facts but such as fairly illustrate the his-
tory of this demonstration.  !f these have  any bearing upon the claims
of others, 1 am entitled to the benefit  of the effect.  But this memoir
is not intended to present the whole of my  comparative rights, as against
the claims of  Dr.  Jackson or Dr. Wells.   If a tribunal were opened
for such a discussion, I would most, cheerfully prepare for the hearing,
and submit myself  to the judgment of any enlightened umpire.  I have
proposed such  a course to Dr.  Jackson, who has declined it.
  " In justice  to myself, I should say, that I took out my patent early,
before I realized how extensively  useful the  discovery would  be; and
beside the motive of profit and  remuneration to myself, I was advised
that it would be well to restrain so powerful an agent, which  might be
employed for  the  most  nefarious purposes.  I gave free  rights to all
charitable institutions, and  offered  to sell the right to surgeons and
physicians for  a very small price, such as no one could object to pay-
ing,  and reasonably  to  dentists.  I  had  little doubt  that the proper
authorities would take it out of private  hands, if  the public good re-
quired it, making the discoverer, who had risked reputation, and sacri-
ficed time and  money, such a compensation as justice required.  But
as the use has  now become general, and almost necessary, I have long
since abandoned the sale of rights, and the public use the ether freely;
and I believe  I  am the only person in the world  to whom  this dis-
covery has, so far,  been  a pecuniary loss.
       " Most  respectfully, your obedient servant,
                                        " W. T. G. MORTON.
  " Boston,  (U. S. A.,) July 31, 1847." 
 
e 
21
                          CHAPTER III.
                                #
  This unadorned  narrative  of Dr.  Morton's  studies, his difficulties,
and the energy with which he triumphantly surmounted every obstacle
until the success of his  glorious discovery was established, is substan-
tiated in every point by a mass of unimpeachable testimony.   The
reports of Congressional committees, the official publications of the
Massachusetts General Hospital, of the American Medical Association,
and of other eminent scientific institutions; the able papers on the sub-
ject  drawn  up by  Doctors Warren, Bowditch,  Bigelow, Haywood,
Edwards, Fries, and other distinguished members of the medical and
surgical  professions;  the  elaborate  arguments  of  Messrs.  Webster,
Choate,  Curtis, Dana, Carlisle, and  other eminent lawyers;  with vol-
umes of affidavits, narratives, statements, and letters, all endorse every
sentence of  Dr. Morton's "unvarnished  tale," and hallow it with the
undeniable stamp of truth.  Fortunate is it that the facts attendant as
the discovery of so priceless a boon were inscribed on something more
exact and more durable  than  mere human memory.
  The testimony of many of  the prominent champions of Dr. Morton's
well-earned fame will be alluded to in the chronological order in which
it appeared, but we will give here the prominent features of. the evi-
dence  upon  which the  Massachusetts General  Hospital founded  its
verdict.  The first successful  operation was performed by Dr. Morton
at his own rooms on the  evening of September 30, 1846, when he
claims to have made "the  first demonstration  of this new fact  in
science!"  Yet it was at the  Hospital that the first public exhibition of
this pain-destroying power was  made, and where its effects were first
witnessed by an admiring audience.   This fact  made the trustees of
the Corporation a fitting tribunal for  the subsequent investigation of
the honor of discovery, for they possessed (to.use the words of Daniel
Webster) "every facility  for  ascertaining all the facts in the case."
They knew Dr. Jackson, as a member of the medical faculty, and had
but slight if any acquaintance  with Dr. Morton, who was comparatively
unknown to fame.  Yet this board, composed  of  gentlemen whose
names would do honor to any scientific institution, presently, after the
discovery, near the  time  and  at the  place where it occurred, gave by
an unanimous voice its honor to Dr. Morton.
  The contemporary papers upon which this decisive verdict was given
are worthy of a place in this biography,  and supersede the necessity of
thousands of pages, substantiating the simple fact which they so clearly
prove, viz:  that Dr. Morton, having verified his discovery, presented
it to the world, proving  that ether would produce insensibility to pain,
and that it could be administered with safety.  We first give  a copy of
the  letter written by Dr. Haywood, at the request of Dr. Warren, in-
viting  Dr. Morton  to attend at the fi/st of the above-named surgical
operations, and administer to  the patient: 
22
  "Dbar Sir : I write at the request of Dr. J. C. Warren, to invite you to be present on
Friday morning at 10 o'clock at the hospital, to administer to a patient who is then to be
operated upon the preparation which you have invented to diminish the sensibility to pain.
                            Yours, respectfully,
                                           C. F.  HAYWOOD,
                       "House Surgeoli to the General Hospital, October 14th, 1346.
  "Dr. Morton, Tremont Rowf
  A graphic account of this initial operation is given in the deposition
in perpetuam of Dr. A. A. Gould, before a commission  appointed to
receive testimony in 1852.   Dr. Gould  is well known as a gentleman
of high scientific attainments,  a member of the American Academy of
Arts and  Sciences, the  American Philosophical  Society, the Academy
of Natural  Sciences, of Philadelphia; the Boston  Society of Natural
History, and others on this  continent, with the Imperial Mineralogical
Society of St. Petersburg, and other foreign  literary  institutions.   He
was one of the first to whom Dr. Morton confided  his discovery, and,
learning that a public experiment was to be performed, was at the  hos-
pital to witness it.   Dr. Warren, as  he  states  in his  testimony, " was
about  to  commence the  operation.    He  suddenly rose and  turned to
those present, and said that he had  promised to allow Dr. Morton to
give something which  he thought would prevent pain, and he would
wait.  In about ten minutes Dr. Morton appeared.   He  administered
the  ether.   All looked  incredulous,  especially as the man became
at first exhilarated; but  suddenly  the  anaesthetic  effect took place.
This ocasioned  a start of  surprise  from  all present.   Dr. Morton
coolly informed  Dr. Warren that his patient was ready.   The opera-
tion was performed, which  was the removal of  a  tumor  from  the
jaw.  I recollect [stated Dr. Gould] one other incident.   Previous to
the operation, Dr. Warren, having waited ten or fifteen minutes, again
turned  to those present and said: 'As Dr. Morton has not arrived, I
presume he is otherwise engaged;' apparently  conveying  the idea that
Dr. Morton  did  not intend to appear.   The remark  of  Dr. Warren
brought out  a great laugh.   Dr. Warren then sat down to his patient.
Just as he raised his knife Dr. Morton appeared."
   The importance of  this  first  public case  of ethereal inhalation in-
duces  us to copy the  record of it on  the books of the Massachusetts
General Hospital.  A  copy was procured by Dr.  Warren, who  thus
endorsed its correctness:
  " This case ia remarkable in the annals of surgery.  It was the first surgical operation
performed under the influence of ether.  Dr. Warren had been applied to by Dr. Morton,
a dentist, with the request that he would try the  inhalation of a fluid, which he said he
had found to be effectual in preventing pain during operations on the teeth.   Dr. Warren
having satisfied himself that  the breathing of the fluid would be harmless, agreed to em-
ploy it when an opportunity presented.  None occurring in private practice within a day
or two, he determined  to use it on this patient.
  " Before the  operation began, some time was  lost in waiting for  Dr. Morton, and ulti-
mately it was thought he would not appear.   At length he arrived,  and explained his de-
tention by informing Dr. Warren  that he had been occupied in preparing his apparatus,
which consisted of a tube connected with a glass globe.  This apparatus he then proceeded
to apply, and after four or five minutes the patient appeared to be asleep, and the operation
was performed as above described. To the surprise of Dr. Warren and the o.her gentle-
men present, the patient did not shrink nor cry out; but during the insulation of the veins 
 
 
23
he began to move his limbs and utter extraordinary expressions.  These movements
seemed to indicate the existence of pain, but after he had recovered his faculties he said he
had experienced none, but only a sensation like that of scraping the part with a blunt in-
strument, and he ever after continued to say he had not felt any pain.  The result of this
operation led to the  repetition of the use of .ether in other ca^es, and in a few days its
success was established, and its use resorted to in every considerable operation in the city
of Boston and its vicinity."
   The government of the Massachusetts General  Hospital certainly
manifested a liberality of spirit in thus permitting  Dr. Morton to submit
his discovery to the test of public experiment.  Many such discoveries
had failed—indeed it is seldom that one has  ever thus appeared in the
full glory of perfection at the first trial—and to be a party to the intro-
duction of an unknown remedial agent is contrary to  the almost un-
deviating laws of professional etiquette.  Indeed, it is evident  that
nothing but  the personal  acquaintance of Dr. Warren  and the other
surgeons, with Dr. Morton, could have inspired them with sufficient
confidence in him  to warrant their introduction of his discovery.  They
did  not know it, but they knew him, and it is clearly evident  that his
deportment, while attending  the lectures of the institution, must have
impressed them  with a conviction that he  was not only master of what
he so  confidently announced,  but that he  had that scientific knowledge
which was a guarantee that no evil consequences would follow his ex-
periments.   The reputation  of the  institution, or of those gentlemen
who sustained that reputation by their professional ability, would not
have been perilled by admitting any one who did not enjoy their con-
fidence, by possessing scientific  and  professional claims  to their  con-
 sideration.   And they had an endorsing  proof of Dr. Morton's claim
 to their attention, in personal deportment during the ordeal, thus carried
on before those so recently his professors and his fellow students.  Well
did one of the officiating surgeons, Dr.  Bigelow, remark, (in his testi-
mony before the commission,) " that new experiments, and many of
them, were to be made.   Great probable danger was to be encountered
and great responsibility assumed; even to the   extent that,  had  Dr.
Morton  killed somebody  with the new agent, of which Sir Benjamin
Brodie, long after, said that  'it  had killed Guinea pigs, and  that the
great  question was, whether  it was safe; he would very likely have
 been indicted for manslaughter, in rashly and igiiorantly experimenting
 with an unknown agent.' "
   An unknown  agent!  This veil of secresy, which was merely dropped
 around  the  discovery to keep it out  of  the hands of those who might
 abuse it, Dr. Morton promptly raised for all who were  entitled to the
 benefit of his long researches, in order to  give it the stamp of their rep-
 utation, and thus convince the world of its value.  Luckily for suffer-
 ing humanity, he was not disposed to act on the principle of conceal-
 ment, in order to make terms for any recompense  proportionate to the
 merit of  his discovery,  but, in the following correspondence  with Dr.
 Warren, offered to communicate  the precious information, that there
 need  be no professional obstacle to its further verification: 
24
                                                       Boston, Alv. Elh, 1846.
  Dear Sir: As it may sometimes be desirable that surgical operations should be performed
at the Massachusetts General Hospital under the influence of the preparation employed by
me for producing  temporary insensibility to pain, you will allow me, through you, to offer
to the hospital the free use of it for all  the hospital operations.  I should be pleased to give
to the surgeons of the  hospital any  information, in addition to what  they now possess,
which they may (hink desirable in order to employ it with confidence.   I will also instruct
such persons as they may select, connected with the hospital, in the mode of employing it.
This information, I  must request, should be regarded as confidential, as I wish for ample
time to make such modifications as experience  may suggest in its exhibition.  It is also
my intention to have persons suitably  instructed, who will go wherever desired, for a rea-
sonable compensation, and administer  it for private operations; thus enabling any surgeon
to employ it in his private practice whenever he may have occasion.   I think  you will
agree with me that this will be  wiser until its merits are fuller established, than to put it
into the hands of everybody, thereby bringing discredit upon the preparation by its injudi-
cious emplpy ment.  Should you wish me to administer at any of the operations to-morrow,
I shall do so with pleasure; and should the above proposition  be deemed worthy of being
entertained, I shall be ready to make the arrangement as soon as informed of your wishes.
                                                       W.  T.  G. MORTON.
  Dr. Warren.
  Dear Sir: I beg leave to acknowledge the reception of your polite letter.   I shall lose
no time in laying it before the surgeons of the hospital.
                           1 remain respectfully, yours,
                                                           J. C. WARREN.
  Park Street, November 6th.

   To complete the chain of evidence, we  also insert two other notes
written  December 11th, 1846, one by Dr.  Haywood, at the request of
Dr. Warren; the other by  Dr.  Warren himself;  both relative  to an  op-
eration  to be  performed on the 12th; also, a certificate of Dr.  Warren,
of  January 16th, 1847:

  "Sir: I am requested by Dr. Warren to ask you, if convenient to yourself, to administer
your preparation to a patient from whom a part of the upper jaw is to be removed.   The
operation will be done by Dr. Warren to-morrow at 11 a. m.
                "Yours, &c,                            C.  F.  HAYWOOD,
                                             "M. G. Hospital, December  11,1846.
  "Dr. Morton, Tremojd Row."
  "Dr. Morton—Dear Sir: I inclose a note which I have just received from Dr. Brown.
I think there would be a propriety in granting his request.  There will be an operation at
the hospital to-morrow at 11 o'clock, at which I shall be glad to have your aid, if perfectly
convenient.
                               "Truly, yours,               J. C. WARREN.
  "2 Park Street, December 11."
                                                     "Boston, January 6,1847.
  "I hereby declare and certify, to the best of my knowledge and recollection, that I never
heard of the use of sulphuric ether by inhalation as a means of preventing the pain of sur-
gical operations, until it was suggested by Dr.  Morton in the latter part of October, 1846.
                                                    "JOHN  C. WARREN,
                             "Professor of Anatomy and Surgery of the
                                                Massachusetts General Hospital."

   By these operations, performed  by Dr.  Morton  at his own rooms, at
private houses, and at the  public  hospital, a  profound  impression was 
I 
 
25
made upon the public mind.  All hailed with joy the perfect success
of the ethereal vapor in  annihilating pain, its evident safety, and the
readiness of recovery from the  anaesthetic state, which resembled the
waking from a deep and quiet sleep.   "The success of the discovery,"
as Dr. William H.  Bissell remarks in his able report,  " was estab-
lished;  Boston, its native city, was proud of its maternity, and  it was
about to be hailed in Europe, whither a power swifter than the winds
was wafting it  with wonder and applause.   During all this time Dr.
Morton alone claimed the discovery and conducted the  experiments.
He had staked  everything dear in life, his hopes of fortune and fame,
upon  the discovery.   He gave his  labor by day and his thoughts  by
night to the perfecting of  all that was incomplete  in  its application.
And  it was not until all was  complete  and completely verified, not
until  some time after the operation of the 2d  January, (over  three
months from  the first operation in Dr. Morton's office,) did  any rival
appear, and publicly claim the discovery, or even  a participation in
it."
  The history  of Dr. Morton's mind whilst he was meditating  upon
the probable issue of his  investigations, and carrying them to  their
final accomplishment, must have been exactly  parallel to that of Dr.
Jenner while seeking how to avert the evils of smallpox, as narrated by
Dr. John Brown. Like Jenner,  " it required a mind possessed of all
the firmness of purpose which he enjoyed to induce him to  persevere
in his pursuits." Like Jenner, " he seemed at times to feel that  it
might, in God's good providence, be his lot to stand  between (he living
and the dead, and that through him  [suffering]  might be  stayed.   On
the other side, the dread  of disappointment  and the  probability of fail-
ing to accomplish his  purpose  restrained that eagerness which other-
wise would have prompted him  prematurely to publish  the result of
his inquiries, and thereby, probably, by conveying  insufficient know-
ledge, blight forever his favorite hope."  Like Jenner, he had not been
favored with  that collegiate education  so often falsely made a requi-
site, and felt  that "should  anything untoward turn up in his experi-
ments, he should be made, particularly by his  medical brethren, the
subject of ridicule—the  mark for all to shoot at."   Like Jenner, he
"encountered numerous difficulties in carrying on the preliminary part
of his inquiry;" "but resistance and difficulty only augmented his en-
ergy,  and he resumed his labors with redoubled zeal."  And he has
stated, that, his feelings  while rambling about the  pleasant  solitudes
around his residence at  Needham were exactly those  of Dr. Jenner
when meditating in the meadows under the  castle at Berkeley.   Each
"felt the prospect before him of becoming the instrument destined to
take away from the world one of  its greatest calamities, blended  with
the fond hope  of enjoying independence,  with domestic peace and
happiness."
  The parallel  can be continued after the research of Dr. Morton had
been crowned with success; for there are no inventions "which when
made promised to have  such an  immediate and extensive influence
           4 
26
upon humanity—no discoveries elaborated by the patience, or skill, of
science of man, ever calculated to produce such consequences as those
which at this period centred in  the hearts of Jenner" and of Morton.
Each at that particular epoch "had it  in  his power to impart  know-
ledge, the advantages of which might be rendered as manifest and pal-
pable'as they  were universal."  Each "felt a great struggle within
him how to  conduct himself."  And it can  be said  of each that " in
this, certainly  one of the  most trying  emergencies that  ever occurred
in the life of any man, he was enabled to conduct himself with all the
prudence, all the  generosity and caution that befitted an  individual to
whom  such  high  things were committed.  He was not  led away by
selfish feelings; neither was he elated by pride nor vain-glory, nor hur-
ried beyond  propriety by over-eagerness and zeal."
   What proof of this peculiar state of Dr. Morton's  mind, correspond-
ing with the magnitude of the occasion, yet  unostentatious  and unas-
suming, is to be found in the  account of the  first experiment  at the
General Hospital.  The faculty and students, knowing that his discov-
ery was to be tested, had assembled in full force, many of them doubt-
less expecting to  witness  another edition of failure to produce anass-
thesia.   The patient to whom  the unknown narcotic anodyne was to
be administered was, naturally, much  excited; a large  tumor was to
be removed  from  his  neck, and he dreaded the operation  with great
horror.   Dr. Morton, detained  at the apparatus-maker's, was tardy, but
finally  arrived, breathless,  and radiant with hope.   He applied the ap-
paratus—the patient sank into a state of insensibility—and all watched,
with breathless anxiety,  the adroit hand of the venerable operator.
"When the  operation closed," says Dr. Morton, "the patient described
his case, and Dr.  Warren  announced  his belief that there  had been
insensibility  to pain.   My feelings  may  be  better  imagined than de-
scribed."
   The testimony of several of the  eminent medical gentlemen who
witnessed this public inaugural  experiment, cannot  but be of interest;
showing, as it does, that Dr. Morton was  thoroughly familiar with his
new agent, and certain that it would be effectual, yet was neither arro-
gant nor forward.   We extract it from their depositions, in perpetuam,
taken in Boston, in 1852,  by a commission specially appointed for that
purpose, under the statutes of the commonwealth of Massachusetts.
   Dr. John  C. Warren stated that—"It was the first successful opera-
tion I ever witnessed under the effect  of  an  anaesthetic agent, and the
first of the kind 1 have known."  The anaesthetic agent "was adminis-
tered by Dr. Morton."  And when asked:  "Did you ever meet with
any case of unsuccessful  administration by Dr. Morton?"  he replied,
"No;  the etherizations were more or less perfect  in different cases.
At first, we  were very much puzzled with these variations in the effect
of ether, but soon came to understand that they were  only different
degrees of anaesthesia."
   Dr.  J.Mason Warren,  when asked  how  Dr. Morton  administered
the ether, "as regards care, skill, and success," replied:  "He admin-
istered it very carefully, and judiciously,  and effectively." 
 
 
27
  Dr. A.  A. Gould's account of the  first experiment is already given
en a former page.  When asked if Dr. Morton administered the ether
"with reasonable skill, care, and success, or how otherwise," replied:
"In every case in which I saw him administer it, he did it so."
  Dr. S.  D. Townsend, when similarly questioned, replied, that  Dr.
Morton's  conduct "was very  proper  and cautious  in  the  use of the
ether."  He "considered Dr. Morton  as  the only man who had any-
thing to do with it."
  "Dr. Morton conducted his experiments," testified Dr. Henry J.
Bigelow,  "in  a methodical,  straight-forward, routine manner,  and
successfully."
  With these impressions of Dr. Morton and of his  discovery, it is not
strange  that  these eminent men at once  became his champions,  and
that their colleagues were equally enthusiastic.   Dr. O.  W. Holmes,
who is alike  the favorite of science and of the Muses, thus vividly de-
scribed its beneficent effects, in his introductory lecture, delivered before
the Medical class of Harvard  University, Nov. 3, 1847:  "The knife
is searching  for  disease—the  pulleys are dragging  back dislocated
limbs—nature herself is working out  the primal curse which doomed
the tenderest of her creatures to the sharpest of her trials—but the fierce
extremity of  suffering has been steeped in the waters of forgetfulness,
and the deepest furrow in the knotted brow of agony has been smoothed
forever."
  Again,  and for the last  time here, we continue the parallel between
Dr. Morton  and Dr. Jenner.   The friends of the latter, who met him
at Rudhall in 1797, were like the surgeons of the Massachusetts Gene-
ral Hospital—" Deeply  interested in the investigation, they listened to
all the details with jealous ears; they sat in  judgment on the  work,
and did honestly and  kindly acquit them  of their duty.  Their judg-
ment approved, their most benevolent feelings were  gratified, and it
only remained for them  to applaud their friend, who then stood before
them in a situation more truly interesting than they could express,  and
to urge him on his path  by encouraging him in his purpose of opening,
for the benefit of all, that stream of life and health which he had been
permitted to discover.
  "It  was a special honor to  have been associated with Jenner [or
Morton] on  such an occasion.   The  mind, in  dwelling  upon occur-
rences of  this kind, naturally seeks for parallels in the  histories of the
lives of eminent men in other times.  But the situation of Jenner [or
Morton] scarcely admits of illustrations of this sort; he seemed to hold
in his hand one of the  'gates of death,' and to him it seemed to be
given to close it.
  " When Columbus, by his judicious study of cosmography, antici-
pated the discovery of another hemisphere—when Newton beheld  the
hosts of heaven yielding up the secret of their movements to  his patient
and sublime researches—when  Bacon, in the well-founded reliance on
his almost superhuman  powers, took a flight over the  heads of men,
and, with perfect confidence, looked forward  to a far-distant age for the 
28
blossom and the fruits of that intellectual seed which he  had so abun-
dantly scattered—the inward gratification derived from the conscious^
ness that truth  and wisdom were to be imparted through  them to their
fellow-mortals, and that the ultimate result would be felt in beneficial
consequences to every class of society, doubtless imparted a joy and
satisfaction to their souls of the most gratifying description."
  "But if discoveries"—Jenner'a  biographer goes on  to say, and we
can well adopt  his conclusion—" if discoveries  are to be estimated by
their power of ministering to the benefit of man, which, of all  those
that have most distinguished  their authors, can be compared with that
of which  we are now treating?"   Dr. Morton's name will ever stand
inscribed in bold relief upon the temple of fame, and suffering human-
ity  will "rise up and call him blessed."
                          CHAPTER IV.

  Having traced  the  progress of Dr. Morton's discovery, it is neces'
sary, in order to show its important value, to give a historical sketch of
the unsuccessful attempts to annihilate pain, prepared for a report sub-
mitted to the thirty-second Congress  by a select committee, of which
Dr. W. H. Bissell, of Illinois, was  chairman.  Independent of  the
valuable historical information which is thus collaborated, this elucida-
tion of the  impotent  infancy of "Anaesthesia"  adds to  Dr. Morton's
fame, by conclusively showing that he was the first to secure the boon
for which (he ancients and the  moderns have alike sought—a boon
which, as the " last best gift  to man," entitles him to the everlasting
gratitude of the human race.
   " Intense pain  is regarded by mankind, generally,*as  so serious an
evil that it would have been  strange, indeed,  if efforts had  not been
early  made to diminish this species of suffering.  The use of the juice
of the poppy, henbane, mandragora,  and other  narcotic  preparations,
to effect this object by their deadening influence, may be traced back
till it  disappears in the darkness of a  highly remote antiquity.   Intoxi-
cating vapors were also employed, by  way of inhalation, to produce
the same  effects as drugs of this nature introduced  into  the stomach.
This,  appears from the account given  by Herodotus,  of the practice of
the Scythians, several  centuries  before  Christ, of using  the vapor of
hemp seed as a means of drunkenness.   The  known means of stupe-
faction were very early resorted to, in order to counteract pain produced
by artificial causes.  In executions, under  the horrible form of  cruci-
fixion, soporific mixtures were administered to alleviate  the pangs of
the victim.  The draught of vinegar and gall, or myrrh, offered  to the
Saviour in his agony, was the ordinary tribute of human sympathy
extorted from the bystander by the spectacle of intolerable anguish.
   That some lethean anodyne might  be found to assuage the  torment
of surgical operations  as they were  anciently performed, cauterizing 
\
» 
 
29
the cut surfaces, instead of tying  the arteries, was not only a favorite
notion, but it had been in some degree, however imperfect, reduced to
practice.  Pliny, the naturalist, who perished in the eruption of Vesu-
vius, which entombed the city of  Herculaneum, in  the year 79, bears
distinct and decided testimony to this fact.
   "It has a soporific power," says  he  in his description  of the plant
known as the mandragora or circeius—"it has a soporific power on the
faculties of  those who drink it.   The  ordinary potion is  half a cup.
It is drunk against, serpents, and before cuttings and puncturings, lest
they should be  felt."   (Bibitur et contra serpentes, et ante sectiones,
punctionesque,  ne sentiantur.)
   When he comes to speak of the plant eruca, called by us the rocket,
he informs us that its seeds, when drank, infused in  wine, by criminals
about to undergo the lash, produce  a certain callousness or induration
of feeling, (duritiam quondam contra sensum induere.)
   Pliny also asserts that  the stone Memphitis, powdered  and  applied
in a liniment with vinegar, will stupefy parts to be cut or cauterized,
"for it so paralyses the part that it feels no pain; neesentit cruciatum."
   Dioscorides,  a Greek  physician  of Cilicia, in Asia, who was born
about the time  of Pliny's death,  and who wrote an extensive work on
the materia medica, observes,  in his chapter on mandragora—
   1.  " Some boil down the roots in wine to a third part, and preserve
the juice thus procured, and give  one cyathus of it in sleeplessness and
severe pains,  of whatever part;  also,  to cause the insensibility—to
produce the anaesthesia, {poiein anaisthesian)—of those who are to be
cut or cauterized.''
   2.  " There is prepared, also, besides the decoction, a wine from the
 bark of  the root, three minae being thrown into a cask of sweet wine;
 and of this, three cyathi are  given to those who are to be cut or cau-
 terized as aforesaid—for, being thrown  into a deep sleep, they do not
perceive pain."
   3. Speaking of another variety of mandragora,  called morion, he
 observes, "medical men  use  it also for those who are  to be cut or
 cauterized."
   Dioscorides also describes the stone Memphitis, mentioned by Pliny,
 and says, that when it is powdered  and  applied to parts to be cut or
 cauterized,  they are rendered, without  the slightest danger,  wholly
 insensible to pain.  Matthiolus, the commentator on Dioscorides, con-
 firms his statement of the virtues of mandragora,  which  is repeated
 by Dodoneus.   " Wine, in which  the  roots of  mandragora has been
 steeped," says  this latter writer,  "brings on sleep, and   appeases all
 pains; so that it is given to those who are to be cut, sawed, or  burned
 in any  parts of their body, that they may not perceive pain."
   The  expressions used by  Apuleius,  of  Madaura,  who flourished
 about a  century after  Pliny, are  still  more remarkable than those
 already quoted  from  the older authors.   He says, when treating of
 mandragora: " If any one is  to have a member mutilated, burned, or
 sawed, {mutilandum, comburendum, vel serrandum,) let him drink 
30
half an ounce with wine, and let him sleep till the member is cut
away,  without any pain or sensation,  {et tantum dormiet, quovsque
abscindatur membrum aliquo sine dolore et sensu.")
  It was not in Europe and in  Western Asia alone that  these early
efforts to discover some letheon were made, and atttended with partial
success.  On the opposite side of the continent, the Chinese, who have
anticipated the Europeans in so many important inventions—as in gun-
powder, the mariner's compass, printing, lithography,  paper money, and
the use of coal—seem  to have been quite as far in advance  of the occi-
dental  world in  medical science.  They understood, ages  before they
were introduced into  Christendom, the use of substances containing
iodine  for  the cure of  the goitre;  and employed spurred rye, ergot, to
shorten dangerously prolonged labor in  difficult accouchinents.  Among
the therapeutic  methods confirmed by  the experience of thousands of
years,  the records of which they  have preserved with religious venera-
tion, the employment of an anaesthetic  agent,  to paralyze the nervous
sensibility before performing surgical operations, is distinctly set forth.
Among a considerable number of Chinese works on the pharmacopaeia,
medicine, and surgery, in the National  Library at Paris, is one entitled
Kou-kin-i-tong, or general collection of ancient and modern medicine,
in fifty volumes quarto.  Several  hundred biographical notices of  the
most distinguished physicians in China  are prefixed to this work. The
following  curious passages  occur  in the  sketch of  the  biography of
Hoa-tho, who flourished under the dynasty of  Wei, between the years
220 and 230 of our era: " When  he determined that it was necessary
to employ acupuncture, he applied it  in  two  or three places; and so
with the moxa, if that was indicated by the nature of the  affection to
be treated.  But if the disease resided in parts  upon which  the needle,
the moxa, or liquid  medicaments  could not operate—for example, in
the bones, or the marrow of the bones, in the stomach  or the intestines—
he gave the patient  a  preparation of hemp, (in the  Chinese language
ma-yo,) and after a  few moments  he became as insensible as if he had
been drunk or  dead.   Then, as the case required,  he performed
operations, incisions, or amputations, and removed  the cause  of  the
malady; then he brought together and  secured the tissues, and applied
liniments. After a certain number of days the patient recovered, without
having experienced during the operation the slightest pain.  Hoa-tho
has published, under the title of Nei-tchao-thou, anatomical plates, which
exhibit the interior of the human body, which have come down to  our
times,  and enjoy a great reputation."
   It will be noticed that the agent employed by Hoa-tho, which he calls
ma-yo, hemp  medicine, and which is called in the annals  of the later
Hans, mafo-san, or hemp-essence powder, is the extract of the same
plant mentioned by Herodotus, twenty-three centuries ago, the canuabis
Indica, the haschisch of the Arabs, which is now extensively cultivated
in Hindostan, for the  purpose of manufacturing the substance called
Bhang, to produce  a peculiar species of intoxication, at first seductive
and delicious, but  followed in its habitual use by terrible effects upon
the constitution. 
 
 
31
  Almost a thousand  years after the date of the unmistakable phrases
quoted from Apuleius, according to the testimony of William of Tyre,
and other chroniclers of the wars  for the rescue of  the holy sepulchre,
and the fascinating narrative of Marco Polo, a state of anaesthesia was
induced  for  very different purposes.  It became an instrument in the
hands  of bold and crafty imposters to perpetrate and extend the most
terrible fanaticism  that the world has ever seen.
  The employment of anaesthetic agents in surgical operations was not
forgotten or abandoned during the  period when they were pressed into
the appalling service just described.  In the thirteenth century, anaesthe-
sia was produced by inhalation of an anodyne vapor, in  a mode oddly
forestalling the practices of the present day, which is thus described  in
the following passage  of the surgical treatise of Theodoric, who died in
1298.   It is the receipt for the "spongia somnifera," as it is called  in
the rubric:
  "The preparation of a scent for performing surgical operations, ac-
cording to Master Hugo.  It is made  thus:  Take of opium  and the
juice of unripe mulberry, of hyoscyamus, of the juice of the hemlock,
of the  juice of the  leaves of the mandragora, of the juice of the woody
ivy, of the juice of the forest mulberry, of the seeds of  lettuce, of the
seed of the burdock, which has large and round apples, and of the water
hemlock, each one ounce; mix the whole of these  together in a brazen
vessel, and then in it place a new sponge, and let the whole boil, and
as long as the sun  on the dog-days, till it (the sponge) consumes it all,
and let it be boiled away in it.  As often  as there is need of it, place
this same sponge  into warm water for  one hour, and let it be applied
to the nostrils till  he who is to be operated on, (qui incidendus est,)
has fallen  asleep; and in this state let the  operation be performed, (et
sic fat  chirurgia.)  When  this  is finished, in order  to rouse him,
place another dipped in vinegar, frequently to his nose, or let the juice
of the roots  of  fenigreek  be squirted into his nostrils.   Presently  he
awakens."
   A French physician, residing in the neighborhood of  Toulouse, M.
Dauriol, asserts  that, in the year 1832, he employed a method analogous
of that of Theodoric, and specifies five cases in which he succeeded in
performing painless operations.
   September 23, 1828, M. Girardin read a letter before  the Academy
of Medicine, addressed to his  Majesty Charles X,  by Mr. Hickman, a
Burgeon  of London, in which this surgeon announces a  means of per-
forming the most delicate  and most dangerous operations, without pro-
ducing pain in  the individuals submitted  to them.  This proceeding
consists  in suspending insensibility by  the methodicalintroduction of
 certain gases into  the lungs.   Mr.  Hickman had tested hisp roceedings
by repeated experiments on animals.
   Guy de Chauliac and Brunus are the only authors on  medicine and
surgery, besides Theodoric, who, during this period, allude to  prophy-
lactic  agents to avert pain.  It may be presumed,  therefore, that their
employment was not  generally very successful.  Probably bad effects, 
32    *
such as congestion and asphyxia, and sometimes ending in death, fol-
lowed  their unskilful  empiricism.   J.  Cannappe, (he  physician  of
Francis I., in his work printed at Lyons, in 1532, Le Guidon pour les
Barbiers et les  Chirurgiens,  the  Surgeon's and  Barber's  Guide, de-
scribes the method of Theodoric  and his followers, as already given
above, and adds: "Les autres donnent opium a borie, et  fontmal,
specialement s'il est jeune; et le aperfoivent, car ce est avec une grande
bataille de vertu animale et. naturelle.  J'ai oui quilz encourent manie,
et par consequent la mort."
  Thus far had  the  superinduction of anaesthesia, as a preventive  of
pain, made its way into surgical practice  in the middle ages; and even
then it must have been  most beneficial in its influence in diminishing
the mass of human suffering.   Down to  the time when Ambrose Pare,
in the sixteenth century, suggested the application of  slender ligatures
to bleeding arteries, to  arrest the hemorrhage of surgical wounds, no
other means were employed to stem the flow of blood after capital ope-
rations, than by scorching over the raw surface with a red hot iron, or
plunging it into boiling pitch, or applying other strong potential cau-
teries.  "The horrors  of the patient, and his ungovernable cries, the
hurry of the operators and assistants, the sparkling of the (heated) irons,
and  the hissing of the blood against them, must have made terrible
scenes," says Mr. John Bell; "and surgery must, in those days, have
been a horrible  trade."
  Haller,  Deneux, and Blandin, report cases of operations performed
upon patients, under the influence of alcoholic intoxication, in obstet-
ric and other cases, without  pain; and Richerand  has  suggested that
this expedient should be employed in the management  of dislocations
difficult to be reduced.  For obvious reasons it has not been adopted
by the profession. Mesmerism, also, has  been  the subject of grave
discussions, and of some extraordinary statements, in this connection;
but, whatever may be thought of the individual oases certified by wit-
nesses, it  is not too much to say that it  is not likely ever to become a
remedy of general application.
  Opium  has in  all ages been employed to assuage pain.  Van  Hel-
mont calls it the specific gift  of the Creator.  Guy de Chauliac used
it, and many surgeons  have  followed his example in their operations.
Sassard, surgeon of the hospital de la Charite, strongly recommended
this practice in the last  century.  But the irregular action  of opium,
the excitability which  it sometimes occasions, its bad effects upon the
digestive organs and the nervous system, and the length of time during
which its influence remains, are decisive  objections to this agent.  Dr.
Esdaiile has recently experimented upon this subject at  Calcutta, but
the results are altogether unfavorable.
  Van Frieten, Juvet, and Teden, have advised that mechanical com-
pression should  be employed to prevent pain in amputations,  but this
expedient proved but partially effectual, and has serious inconveniences
which require it to be rejected without question. 
 
 
33
  The application of ice also will diminish pain under  these circum-
stances.  Baron Larry, after the battle of Eylau, found  a remarkable
insensibility in the wounded who suffered amputations, owing to the
intense cold.  The injury to the general health of  the patient is not,
however, compensated  by the imperfect and uncertain success of this
remedy.
  After the great improvement brought about by the introduction of
ligatures, the inducement to seek for a safe and effectual  nepenthe,
though still great, was vastly less than before.  No practical  advance
deserving  to be mentioned was made in this direction, until the  great
discovery of the available effects of sulphuric ether.
  This substance had been kuown since  the thirteenth century.  Its
formation was accurately described by Valerius Cordus in the sixteenth
century.   Frobenius first designated it ether, and published an account
of it in the philosophical transactions in 1730.
  Its use as a medical agent, first alluded to by Valerius Cordus, and
mentioned by Hoffman, Cullen, Alston, Lewis, and Monroe, and other
writers of the last century, has long been familiary known.   The his-
tory of its use by inhalation commenced with the pamphlet published
in 1795,  by Richard Pearson;  and several communications from the
same Dr. Pearson are to be found in the work of Dr. Beddoes on Facti-
tious Airs, published at Bristol, England, in 1796. The same work con-
tains a letter from one of Dr. Thornton's patients, giving an account of
his use of ether, by Dr. Thornton's advice, in a case of pectoral catarrh.
He says, " it gave almost immediate relief both to the oppression and
pain in the chest."  On the second  trial he inhaled two spoonsful,
with "immediate relief as before, and I very soon after fell asleep."
In  1815, Nysten, in the Dictionary of Medical Sciences, speaks of the
inhalation of ether as familiarly known for mitigating pains  in colic.
For the last fifty  years most therapeutic authors mention its use by in-
halation in  asthma,  &c,  as  Doncan,  Murray, Brande, Christison,
Pereira, Thompson, Barbier,  Wendt, Vogt, Sundelin,  <fcc   Effects
analogous to intoxication,  when ether is inhaled, are staled by American
authors, asGodman, (1822,) Mitchel, (1832,) Professor Samuel Jack-
son, (1833,) Wood & Bache, (1834,) Miller, (1846, and early in that
year.)
   Dr. John C. Warren, in his work on Etherization, says: " The gene-
ral properties of ether have been known for more than a century, and
the effect of its inhalation, in producing exhilaration and insensibility,
has been understood for many years, not only by the scientific, but by
young men in colleges and schools, and in the shop of the apothecary,
who have frequently employed it for these purposes."
  About a half a century since, Sir Humphrey Davy, who had acted as
an  assistant to Dr. Beddoes, in the commencement of his career, sug-
gested the possibility that a pain-subduing gas might be inhaled, as fol-
lows: " As nitrous oxide, in its extensive operation, appears capable of
destroying physical pain, it may probably be used with advantage dur-
ing surgical operations in which no great effusion of blood takes place;" 
34
Researches on Nitrous Oxide, p. 556.   Upon this hint, Dr. Horace
Wells, of Hartford, Connecticut, in the autumn of the year 1844, ex-
perimented with nitrous oxide gas, in the extraction of teeth; but this
gas being found on trial to be unavailable for the desired purposes, he
abandoned  his experiments in December, 1844, and tried none after-
wards.
  Late in the the autumn of 1844, Dr. E. E. Marcy, of Hartford, Conn.,
as appears from his own affidavit and that F. C. Goodrich, of Hartford,
suggested to Dr. Wells to substitute sulphuric ether for nitrous oxide,
and informed  him of its known effects,  and how to make it.  Marcy
" administered the vapor of rectified sulphuric ether in my[his] office to
a young man;  *  * * and after he had been rendered  insensible to
pain,  cut from his head an encysted tumor of about the size of an Eng-
lish walnut.  The  operation was entirely  unattended with pain."  Dr.
Marcy concluded that nitrous oxide was more safe,  equally efficacious,
and more easily administered  than ether,  and therefore to be preferred,
and retained that opinion to December, 1849.
   Dr. E. R. Smilie, of Boston, in October, 1846, asserted that he had
employed successfully an  ethereal tincture of  opium  to subdue  pain
under the knife.  He states that he applied  this tincture  by inhalation
in the spring of 1844; that he opened a serious abscess on the neck of
the late Mr. John Johnson, while  he was rendered unconscious of pain
from  the operation by this tincture.
  The  Paris Medical Gazette of March, 1846,  gives an account of
remarkable experiments performed by M. Ducos  by ether on animals,
exhibiting most of  the phenomena since witnessed in the  human body.
Sir Benjamin Brodie tried it on Guinea pigs, whom it put to sleep and
killed.  He doubted its safety.
  Notwithstanding this long series of efforts to procure a true nepenthe,
the object still seemed unattainable to the wisest and boldest  members
of the surgical profession.   Velpeau, than whom no higher authority
can be quoted, said, in 1839,  "to avoid pain in surgical operations is a
chimera which it is not allowable to pursue at the present day.   The
cutting  instrument and pain  in  operative  medicine  are  two words
which never present themselves singly to  the mind  of the patient, and
of which we must necessarily admit the  association."   Orfila, in his
Toxicology, declares absolute insensibility to pain under surgical opera-
tions  by etherization to be a discovery entirely new.   Dr. J. C. Warren
says,  "the discovery of a mode of preventing pain in surgical operations
has been an object of strong  desire among surgeons from  an early
period.   In my surgical lectures I have almost annually alluded to it,
and stated the  means which I have usually adopted for the attainment
of the object.   I have also freely declared  that, notwithstanding the
use of very large  doses of narcotic substances, this desideratum  had
never been satisfactorily obtained.  The  successful use of any article
of the materia  medica for this purpose would therefore  be hailed by me
as an  alleviation of human suffering."  Finally, Sir Benjamin Brodie,
m a discourse at St. George's Hospital, at so late a date  as October 1, 
 
 
35
 1846, alluding to  mesmerism, said, "there is  no greater desideratum
 either in medicine or surgery than  to  have the means of allaying or
 preventing bodily  pain, not only in surgical  operations, but in  other
 cases also;  but there is good reason  to  apprehend that it has not been
 reserved for the revival of animal  magnetism under a new name, (o
 accomplish that for which all physicians and surgeons have been look-
 ing in vain, from  the days of Hippocrates down to the present time."
 Testimonials like these might be multiplied indefinitely, but the names
 already quoted are of those universally recognised on both  continents
 as the most illustrious cultivators of medical science.   The desideratum
 of which Brodie despaired on the 1st of October, 1846, had been found,
 and its efficacy demonstrated within the twenty-four hours preceding
 the delivery of his  lecture.  And in a few days after, the tidings were
 borne with  the full speed  of steam  across the  Atlantic, and  dispersed
 over  Europe and Asia, which for two thousand years had been looking
 for it in vain.
   This sketch of the progress of human knowledge as to the inhalation
 of sulphuric ether  and its effects, and as  to attempts to superinduce
 anaesthesia  by various agents in  ancient and  modern  times, shows
 clearly what was and  what was  not  known  upon the subject previous
 to the investigations and experiments of Dr. Morton.   It proves that,
 until the 30th of September, 1846, it was not known that sulphuric
 ether might be inhaled in sufficient quantity to produce total insensi-
 bility to pain, under the severest surgical operations.
   The fact that other imperfect  anaesthetic agents have been used, or
 that the inhalation  of  vapors and gases had been experimented upon
 previous to  Dr. Morton's discovery, does not detract from his fame as a
 discoverer.  We are  told  that an eminent philosopher gave it as an
 axiom—:"Always examine what others reject as worthless;" and it has
 certainly been  in what seems the most inconsiderate sources,  that the
 greatest discoveries have been made.   Galileo made his great discovery
 of the use of the pendulum by watching the swinging of a chandelier;
 Columbus saw the  new world in the floating of a sea-weed; Newton
 drew most  of  his splendid  discoveries in optics from  a soap-bubble;
 Bell's discoveiy glanced into his  mind from  a diagram; Galvani's in-
 vestigations  of  the scientific subject which bears his name, were sug-
 gested by the preparation of frogs for his table; Jenner,  by observing
 dairy-maids and grooms, discovered the miraculous propertiesof vaccine
 innoculation;  and Morton, by scientific observations  upon what Pe-
 reira, and other writers whose works  he  studied, had said upon the in-
 halation of ether, transferred it from an inferior  place  in  the pharma-
 copoeia, to the fairest record of God's best gifts to man.  Simple as all
 important discoveries seem in their elements, and when they are known,
 it is undoubtedly one of the highest  faculties of the  human mind to
 strike out from the observation of common things  latent truths never
 before discerned, and  to perceive important  uses and applications in
 things trifling or hurtful.   The value of  such discoveries is not in their
intricacy, but in their applicable  utility to the human race. 
:h)
  The  fact that  philosophers might easily have been anticipated in
their discoveries,  had  other  people  had a similar scientific capacity,
should not  longer be entertained—a dull man's blunders should not be
suffered to cast  a shade over the brilliancy of genius.  Yet  in  Dr.
Morton's case, as in that of other eminent discoverers, we see how (his
prejudice is suffered to  do grievous wrong.   A fact which had  been
lying common and  at waste, floating on the very surface of daily ex-
perience, is seized upon  by some penetrating and inquisitive mind.  Its
relations to the different  branches of human  knowledge are examined
and defined; it throws a  light all around, and is a lamp  to (he feet of
(he inquirer, while he surveys other regions.   Having thus explored a
terra incognita,  up starts one and says: Sir, you have  not  the whole
merit of this discovery; I knew that such a land as you have visited
and explored, existed, for I saw it, but.  did not approach it.  Another
says: I was actually cast away upon the coast; 1  noticed  some of the
things which you have described.  I did not examine them minutely,
but I remember from your description  that such  things did exist, and
I therefore  am entitled to the merit and reward which you claim.
  A  process similar to this marked the discussions regarding the origin
of vaccination,as well as of etherization.  Thesubject had been forced
upon the attention of many individuals, but as far as they were con-
cerned, all  the information relating to it might Have  remained  in its
original  and unsatisfactory state.   All (he pretensions, therefore, of the
men who  became wise by the labors of Morton, who achieved what
they were unable to accomplish, ought, instead of detracting from his
fame, to raise it higher.
                          CHAPTER V.

  We now return to the personal history of Dr; Morton* and, having
demonstrated the long sought value  of  his discovery, will no longer
deviate from the regular course of events that took place subsequent to
his inaugural experiments.  It is a condition in the fame of men who
make (heir own reputation, that there must be a period  in  (heir past
lives lo look back upon, when their merits Were contested or denied.
The histories of Columbus, of Jenner* of Fulton, and a legion besides,
prove this  assertion.   The recollection  of the world's  contumely is
subdued  by later testimonials of triumph over malice  and ignorance,
but it  is a severe ordeal  to  pass  through.   Dr.  Morton's  memory,
perhaps,  is crowded with more of these "bitter recollections" than that
of any other man, who, by the  mere supremacy of genius, has not
only won a scientific victory, but has "stood his ground" when others
came to dispute his well-earned laurels.
  We have already shown that at the very threshold of Dr.  Morton's
discovery, he was met by an opposition at  the  Massachusetts  Medical 
 
 
37
 Hospital, that might have caused misgivings in  the  mind  of any one
 who was not thoroughly convinced that his position was invincible.  He
 had tested the safety of his discovery on himself, and had successfully
 administered it at the hospital, but the surgeons insisted upon being (to
 use the words of Dr.  Hayward) "all confident that  it might be  used
 with safety," before  they Would consent to  use it further.  Doctor
 Morton's  disinterested frankness, and the wonderful  success of his ex-
 periments, both  before and  after  communicating what the discovery
 was, disarmed this opposition, though many doubted for months after-
 wards.
   The new anaesthetic agent now received the sanction of the eminent
 gentlemen connected with  the Massachusetts General Hospital, and it
 would seem that the doubts of the most incredulous  should have been
 removed.    Dr.  Morton,  impressed  with  the value  of his discovery,
 strained every nerve to confer its blessings upon  his fellow-creatures—
 administering ether for surgical operations, perfecting his experiments,
 writing to all parts  of the country and of Europe—in short, it was said
 by R. H.  Dana, jr., that " Dr. Morton hardly knew a full night's rest,
 or a regular meal, for three months."
   Yet opponents rose up on every hand,  to thwart his  plans, and  to
 prejudice  the public against his discovery.    Among these, strange as it
 may seem, were two gentlemen (previously alluded to) who afterwards
 sought  to appropriate a share of the honor  themselves—Drs. Charles
 T. Jackson and Horace Wells!
   Caleb Eddy,  esq., a respectable Bostonian, who was at one time a
 member of the Board of Aldermen,  testified before the commission in
 1852, that, after successful experiment at  the hospital,  he asked Dr<
 Jackson if he knew that, after a person had  inhaled the ether and was
 asleep,  his flesh could be cut with a knife, without his experiencing any
 pain ?   Dr. Jackson replied : " No,  nor Morton either; he is a reckless
 man for using it as  he has !"
   Dr.  A. A. Gould,  a prominent Boston physician, whose scientific
 position has already been mentioned  in a previous chapter,  testified that
 he had  a  conversation with Dr. Jackson on the  dental operations per-
 formed  by Dr. Morton under the influence of ether,  a few days after-
 wards.  In substance, Dr. Jackson said :  " Well, let him go on with
 it; I don't care what he does with it if he don't bring my name in with
 it."  He  further testified, that he had but little conversation with  Dr.
 Jackson at the time, as he " thought he seemed to disclaim having any
 thing to do with it, further than having mentioned the article to  Dr.
 Morton."
  Peleg W. Chandler, esq., city solicitor of Boston,  and an ex-mem-
 ber of the  legislature, testified that in a conversation with Dr. Jackson,
 soon after  the  discovery, an evident impression was left on his mind
that that gentleman did not regard it  " as a settled thing, or as a  dis-
covery that was to  be any thing remarkable in itself, or one that  was
likely to be applied beneficially, in itself considered, but as rather open-
ing the door to  future investigation  in that direction, that something 
38
might hereafter be discovered that would stand the test of science and
practical experiments.   There  was an  obvious desire  not  to connect
himself, as a man of science, with it to any great extent, and he made
use of some expression of this sort  with regard to Dr. Morton,  that he
was a reckless,  dare-devil  fellow,  and  that he would  kill  somebody
yet.  I think that was his very expression."
  Joseph Burnett, esq.,  a well-known  apothecary  in Boston, testified
that in conversation at his own office  on the 20th of November,  Dr.
Jackson said :  " He apprehended danger in the  hands of those  who
used it, [ether.]  Dr. Burnett thought the remark he made was, ' they
would kill somebody with it.' "
  Edward Warren, esq., of New York, testified  that at the period of
the discovery  he was intimately acquainted with  Dr.  Jackson,  and
called on him  to ascertain the nature of the agent used, and if some ar-
rangement could not be  made by which he could  introduce it  in Eu-
rope.  "Dr. Jackson,"  testified Mr.  Warren,  "said he did not  like
to tell me what it was, and  I then  asked him why  he did not compel
Morton  to do him justice by making the secret known.  He replied by
saying that he should do so—that if ten per cent, on foreign sales, as
well as on sales made in  this country, were not allowed  him,  he should
write out to Europe and  publish  the whole thing to the world.  I urged
him to disclose the nature of the agent used, as up to this time,  (the
last of November, 1846,) it had been  studiously kept as a secret.   He
declined, saying it was  easily found out,  that the public would  soon
know all about it; and that, at any rate, if he was not properly remu-
nerated, he would blow  the whole thing up. The claim above made,
often percent., of domestic and foreign sales under the patent, was all
he  made as his interest in the  matter.  That was the  extent of his
claim, made to me up to that time.   We then had a long conversation
in reference  to the whole subject of this discovery.   I asked  him  as to
the safety of this agent.   He answered, and here I  pretend to give his
own words, that ' it should be used with the greatest care; and that it
would be very likely to injure the brain if repeated.'  He furthermore
added, that there would  be great danger in giving it for a long time on
any one occasion, or of  repeating it, as, if it were, asphyxia, coma, or
even death itself might ensue.   I then asked Dr. Jackson what share
he claimed in the discovery ?  He replied by saying,  'that the so-called
discovery was not his; that  Dr. Morton  was responsible for it; that he
was not answerable for the  results,  fearing that accidents might ensue
from the use of this compound,' and that, therefore,  he would refer me
to Dr. Morton  for further information.  What I have stated above is
the substance of a long conversation I had with him at that time, so far
as I can recollect it.   I  recollect very distinctly what  I have stated."
  While Dr. Jackson was thus expressing his want of confidence in the
new discovery, and refusing his sanction to Dr.  Morton, denouncing
him as a "reckless, dare-devil fellow,  who  would kill somebody yet,"
the object of his detraction wrote to his  old  partner,  then»in  Hartford,
endeavoring to enlist his assistance in  disseminating a knowledge of 
 
 
39
 anaeslhesia.  In reply to this letter, (which was written on the 19th of
 October,) Dr. Wells promised to come, but in such a manner as clearly
 shows that he had never been aware of the anaesthesial effects of ether.
 He accordingly visited Dr.  Morton, but was quite dissatisfied with the
 experiments which he witnessed with the ether.  He advised Dr. Mor-
 ton to abandon them, telling him that their operation  would be uncer-
 tain,  limited, and  attended  with danger, and of no practical utility to
 justify the expense.  He declined attending any surgical operation, and
 evidently considered the  whole  affair a "humbug," advising Dr. Mor-
 ton to sell licenses, and make as much money as he could out of it
 while the excitement lasted. " Very like the advice (said the honorable
 I. P. Walker, of the United States Senate)  which he  had  given to
 Dr. Cooley,  as to the use  he should make of the nitrous oxyde.  He
 was evidently impressed with the belief that the success of  Dr. Morton's
 anaesthetic agent depended also, to some extent, on the mental prepa-
 ration of his patients."   This is also the view  taken of the impression
 on the  mind of  Dr. Wells,  during  his visit, by R.  H. Eddy, esq., as
 will appear by reference to  his affidavit in the Congressional report.
   It was, doubtless, painful to  Dr.  Morton to have a discovery treated
 as fabulous, or hazardous, of the truth of which he had satisfied him-
 self by rigid and patient inquiry.  But the firmness and decision of his
 character not only sustained  him during this desertion of those who had
 professed  friendship, but appeared to stimulate him to increased zeal
 in his cause.   "Letters," says  R. H. Dana, jr., esq.,  "came  pouring
 in upon Dr. Morton from all parts of the country.    He has shown the
 editor of this work ten bound volumes, containing about  2,000 letters
 received by him on this subject, between Oct., 1846, and July, 1847,
 some of them coming from distant lands, filled with queries. He was
 obliged  to employ a secretary to answer these  communications, to in-
 crease his accommodations at great  expense; his  dental business was
 neglected, and he risked all, labored, expended health, time, and mo-
 ney on  this discovery.  He issued  circulars, giving detailed accounts
 of the experiments, and kept a minute journal of  events, experiences,
 and suggestions."  And he even sent instruments  to  Velpeau, Blan-
 din, Jobert, Ricord, Maisonneuve, and other eminent  Paris surgeons,
 with full instructions, and requests to send  him  accounts of their exper-
 iments, that he might promulgate them.
   By his unremitting personal exertions, without  any regard  to  the
 opposition manifested, Dr. Morton soon had the satisfaction of finding
 that  his discovery was gaining foothold,  and it  would naturally be
 supposed that he would have been honored as a benefactor of his race,
 who had conferred a priceless  boon upon suffering humanity.  But,
 while he received  many congratulations from  the  great and the good,
 his success awakened the envy and excited the jealousy of some of his
professional brethren.  Among these, a Dr. J. F. Flagg appears  to
have stood alone in his "bad eminence."  He at once commenced a
terrible onslaught upon  the  new application of ether, and (more terri-
ble still) upon the hapless discoverer.   But not succeeding in his first 
40
 attempts in crushing the young Hercules in its cradle, and the eclat of
 the thing still spreading, he at length  excited his brother dentists to
 arouse and array themselves in order of  battle.   Accordingly, early in
 December, a meeting of Boston dentists was called, and a committee
 of twelve appointed, (with Dr. Flagg at its  head,) to make a formal
 protest against anaesthesia.
  This organized and systematic opposition made a formal appeal to
 the public against Dr. Morton's discovery through the newspapers.  A
 "manifesto"  (which  remains as  a  monument  to perpetuate  their
 malice) was published by them in the Boston Daily Advertiser of De-
 cember 12, 1846, and professed to give a large number of instances in
 which experiments  had failed or produced unfortunate effects, though
 not a single name was given.   Some of these pretended sufferers were
 represented to be young ladies, who, after having inhaled ether, had
 left Dr. Morton's office delirious, and had  remained  in  that state for
 several days, with bleeding at the lungs, melancholy, and other dread-
 ful  results.  This authoritative proclamation was spread broadcast over
 the country, presenting a most serious obstacle to Dr. Morton's agents
 sent abroad to promulgate his discovery, and  it was quoted by the oppo-
 nents of (he utility  and safety of etherization, as  evidence, while the
 advocates were troubled by doubts.  The voluminous correspondence
 of Dr. Morton shows, that for months he must have endured the daily
 annoyance of receiving  long letters, elicited  by this dentists' circular.
 Some wrote to him  to  inquire  into  its authenticity; others to inquire
 into its value; others had doubts awakened  by it,  which he was urged
 to answer; others volunteered evidence to contradict its assertions; and
 a few (who would blush at this autographic evidence against them could
 they see it) availed themselves of the opportunity to upbraid  him as
 having announced the discovery of  " a humbug."
  Equally persevering  in  his attempts to render an essential service to
 his  race, by exposing the dangers of Dr. Morton's discovery, was Pro-
 fessor A. Westcott, afterwards connected with a dental  college in Bal-
 timore.   From the first he seemed to consider it his especial duty to
 declare war, not merely against the use of ether itself, but also against
 the unfortunate  Dr. Morton.   In a published statement, from  this
 learned  and facetious professor,  he said:  " If Dr. Morton can make me
 believe that the indiscriminate application of this vapor is really so very
 harmless, he will make me believe that I am the richest man on earth.
 I should then certainly go in for the new  patents I  spoke of in my
former communication.   For  who would  not  freely administer  a
harmless thing, especially when it  is endorsed by the first surgeons
and  medical men  in  New  England,  to  stop  the crying  of cross
babies.   If the thing is really harmless, and the subjects, < after breath-
ing it from one-half to two minutes, drop into a quiet slumber,' it cer-
tainly would  be  invaluable for nursery  purposes.  Morton's sucking
bottles would be in great  requisition, surely.   I again  affirm, that had
Mrs. Caudle only acquired a taste for this luxury, her poor husband
might have been, comparatively, a  happy man."  This is  a fair spe-
cimen of the learned professor's logic and humor. 
 
 
41
  Neither were members of the dental profession alone in their denun-
ciations of the  discovery.  Robert M. Huston,  M. D.,  editor of the
Philadelphia " Medical Examiner," put on his veto in thiswise:  "We
should not consider it entitled to the least notice, but that we perceive,
by the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, that prominent members
of (heprofession in  that city have been caught  in its meshes."  Again:
"We are  persuaded that  the surgeons of Philadelphia will not be se-
duced  from the high professional path of duly, into  the quagmire of
quackery, by this Will-o'-the-wisp."   And  again:  "We  cannot close
these remarks without again expressing our deep mortification  and re-
gret, that  the eminent men who have so long adorned the profession
in Boston, should have consented for a moment to set  so bad an ex-
ample  to their younger brethren, as we conceive them to have done in
this instance.  If such things are  to be sanctioned by the profession,
there is little need of reform conventions, or any other efforis to elevate
the professional character:  physicians and quacks will soon constitute
one fraternity."
  William C. Roberts, M. D.,  editor of the New York "Annalist,"
thus slated his objections:  " By-and-by we may see 'Morton's Antipa-
thetic Inhalation' puffed in an article  to which shall be  appended the
honored names of Warren-, Bigelow, and Pierson; and  wherein, we
ask,  will it. differ from  the objectionable contributions  of others, quite
as high, to Swaim's Panacea?"  In another place he says: " The last
special wonder has already arrived at the natural term  of its existence;
and the interest created by its first advent has, in a great measure, sub-
sided.   It has descended to the bottom of that great abyss  which has
already engulphed so many of its predecessor novelties, but which con-
tinues, alas ! to gape, until a humbug yet more prime  shall  be  thrown
into it."   And again, this Solon says,  in speaking of  the use of ether
in London: " We regret to observe that Mr. Liston is so negligent of
what is due to the dignity of his profession, and of his own  duty as  a
member of it, as to  have employed this patented nostrum."
  Charles A. Lee,  M.  D., editor of the New York " Journal of Medi-
cine," says:  " We  are sorry to see many of our brethren, at  home and
abroad, stooping from the exalted position they occupy in the profession
to hold intercourse with, and become the abettors of, quackery in any
form.  Such doings  are certainly contrary to the ethics of the profession,
and should not be tolerated for a moment in any one."
  Drs. W. M. Carpenter, E.  D. Fenner, J. Harrison, and A. Hester,
editors of the New Orleans " Medical and Surgical Journal," offer the
following  sentiment on this subject:  " That  the leading surgeons of
Boston could be captivated by such an invention as this, heralded to
the world  under such auspices and upon such  evidences of utility and
safety as are presented  by Dr. Bigelow, excites our amazement. Why
mesmerism, which  is repudiated  by the savans of Boston, has done  a
thousand times  greater wonders, and without any of the dangers here
threatened.   What shall we hear next?"
           6 
42
  All of the medical faculty, in short, on the first promulgation of the
discovery, adhered with more or less tenacity (o the opinion which had
been expressed  by that eminent French surgeon, Monsieur Velpeau, in
1839.   " To avoid pain," said he, in his work on medical operations,
"is a chimera which it is not allowable to pursue at the present day.
The cutting instrument and  pain, in operative medicine, are (wo words
which never present themselves singly to  the mind of the patient, and
of which we must necessarily admit the association."
                          CHAPTER VI.

  Dr. Morton states, in his memoir to the French Academy, (already
published,) that he was partially induced to take out a patent, because
he "was advised that it would be well to restrain so powerful an agent.
which  might be employed for the most  nefarious  purposes."  The
records of criminal courts in both the old and in the new world, show
the truth of  this supposition, for I he agent intended to relieve the suf-
fering has been used to stupefy the  victims of desperadoes; and  in one
country, as  we are  informed by Dr. Bigelow, a government discoun-
tenanced the discovery on this very account. But this was not the only
motive which induced Dr. Morton  to wish that his discovery might be
restrained within proper bounds.   The agent was then comparatively
unknown; he had himself (as his memoir shows) been once deceived
by using an  impure article, and had he announced that all  the world
could produce insensibility to pain by using ether, many fearful acci-
dents would have followed by its indiscriminate administration, without
regard to quality, quantity or  regulation.   He was well aware  that he
would be held answerable for every supposed misadventure of this kind,
and  naturally wished to avoid such opposition by controlling his dis-
covery.
  Those worthy and qualified to use it, however, received  every en-
couragement at his hands.  So early as the 30th November, 1846, he
requested Dr. Warren to give him as perfect a list as possible of all the
hospitals and charitable institutions in the country, that he might pre-
sent them with the use of this new blessing to their suffering patients.
This praiseworthy request was granted, and soon every eleemosynary
institution in the country, where surgical operations  were performed,
every charitable hospital, and many eminent  surgeons, received free
license to use the discovery, with a donation of apparatus and instruc-
tions, as a sense of the obligation felt by Dr. Morton for the interest they
had  displayed in establishing the value of his discovery.
  The official letters acknowledging these benefactions  not only show
Dr. Morton's liberality in extending the  benefits of his discovery, but
are  important as evidences of his then undisputed claim to the discovery.
One of them, showing this, reads thus: 
 
 
13
                                                "Boiton, Dec. 21, 1848.
   'I1??" W" T' G- MoRT0N—Sir: At a meeting of the trustees of the Massachusetts Gen-
 eral Hospital, held yesterday, your letter of the 14th inst., presenting to the hospital the
 right to use your «'Discovery for the prevention or alleviation of pain in surgical operations "
 was laid before the Board.                                              '
   "I am directed, by a vote of the trustees, to inform you that they accept your polite offer,
 and to express to you their thanks for your valuable gift, and their sense of the impor-
 tance of the right to use your discovery in the institution under their control.
           "Your ob't servant,                  MARCUS MORTON, Jr.,
                                          Secretary Mass General Hospital."

   Not  only did Dr. Morton thus give free  rights to charitable  institu-
 tions, but in  every "License" granted under the patent to responsible
 practitioners, for a small  equivalent, was a distinct clause guaranteeing
 a re payment of the fee  should the Government of the  United States
 adopt the invention.   "1 had little doubt," said he, "that the proper
 authorities  would take it out of private hands, if  the  public good re-
 quired it."
   We  accordingly  find  him, while busily  engaged in presenting his
 discovery to charitable institulions, sending forth agents to  introduce it
 into individual practice, continuing his experiments, and  combatting
 the various objections raised on every hand,  mindful of his duty to the
 republic of which he was a  citizen.   Her  armies  were then engaged
 in the war against Mexico, in which "thousands of her best and  bravest
 men," to use the words of Gen. Shields in his defence of Dr. Morton,
 "fell under the pains and afflictions that followed surgical operations."
 No time was  lost in offering them  this shield against suffering, and  Ed-
 ward Warren, esq., (a nephew of the celebrated Dr. Warren,)  at  that
 time Dr. Morton's principal agent, went to the seat of Government with
 full instructions and power to act.
   Arriving at Washington on the 16th of December, 1846, Mr. Warren
 exhibited the discovery, "performing many  experiments  before a host
 of distinguished men, and with entire and perfect success," though he
 also wrote:  "Every where I  have been I meet with the statements of
 Dr. Flagg and others, which stare me in the face, and which must be
 met and  disproved by some one  on the ground.   To overcome  this
 prejudice and suspicion which they (as well as Dr. Jackson himself)
 have thrown  upon the use of the inhaling vapor, requires all my logic
 and much time."
   "Those statements of  Dr.  Flagg,"  wrote  Mr.  Warren, "have been
 placed in  the  hands of every professional man I have  met with, lead-
 ing them to entertain  honest fears as to the  safety of the thing.   To
 illustrate  my  difficulties:  While demonstrating your discovery  to  the
 medical class  here, as well as to a large number of  surgeons and phy-
 sicians, Dr. Hunt (a dentist of standing here) came in with the state-
 ment of Dr. Flagg and others in the 'Advertiser,'  which  was read  for
 my edification in  the  presence of all  these  persons.   I succeeded in
 refuting these statements, and in showing their fallacy, and  thus being
on the ground prevented a verdict  against ether.  Thus I am assailed 
44
from  day to day, and  thus I must meet objections raised  by men  of
standing from all parts of the country."
  A warm interest  was taken  by prominent gentlemen,  and on the
28th of December, Dr. Morion's memorial was presented in the Senate,
by Governor John  Davis, and in the House by Hon. Robert C.  Win-
throp.  Il was referred in eilher branch to a select committee; thai  in
the House consisting of Messrs.'Fries, Relfe, Young, Lieb,and Toombs,
the four first named being physicians.
  Dr. Fries (who has always been a warm champion of Dr. Morton's
cause) addressed letters to various medical gentlemen, asking (heir opin-
ion.   The results were anything  but satisfactory,  as may be inferred
from the reply to a letter addressed  to Prof.  I).  T. Mutter, of Phila-
delphia, on the subject, asking him if it could be " usefully employed
in the practice of  surgery in the  manner  proposed by Dr. Morion."
To this the  Professor replied:—" On this point, there is in my  mind
not the slightest doubt.   I cannot consider any agent generally useful
that unquestionably subjecls the patient to the risk of losing his life."
And, in  another place,  in his letter, he says:—" The pecular  method
of Dr. Morton is, consequently, of no value; but granting that his meas-
ures ar« peculiar and even belter than those of others, I trust the day  is
far distant when we shall,find so distinguished a body  as our national
Congress lending itself to the advancement of quackery in any shape."
  Mr. Warren soon  found that, with this opposition, there  was little
chance of a recognition  by Congress of the discovery,  and  returned  to
Boston, where he endeavored to persuade  the Doctor himself to repair
to the metropolis.
  Had Dr. Morton been merely desirous of reaping a pecuniary reward
for his discovery, he doubtless would have complied with  the  sugges-
tion, and  hastened to the seat of Government.   But, he evidently felt
that he had a higher duty to perform.   He was  not only in the  daily
receipt of a large number of  letters making  inquiries about the new"
remedial agent, but received constant visits from professional gentlemen
anxious to obtain information  at what was considered "head-quarters."
Some of these inquiries consumed his time with speculative  doubts,
questioning the accuracy of experiments, and recapitulating the  com'
plaints of the antagonistic dentists.   Others wished to see experiments
which would confirm the very remarkable phenomena of which they
had heard; and a third class, more troublesome  than all others, zeal-
ously  bestirred themselves to overthrow Dr.  Morton's  pretensions by
insidiously worming themselves  into his confidence, making loud pro-
fessions of admiration, and then  denouncing him  to others.
  He  felt, and it was a noble feeling, that to desert  his  post at this
critical juncture, even  to secure a pecuniary reward  for time and toil
expended, would be an injury to the scientific cause which  Providence
had as it  were placed  under his  protection, by selecting him  from
mankind as the instrument of its introduction.   But while he was un-
willing to go from  Boston at  this  critical juncture, he  made a formal
tender of his discovery to the Secretaries of the War and of the Navy, 
 
J 
45
for the relief of the suffering soldiers and sailors engaged in the Mexican
war.   He offered each department, by letter dated January 18, 1847,
to send agents to Mexico at once, whose expenses to the Government
would  be but a few hundred  dollars, while  the  apparatus would  be
furnished at wholesale price, and the  ether would cost  but one or two
cents to each patient.
   The official replies to these generous offers show with what coldness
and distrust the discovery was at. that time  received, even by gentlemen
of the highest professional reputation and position.  They are as follows:

                                          Navt Department, April 17, 1847.
  Sir: Your letter of the 13th instant,  tendering for the use of the Navy Dr. Morton'a
discovery, "whereby  pain is prevented  in surgical  operations," has been received and
referred to the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery.
  The Chief of that Bureau repents that the article may be of some service for the use of
large Hospitals, but  does not think it expedient for the Department to incur any expense
for its introduction into the general service, in which opinion the Department concurs.
                                   I am, respectfully,
                                       Your obedient servant,
                                                  J. Y. MASON,
                                                     Secretary of the Navy.
                                    Surgeon General's Office, May 3, 1847.
  Sir: Your communication of the 13th ultimo, stating that you take the "opportunity
again to offer the use of Dr. Morton's discovery, whereby pain is prevented in surgical
operations," has been received.
  In reply, I have to state, that whatever may be the virtues of "Morton's Letheon,"
favored by all the facilities for  its administration in civil practice, it is believed that the
highly volatile character of the substance itself is ill adapted to the rough usage it would
necessarily encounter on the field of battle.
  For  this and other reasons, which it is  unnecessary now to detail, I must decline to
recommend the use of your remedy in the surgical operations of the Army.
                                       Very respectfully,
                                         Your obedient servant,
                                                H. L. HASKELL,
                                                   Acting Surgeon General.
                             CHAPTER VII.

   Dr. Morton *s prompt and energetic action in the promulgation of his
discovery  was  not confined  to  his  native land.   Evidently impressed
with the conviction that he held this great boon as a sacred trust, which
should  not be distracted  from suffering  humanity by private ambition,
he not  only philanthropically diffused the glad lidings over the United
States,  but—immediately afier his individual experiments—transmitted
accounts of (hem  across  the Atlantic, followed by  every new evidence
of the success  of  the discovery, with instructions both as lo  the agent,
the instruments used, and  the method of application.   At this critical
period, when many doubted and more opposed the unknown remedial
agent, to  falter was to acknowledge a failure, to  make an announce- 
16
ment was to hazard reputation.  Irresolution would have been the ruin
of the  discovery, but resolution  threw a fearful personal responsibility
on the discoverer.  Yet Dr. Morton,  conscious of the strength of his
position,  did  not hesitate.   He (ook the most thorough measures for
diffusing the  blessing, and he thus won (he admiration and  (he confi-
dence of (he English and European physicians.
  Dr.  Morton's letters first  reached London,  where the discovery was
hailed  with generous enthusiasm.  Scientific discrimination far  out-
weighed  any discreditable feeling of professional prejudice or of national
jealousy, and the united scientific  world abandoned themselves to a de-
termination of  the  real value of  the discovery.   No  opportunily  for
experiment was lost—no evidence rejected.  The whole medical com-
munity gave themselves to the work, and in a short time most honorably
avowed that the discovery of  etherization was not second to the discovery
of their own Jenner.
  The following account of  the first public operation with ether in the
Old  World, is an interesting poriion of the facts connected  with  Dr.
Morton's biography. It is taken from the " London Illustrated News"
of January 9, 1847:
  " The new  Means for rendering Surgical Operations pain-
less.—Last week  the first  experiment was made  in  this country, of
employing the inhalation of the vapor of sulphuric ether as a means of
rendering surgical operations painless.  The application is of American
origin, and was first introduced, a few months since, by Dr. Morton,
a dentist of Boston, United  States, by  whom  it was communicated to
Dr. Boot, of Gower street.   By this gentleman  the discovery was de-
scribed, on the  17th  of last month, to Mr. Robinson,  the  surgeon-
dentist, also of Gower street,  who, on the following day, operated upon
a young lady,  thrown into  sleep by the inhalation, during  which a
molar tooth was extracted from her lower jaw.
  " The inhalation occupied a minute and a half, and the patient's
recovery  from sleep another minute.  Dr. Boot questioned her respect-
ing the tooth, and she expressed her great surprise at finding that it  was
removed.  She said that all she  had felt was merely a sensation of
cold  around the tooth—a sensation which was  caused, perhaps, by the
coldness  of the  extracting instrument."

  The " London Lancet,"  well  known as the organ of the surgical
and medical professions in Great Britain, said of the discovery:

  <f The discovery of Dr. Morton—more striking  to the general than
to the  scientific mind—will  undoubtedly be placed high  among the
blessings of human knowledge and discovery.
  "That its discoverer should be an  American, is a  high  honor to
our transatlantic brethren; next to the discovery of Franklin, it is the
second and greatest contribution of the New World to science, and  it is
the first great addition to the medical art.
  " Dr.  Morton deserves, if  his discovery stand  the test of  time, the 
 
 
47
gratitude and reward  of every civilized people and government upon
the face of the earth."

  The leading medical men and surgeons of London  were prompt in
giving the results of their experiments.  Thomas Bell  wrote: "I fully
intend to try it the  first opportunity.   The cases are very satisfactory,
and the whole affair  most important."  Liston (the head of his pro-
fession in London)  wrote, as early as the 21st of December—"I tried
the ether inhalation to-day, with perfect and  satisfactory results.  It is
a very great matter to be able thus to destroy sensibility to such an ex-
tent, without apparently a bad  result.   It is  a fine  thing for operating
surgeons; and I beg  to thank you sincerely for the early information
you were so kind as  to give me of it."  Sir James Clarke, the royal
surgeon, in speaking  of this case of amputation, performed  by  Liston,
after the administration of elher, said: "It is really a marvellous thing."
Richard  Bright  did not delay to forward the news to  Guy's Hospital,
" that no time might be lost in affording so great a relief to any who
might be in the unfortunate condition of being obliged to undergo a
serious occussation."
   A graphic account  of the introduction of the discovery into England,
and the opposition made  to it, (which will apply almost  as  well  to
many other lands,) is taken from the works of  Professor Miller.  The
fact that he is  the author of standard surgical works, a  lecturer  of
marked ability, and  one occupying high official positions in his pro-
fession, gives additional force to his brilliant style of description.
   " On  the 23d of  December, 1846," said Professor Miller, "it was
my privilege to read a letter in this class-room, from the  late Mr.  Liston,
announcing, in  enthusiastic terms, that a new light had burst on sur-
gery, and that on  mankind a  large  boon  had been conferred.  The
letter conveyed the  writer's earliest and most lively  impressions of a
subject as startling  as it was new; and there was a large-hearted gen-
erosity about it, that  was sure  to  meet with a suitable response in all
right-beating hearts.
   "The subject was anaesthesia; and its  first sound had  come from
across the Atlantic.  It fell on  no dull or idle ear.   It was taken up,
tried, and  speedily re-echoed,  and in a few days it filled the island.
Mr. Liston  struck  the  key-note; and a pealing note it was.   We fol-
lowed here, with less  power,  perhaps, but, we hope,  in tune—well
pleased to find, that  high  as the note at first seemed to be, it was still
within reach of an ordinary compass.  The  profession were surprised,
excited, charmed in the mass;  and more especially those on the junior
side of  the  grand  climacteric.   The elderly gentlemen had their pre-
conceived  and heretofore  settled  notions sadly jostled and disturbed.
Not a few  grew irritable, and  resented the interference;  they closed
their ears,  shut  their  eyes, and folded their  hands;  they refused  to
touch or in any way  meddle  with, the unhallowed  thing; they had
quite made up their minds that pain was a necessary evil, and must be
endured- they scouted on the attempted innovation, and croaked that 
IS
'no good  could  come  of  it.'  On, notwithstanding, sped the move-
ment.
  " The public, as was naturally to be expected, were greatly excited,
and rejoiced in the tidings.  Bvsome they were scolded for interfering;
but, to my mind,  they might as well have been reprehended for show-
ing great and personal concern in the wars of (he Indian Punjaub, re-
peal of Ihe Corn laws, or any oilier of the large and pressing questions
of public interest at the time.  At first they seemed somewhat incredu-
lous, as if it were  'too good news to be true.'   Soon all  became satis-
fied of there being something in il, on good hearsay evidence; and
some had ocular dernonsiraiion of what they sought to  know.  *  *  *
Like Ihe queen of  old, they found il was  'a true report they had heard,'
but that 'one-half had not  been told  them.'
  "And (his reminds me of one augusi visitant who at this time honored
the institution with his presence, the singularly humane Chalmers.  No
pruriency of sighi-seeing brought him there. No man, it is well known,
was ever more tender of eye, as regards blood and pain.   But he had
heard of humanily's boon, and sought  to know the truth; and it was
one of the early triumphs of anaesthesia here, lo see that  man of large
and tender heart witnessing a bloody and severe operation with compo-
sure and serenity; feeling little because  the patient felt not at all, and
the little that, he himself did, feel was  far more than compensaled by the
thought that a brighter day for that suffering humanity, with which he
so closely  and continually sympathised, had  at length  dawned,  and
that, from  henceforth, injury and disease were shorn of half their ter-
rors."

  The letter sent to Paris, with the news of the discovery, reached there
in November, 1846, but the incredulity of (he surgeons  prevented its
early adoption, as Velpeau  and others "politely declined" to experi-
ment upon it.  When, however, the accumulation of evidence arrived
from England and America, a new interest was excited.   One of the
inhaling apparatus, then used  by Dr. Morton, reached Paris, and an
experiment made with it  by an American medical  student was so
entirely successful, that, before the first  of February, 1847,  Velpeau
and Roux averred, in the presence of the two academies, that the dis-
covery "was a glorious  triumph  for humanity."   The  news rapidly
spread over the European cities, and over the civilized world.
  "This great discovery," wrote a Paris correspondent of (he  "Boston
Atlas," "is making a sensation in Europe, and is regarded as next to
those of Harvey and Jenner.  Its use has been introduced into the hos-
pitals of London  and Paris.  The distinguished American dentist in
Paris, Dr. Brewster, has tried it with perfect success.  A  medical gen-
tleman from England, now residing  here, informs me that he saw the
amputation of a limb this morning at one of the hospitals, and that the
patient was perfectly quiet, and unconscious of any pain, by reason of
the use of .this new agent.   He remarked that  the American Govern-
ment ought to make a grant to the discoverer of -£20,000; should they 
 
 
49
do nothing, a grand subscription should  be set on foot throughout the
civilized world in behalf of this great benefactor of the human race."
  While the professional journals,  and the public press of Europe,
teemed with instances in which  this great discovery had been tested
and applied at most of the large hospitals, Dr. Morton continued to for-
ward the results of his experiments.   To quote from one of his private
circulars: "Asphyxia and etherization are  two very different  things,"
and he feared that the continuance  of dangerous practices in  adminis-
tering ether might lead to fatal consequences.
  Following the usual custom in monarchical countries, Dr. Morton
had prepared a number of sets of costly apparatus, which with full in-
structions how to produce etherization,  and what dangers were to be
guarded against, were duly forwarded to Nicholas, Emperor of Russia;
Ferdinand,  Emperor of Austria; Louis Philippe, King of the French;
Leopold, King of  the  Belgians;  Charles Jean, King of Sweden;
Christian VIII, King of Denmark;  Frederic Augustus, King of Sax-
ony; Ernest, King of Hanover; William, King of Holland;  Louis,
King of Bavaria;  and Charles Albert, King of Sardinia.
  Louis Philippe, then  in the zenith of his power, evidently took the
most interest in the discovery—perhaps, because, as is well known, he
always  had a passion for amateur surgery—and a special  letter of
thanks, dated from the Tuilleries, states that he " appreciates the sen-
timent which inspires this obliging communication."
   We cannot better conclude this  chapter, than by giving an article
which appeared in the "People's London Journal," of January 9,
1847, as indicative  of the joy with which this acquisition to surgical
science was hailed in the Old world :
  " Good News  from America.—Hail happy hour! that brings the
glad tidings  of another glorious  victory.   Oh, what delight for every
feeling heart to find the new year ushered  in with the announcement
of this noble discovery of the power  to still the sense of pain, and veil
the eye and memory from all  the horrors of an operation.  And then
to find it acted upon almost on the instant  by  our first operators, is as
gratifying as unexpected.  We  have  conquered Pain.   This is,
indeed,  a glorious victory  to  announce; a victory  of pure intellect.
And from America comes the happy news; from our brothers in another
land, with whom  we were lately going to war.  Oh, shame be in the
thought!  This  is, indeed,  a glorious victory; but there is no blow
struck, there has been no grappling together in the war of savage im-
pulse, no bloodshed, no remorse.  It is the victory of knowledge over
ignorance, of good over evil; there is no alloy; all our finer sympathies
are enlisted in one universal prayer of grateful rejoicing.  Benevolence
has its triumph.   It is a victory not for to-day, nor for our own lime,
but for another age, and all  time—not for one nation, but for all na-
tions, from generation to generation, as  long as the  world shall last."
  " Yet, hark ! (here is no firing of cannon from the Tower—no ban-
ners waving in the air—no drums and fifes sounding before the conquer-
ing hero—no hubbub in the streets—no gazing multitudes thronging
           7 
50
ihe towns to see the illuminations;  no, these are for the most part but
the instruments of war, the loud rejoicing of the passions of men tri-
umphing  over their  fellow-men.   We have nothing  to do  with that
now;  but only to stretch forth our hand to soothe the agonizing wounds
the sword has caused,  to allay the sufferings of  the afflicted, to still
the nerve and sense,  whilst  the knife performs its friendly office."
  " The rejoicing here is of the heart, in the smile, the tear of joy for
suffering relieved, the still  voice of the  benevolent  soul rejoicing in-
wardly; for to those who can grasp the full sense of the immense boon
which has been given to us, it is, indeed, overpowering—the blessing
is  incalculable.  Let the joyous news spread quickly from ear (o ear
through all the length and breadth  of the land, and wing its  way over
the seas from shore to shore.  And you, poor sufferers, who are  now
lying in our hospitals and infirmaries on the bed  of sickness, waiting
 our time for the dreaded operation,  hear you the reprieve which has
 een sent!—fear no more the pain  that you shall endure—a sweet ob-
livion shall steal over your nerves—and it shall all be to you as though
it were not;  you shall  awake—it is  all  over,  you have felt nothing.
Go forward, nurse, from ward to ward, from bed (o bed, and announce
(he glad tidings, and  cheer the drooping spirits of the sufferer, and raise
a load of fear and  anguish  from  the  heart.   And see—yes the pulse
beats tranquilly again:  they smile—they press your hand in thankful-
ness.  They are prepared.   They are ready now, when you will; the
knife is robbed of all  its terrors!"
                         CHAPTER VIII.

  Dr. Mortonj at this period, labored under a weighty responsibility,
for the rapidly increasing interest attached to the subject of etherization
brought with  it  a daily addition  to his labors.   The service to which
he had devoted  himself was  that  of mankind,  and  it was chiefly  to
him—as the  discoverer—that foreigners  as well  as  his  countrymen
looked for assistance.  Dr. Gould, of Boston, in whose family he was
an inmate, testifies that  " he was overwhelmed, day and night,  con-
ducting the administration and introduction of ether;" there was a
strong prejudice against it in this city, [Boston,] and more especially
elsewhere—the administration of it was denounced generally, and many
things  were written against  it in  the  medical  and daily  journals.  I
don't know any particulars further than writing articles arid denuncia-
tions in  private conversations."   And when  asked what Dr. Morton
did, and how far he went, in  his own defence, Dr. Gould replied:  "He
wrote and talked, too; I  have seen several pamphlets, prepared,  as I
suppose, at his instance, and at his expense."
  This is confirmed by the testimony of Dr. Bigelow.  " There was,"
 
 
» 
51
 he says, " a great difference of opinion—first, as regards  ils safely.
 Many people maintained  that it was dangerous.  Some eminent sur-
 geons have pertinaciously, and in the most surprising manner, adhered
 to this opinion  to  the  present day, objecting to its use.  At an early
 period, certain  religious grounds were urged against its adoption.  Dr.
 Morton, as far  as I know, uniformly and perseveringly urged it upon
 the medical profession and upon the world."
   The medium through which Dr. Morton communicated the results
 of experiments on etherization to the public, was a "circular" which
 he had printed at his own expense almost every  week.  It was at first,
 as its name imports, a  mere letter of advice; but, as it became the re-
 ceptacle of newspaper articles, and  correspondence from every portion
 of the Union, announcing the success of etherization, it was necessarily
 enlarged into  a large and closely printed  sheet of four pnges.   Soon
 this "circular" became a pamphlet, and of this five different editions
 were  published under Dr. Morton's immediate supervision, embodying
 a digest of all the authentic information, boih from Europe and America,
 on anaesthesia.   This was a perfect magazine of arguments  against the
 opponents of etherization, and its preparation naturally  gave Dr. Morton
 a good deal of  care and anxiety, as  he was considered responsible for
 the contents.
   When the news of the European success of Dr. Morton's discovery
 came back across the Atlantic, he changed the form of his publication,
 although he  retained its simple title, adding to it " A voice from Eu*
 rope."   This last edition of this valuable work, which was of nearly
 one hundred closely printed pages, embodies  much of great interest,
 and it conquered the prejudices of many who had previously had such
 imperfect sources of authentic information on the discovery, that their
 mtnds had  remained warped by prejudice, or they  had been unable to
 form a candid opinion on the subject.
   This " Voice from  Europe," as the fifth edition of Dr. Morton's
 circular was also called, acted like sunlight upon the  sceptical among
 the American  medical fraternity, and  before its bright rays of  truth
 the darkness of prejudice was soon dissolved.  Ether was immediately
 a universal favorite, and, strangest of all, some of  those who had de^
 nounced it with the most bitterness became not only its champions,
 but (in two instances) endeavored to claim  the honor of suggesting its
 discovery to Dr. Morton.  One of them (Dr. Jackson) had, almost up
 to  the very date of this publication of the fifih  edition  of the circular,
 spoken  in terms of contempt and reprobation of Dr. Morton and his
 alleged recklessness in the use of ether.   Neither he nor Dr.  Wells had
 a word to say about it while the test experiments were being performed,
 or while Dr. Morton was  zealously urging its introduction; yet, now
 that the victory was won, they began to claim  a share of the honor.
 The real position of the parties was appropriately described by R. H.
 Dana, jr., esq., who was  familiar with  the whole controversy which
 ensued, but the details of which we have neither time nor space to per-
petuate.  Dr. Wells (says Mr. Dana)  " had not made the discovery 
52
that inhalation would produce that degree of insensibility that would
render the otherwise most painful  operations painless.  He had only
experimented in that direction, upon the hint of Davy; and abandoned
his experiments, without a single test operation in surgery, as uncertain,
hazardous, and of little  practical value; leaving it entirely uncertain
what the effect would be in a protracted and severe operation.  He had
started out as a pioneer in this cause, and after following an imperfect
trail another had pointed  out to him, he returns disheartened, and gives
up the pursuit to others.   He fixes his beacon where he had failed, and
Dr. Morton avoids it and  passes on to the great discovery.   Dr. Jackson
is the  bystander, who says to the adventurer: I  looked down the  path
you are  going some years ago, with  my glass; it seems  to lead in the
direction of the place you wish to find;  but whether there be any such
place, whether it be worth finding, and whether this  path will lead to
it, or end in a bog after  all, I cannot tell;  you must  try for yourself;
and remember, if you find you are mistaken, don't bring my name in
with it."
   Dr. Morton  now had  the satisfaction of seeing his  discovery appre-
ciated and commended in the warmest terms.  Dr.  J. C.  Warren, a
name confessedly among the first in  the United  States in the depart-
ment  of medicine and surgery, published a work on  "Etherization,"
in which he said :
   "A new era has opened on  the operating surgeon! His visitations
on the most delicate parts are performed not only without  the agonizing
screams he has been accustomed to hear,  but  sometimes with a state
of perfect insensibility, and occasionally even with the  expression of
pleasure on  the  part of the  patient.  Who could have imagined that
drawing a knife over the  delicate skin of the face might produce a sen-
sation of unmixed delight?  That  the turning and twisting of instru-
ments in the most sensitive bladder might be accompanied  by a beau-
tiful dream?  That  the contorting of anchylosed joints should co-exist
with a celestial vision?   If Ambrose  Pare, and  Lovier,  and Desault,
and Chesselden, and Hunter, and Cooper, could see what our  eyes
daily  witness,  how would they long  to come among  us, and  perform
their exploits once more.
   "And with what fresh vigor does the living surgeon, who is ready to
resign the scalpel, grasp  it, and wish again to go through  his career
under the new auspices!"
   "The Letheon," an able pamphlet in vindication  of Dr. Morton's
claims to the discovery, and his efforts  to  introduce it, was published
in Boston, in the spring of 1847, and ran through  three large editions,
each of the two last revised and enlarged from its predecessor.   It was
edited by Mr. Edward  Warren, and contained articles  from  the able
pens of Doctors J. Mason Warren and  George Hay ward; the Messrs.
Eddy; R. H.  Dana, jr.  esq., and other gentlemen who knew and who
appreciated Dr. Morton's labors.
   At  this critical period  Dr.  Morton found himself suddenly crippled
in pecuniary matters by the unwarrantable action of the  General Gov- 
 
 
53
eminent.  He had (as we have previously stated) offered  to furnish
the military and naval forces  then  engaged in the Mexican war, at a
merely nominal price, just sufficient to defray the expenses  of compe-
tent operators.  But  his generous offer was not only disregarded, but
the very Government which  had  agreed to protect  him against the
abuse of his discovery by giving him  a patent, that he might control
it, now disregarded the validity of  its own instrument.   It is officially
6tated by E. H. Abadee, Asst. Surgeon U. S. A., in a communication
addressed to the chairman of a Congressional committee in 1852, that—
"ether was first used  by the army early in 1847, during the Mexican
war, more particularly on Gen. Scott's line."   And  Dr. Pierson, of
Salem, Mass., informed the Hon.  Mr. Bissell by letter, in  1852, that
in Sept. 1847, he "wrote to Gen.  Cushing  and to  Captain Hoyt, of
the Massachusetts regiment, then  in Mexico,  in  favor  of  ether, and
urging them to use their influence  to extend its introduction into the
military hospitals of the army."
   This  and other  evidence clearly shows that Government not only
deprived its soldiers of the benefits of anaesthesia, while suffering from
their wounds, by introducing it through incompetent persons, instead
of accepting Dr. Morton's liberal  offer, but  directly cancelled its own
patent.   Nothing could  have struck more fatally at the validity of this
covenant, in public opinion, than its open infraction by the very power
which had granted it; and this appropriation  of Dr. Morton's discovery
to the public  service  without  compensation was attended with conse-
quences far  more  serious to his rights than the mere neglect or refusal
to obtain his sanction.
   He had, through competent agents,  licensed  agents in  every city and
large towns in  the Union,  whose application had been  made for it,
who were thoroughly  instructed  in the administration of  ether, and
guarded against the dangers which might arise from an impure article,
or improper use of that which had the  inventor's sanction.   The sum
which these thus licensed paid, had barely met the enormous expenses
incurred in extending the agencies, the cost of experiments, and the
distribution of the  publications before alluded  to, by which the latest
information was circulated  on every hand; and it is a fact  worthy of
record,  that no accident or mishap ever occurred in the use  of Dr.
Morton's discovery, by those who were thus  instructed and authorized
by him.  Like Jenner, it was his earnest desire to check all abuse of
his discovery, by keeping it beyond the reach  of  reckless speculators,
who sought to use  deadly materials with impunity, or disregarded the
rules which the discoverer had laid down, in a manner  " alike indica-
tive of their avarice and their ignorance."
   No sooner was it announced in the New York Herald and other pa-
pers, that the Government had adopted the use of ether for the public
service, without any regard  for its own patent, than those who had been
kept from it for good reasons, joined in the cry that the licenses were
of no use, and that the discovery was free to all.   Its legitimate use
had never been subject to other than proper restraint; had beeu gener- 
54
ously offered to all  public institutions, and to the very Government
which so ungenerously appropriated it.  Now, its abuse commenced.
   The natural consequence was, that Dr. Morton found that the sources
of the revenue which supported his establishment, his agents, his secre-
tary, his publications and  his family, were at once cut off, while un-
expected demands poured in from  every quarter.   Agents, in distant
sections, had to be supplied with funds to defray their expenses home,
for, like Othello, they found their "occupation gone:" and those who
had derived great pecuniary benefits from licenses, now clamored for a
return of the comparatively trifling sum which they had paid, upon the
ground that others had equal privileges.
   This  was a most unfortunate era in Dr.  Morton's  life, and left him
exactly where Dr. Jenner was, when he also had been induced to incur
large expenses in London for the introduction of vaccination, and found
himself a great pecuniary  loser.   A knowledge of the ungrateful con-
duct of Government stirred up greater hostility and envy, and materially
added to his own responsibility, without giving  him the strength and
independence which might better have enabled  him to cope with his
antagonists.  He was left  with the whole weight of  a momentous un-
dertaking upon his own shoulders.   Those who were jealous of his
fame waxed  more bold; his friends became lukewarm;'the demands
upon his time and  attention were increased; his private resources were
diminished, and he could not devote himself to his  practice.
   As if Providence seemed determined to frown upon him, he suffered
a great loss at this  time in  the death of his brother-in-law, Mr. Francis
Whitman.   This estimable young man had, as Dr.  Morion's time be-
came engrossed with his discovery,  taken  charge of his practice, and
his excellence  in  every relation of life commanded the regard and
confidence of all who had the good  fortune to know him.  This sud-
den loss of his business-manager and  confidant, at this critical time,
tended further to cripple and distress Dr. Morton, who was not, how-
ever, to be diverted from his great purpose.  Fixing his mind upon the
great object which he was called upon to fulfil, he resolved at all haz-
ards to persevere, and never to  desert the cause while he had power to
labor in it.
   Although his pecuniary circumstances  were  disheartening, and  a
rancorous opposition to his merits as a discoverer had been stimulated
by the unjust appropriation by  the United States of  his discovery, Dr.
Morton  appears to have been  animated by the conviction  that the
knowledge  of his discovery was rapidly extending itself over the earth,
and  that no  opposition could interfere with the real and substantial
benefits which it was conferring on  humanity.   Having obtained for
the world a precious  boon,  and  found himself greatly  the  loser, he
availed himself of the leisure afforded by the prostration of his plans,
to draw up a memoir  of his claims  to the  discovery.   In this plain,
straightforward  paper, (which we have given in a  previous chapter,)
he embodies the testimony which had been taken at the request of his
friends,.and it will  ever remain  a verbal monument to his patient scien- 
 
 
55
tific investigation, to his courageous experimentization, and to the tri-
umphant conclusion at which he arrived.
  Having finished this memoir and sent it, Dr. Morton found himself
comparatively at leisure, and availed himself of the  opportunity to at-
tend the annual session of the "American Society of Dental Surgeons,"
held that year at Saratoga.  This association had been  instituted for
the purpose of elevating dental  surgery into an acknowledged science,
and extended a warm  greeting to Dr. Morton, whose discovery was
the first important  fruit  of dental practice.  Dr. Eleazer Parmly, the
president of the society, and the acknowledged head of the  profession
in America, with many other eminent members, took occasion to con-
gratulate Dr. Morton on the important service which he had rendered
to this especial  branch of surgery, and gave him marked  approbation
of his course, with an official invitation to participate in the proceedings.
Having made many friends, and enjoyed  this first  public triumph, Dr.
Morton returned home, several of the prominent members of the soci-
ety accepting his invitation  to visit Etherton Cottage.  Among those
who thus shared his hospitalities was Professor Chapin A. Harris, the
leading professor of the  Baltimore  College  of Dental Surgery, and
editor  of  that valuable  periodical, the American Journal  of Dental
Science.   This excursion was a pleasant era in Dr. Morton's life.  "I
have thought much and often of the agreeable interview we  had at the
springs, (wrote Dr. E. Parmly  to Dr. Morton afterwards,) and I never
think of it without feeling  pleasure, and without a cordial  wish for
your welfare and happiness."
   So numerous were the inquiries propounded to Dr. Morton as to the
use of ether in producing anaesthesia, that, on his return from Saratoga
Springs, he wrote and published a work on the subject, entitled "Mor-
ton on Inhalation."  This  work was, in fact, a manual for the  direc-
tion of practitioners who  used the author's discovery—was  dedicated
to the "Surgeons of the Massachusetts General Hospital."  One of
these,  Dr.  S.  D. Townsend, after having examined the manuscript of
this valuable production, returned it to Dr. Morton, with the following'
note:
                                       "Somerset Street, Sept. 6,1847.
  " Dear Sir: I have looked over  your manual for the use of ether, and have appended
two trifling notes, on pages 17 and  39.   I think it will be a very useful  book to circulate
in the country.
            "Your obedient servant,                  S. D. TOWNSEND.
  "Dr. W. T. G. Morton, No. 19 Tremont street, Boston."

   This treatise  met with an  extensive sale, passing through several
editions, and was  the more necessary from  the  fact, that  since the
licensing system  had been  overthrown by Government, every practi-
tioner felt at liberty to use  Dr.  Morton's  discovery,  and  many did so
in such haste that their discretion did not keep pace  with  their zeal.
We make  some brief extracts  from some of  the  criticisms  upon this
work, which appeared in  the Boston newspapers: 
56
  "We are indebted to the author, Dr. W. T. G Morton, for ^beau'lfulter;.n^r',"'"
treatise, dedicated to the surgeons of the Massachusetts General  Hospital .'On the Proper
Mode of Administering the Sulphuric Ether by Inhalation."  Dr. M., it '-well known,
is intimately identified with the discovery of this new agent in  surgery.  It would be a
waste of labor for us to comment upon a subject that has received such umversa attention
of late, and it is, therefore, only necessary to observe that the object of this publication is
to guide those who wish to act understandingly in usiug the ether, and  particularly such
as have had neither experience nor an opportunity of witnessing the process.   This book
makes the matter perfectly clear, so that there can  be no misapprehension  in regard to
any essential point."—Boston Medical Journal.                      .
  "Dr  Morton has laid upon our table a very neat little manual of instructions for the
administration of sulphuric ether by inhalation—the discovery in connection with  which
his name has gained so extensively and just celebrity at home and abroad.  We do not
know who should be able to speak on the  subject better than one whose persevering ex-
periments first demonstrated the marvellous properties of this formerly  little esteemed
fluid. The matter of the work is both very well, and, what is of importance, very clearly
expressed  and it ought to have a circulation in some degree co-extensive with the use of
the ao-ent of whose operation it treats.  It is dedicated, with an expression of gratitude,
to the surgeons of the Massachusetts General Hospital."—Boston Evening Gazette.
  •'This is an exceedingly neat, and, what is better, a very intelligible pamphlet, prepared
under the direction of Dr.  Morton, who, as we have before said, must be  allowed the
credit of partially introducing the great alleviator of human suffering.  As the use of ether
in surgery and labor  is rapidly extending itself, this little manual  cannot fail to satisfy a
wide demand."—Boston Chronotype.                  .
  "This is a small book of instructions and information in regard to the practice of ether-
ism—the celebrated discovery with which Dr. M.'s name is associated.  It is handsomely
got up and  intelligently written, and we should judge it to be a work which will find its
place in every family, as there is, we believe, no  other compendium of practical  sugges-
tions on the subject, and this  seems well calculated to occupy the ground.  It is dedicated
to the Surgeons of the General Hospital."—Boston Transcript.
  "The author has here presented to the  publican appropriate supplement to the great
discovery for the use of which they are already indebted to him.  It is a very intelligibly
written manual of directions for  the use of this agent, now considered indispensable in
medical and surgical  practice.  Such a work should find its place in  every household,
unless there be some so fortunate as to be free from all liability to accidents and pain."—
Boston Post.

   Strange to say, though, at this late period, the use of ether was re-
garded with jealous fear  by many eminent members of the medical
profession, even  in  the United  States.   A  striking evidence  of this
 appears  in "the Annual Report  on  Surgery, read before  the College
 of  Physicians, Nov.  2, 1847,  by  Isaac Parish, M. D.," where it is
 said:  "At the Pennsylvania Hospital in this city  it has not been tried
 at all; being considered by the judicious surgeons of that institution a3
 a remedy of  doubtful safety, or, at least, as not  sufficiently established
 to warrant them in its employment."  And  yet, in the same report we
 find the following sentence: "  But when we extend our vision to foreign
 countries, and call to  mind that, during the  past nine  months, it has
 been adopted in  most of the large hospitals of Great Britain, in the vast
 hospitals of Paris, and, for the last six months, in the numerous institu-
 tions of like  character in Germany, including the  immense hospitals at
 Vienna and  Berlin, we can form  some idea  of  the extent to which it
 has been carried, and of the'firm hold which this great American dis-
 covery has taken of the mind of the scientific world."
    On the day after this testimony of the  backwardness of the Philadel-
 phia surgeons to even test what their transatlantic brethren acknowledged
 as  a triumphant addition to their art, Dr. Oliver W. Holmes, a visiting 
 
 
57
 physician  at  the Massachusetts General Hospital, and a professor in
 Harvard University, in his " Introductory Lecture, delivered before the
 Medical Glass of that Institution, on the 3d of November, 1847," thus
 vividly described the beneficent effects of Dr. Morton's discovery: " The
 knife is searching for disease—the pulleys are dragging back dislocated
 limbs—nature herself is working out the primal curse, which doomed
 the tenderest of her creatures to the sharpest of her trials;—but the fierce
 extremity of  suffering has been  steeped in  the waters of forgetfulness,
 and the deepest furrow in the knotted brdw of agony has been smoothed
 forever."
   In this same  month Dr. Morton received  a valued endorsement of his
 rights as a discoverer from Doctor Simpson, a distinguished professor in
 the University of Edinburgh.  The professor had just published a pam-
 phlet upon chloroform, the application of which he had discovered, and
 proposed as a substitute for ether in certain  cases.   Upon a fly-leaf of a
 copy of this pamphlet which he  sent  to Dr. Morton was  written  the
 following note:
  " My Dear Sir:  I have much pleasure in offering, for your kind acceptance, the accom-
 anying pamphlet.  Since it was published we have had various other operations performed
 ere, equally successful. 1 have a  note from Mr. Liston, telling me also of its perfect
 success in London.   Its rapidity and depth are amazing.
  "In the Monthly Journal of Medical Science, for  September, I have a long article on elheri-
 tation, vindicating your claims over those of Jackson.
  "Of course, the great thought is that of producing insensibility—and for that the world is, I
 think, indebted to you.
  " I read a paper lately to our society, showing that it was recommended by Pliny, (fee,
 in old times.
  " With very great esteem for you, allow me to subscribe myself,
                                         " Yours, very faithfully,
  " Edinburgh, 19th Nov., 1847.                        "J.  Y. SIMPSON."

   Among other interesting letters received by Dr. Morton during this
 same year, from eminent Americans, was one from the Hon. Edward
 Everett. The son and daughter of this distinguished statesman had been
 among  the  first patients to  whom Dr. Morton  had administered the
 ether, and he wrote  a long letter to show, that though a friendly rela-
 tion had existed between  Dr. Jackson and himself for many years, any
 paper that Dr. Morton might address to the  American Academy would
 be received.   He closed by saying: " It is hardly  necessary to add that
 in nothing done  or  omitted by me is there any unfriendliness to you.
 I was, as you know, one of those who,  at a  very early period, gave you
 the most decided proofs of confidence."
  A literary  gentleman  who visited  Boston about this time, and sent
descriptive letters to the New York Spectator, gave the following "word-
sketch" of Dr. Morton:
  "I was fortunate enough  yesterday," he wrote, "to meet and con-
verse  with the  famed  discoverer of ether,  in the office of Mr. Dana,
who is  his warm  friend and legal adviser.  He  is young, of middle
stature,  and  (for  a wonder)  perfectly free  from the vanity wiiich one
would  suppose  such a man would feel.  His conversation expressed
perfect  self-confidence, without  the slightest presumption.  In speak-
           8 
5H
ing of his  discovery* he expressed himself with perfect firmness, but
without the least intrusive forwardness; yet when he differed with me
in opinion, he  did not hesitate  to express himself with a decision that
showed him to be just the man to follow an idea until  he succeeded  in
perfectly accomplishing his desires.  There was a strong expression  of
sense in all the lineaments of his expressive countenance, which is  lit
up with  the  burning fire of genius.   He politely  invited  me to hid
country residence, though I am told he is somewhat reserved in form-
ing acquaintances, preferring domestic tranquillity to figuring as a 'lion'
in Boston society."
                            CHAPTER IX.

    At the Commencement of the year 1848, the discovery made by Dr.
  Morion was engaging the attention of the whole civilized world—partly
  on account of its inestimable value, and partly because royal academies
  and academies of science were agitated with the claims of those who
  professed to have suggested the wonderful  qualities  of el her.  The
  question  was now definitely  decided,  after  all claims had been care-
  fully weighed, by a  most appropriate tribunal—the  trustees of the
  Massachusetts  General Hospital—at which  the  first public exhibition
  of this pain-destroying power was made> and where its effects were first
  witnessed by an admiring audience.
    The twelve  gentlemen who, as trustees of the hospital, made a
  thorough  investigation of the discovery of etherization, had great ad-
  vantages, (independent  of  their personal characters and qualities,) for
  conducting a  thorough  and impartial  inquiry.*  They  were on the
  spot where the discovery was made, had intercourse with Doctors Morton
  and Jackson, as well as the principal wilnesses; and were none of them
  physicians.   The estimable chairman of the sub committee  which
  drafted the report, (Hon. Nathaniel 1. Bowditch,) with two other gen-
  tlemen,  are well-known members of  the  legal profession; three, or
  more, were members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences;
  one of them (Mr. J. A.  Lowell) being, by his position as sole trustee of
  the Lowell Institute, in Boston, brought more intimately into contact with
  scientific men than almost any one in that community; and three-quarters
  of the whole board were graduates of Harvard University.   Never was
* a more fair, intelligent or competent "jury of the  vicinage" empanelled
  to try an issue.  It is the duty of  this  board  annually  to lay before the
  corporation a statement of the affairs of the hospital during the past year.
  What  should  have been done on this occasion?  The institution had
   become  somewhat identified with the announcement of the discovery,
   and the fact  could  not be passed over unmenlioned.  Ln meuiioning
•See letter from Hon. Daniel Webster, Chapter XII. 
 
 
59
 it, it was not easy to avoid thoroughly investigating to whom the honors
 of discovery belonged.
    The report, after carefully taking up, considering, and weighing all
 the evidence, and  all  the assertions presented, came to the  following
 as the essential conclusions in the case:
   1st.  Dr. Jackson does not appear at any time to have made any discovery in regard to
 ether which was not in print in Great Britain some years before.
   2d. Dr. Morton, in 1846, discovered the facts before unknown, that ether would prevent
 the pain of surgical operations, and that it might be given in sufficient quantity to effVet
 this purpose without danger to life.  He first established these  facts by numerous opera-
 tions on teeth and afterwards induced  the surgeons of the hospital to demonstrate its
 general applicability and importance in capital  operations.
   3d. Dr. Jackson appears to have had the belief that a power in ether to prevent pain in
 dental operations would be discovered.  He advised various persons to attempt the dis-
 covery.  But neither they nor he took any measures  to that end, and the world remained
 in entire ignorance of both the power and.safety of ether until Dr. Morton made his exper-
 iments.
   4th. The whole agency,of Dr. Jackson in the matter appears to consist only in his hav-
 ing made certain  suggestions  which led  or aided Dr. Morton to make the discovery—a
 discovery which had for some time been the object of his labors and researches.
    With this award (to use the words of a Congressional document) Dr,
 Jackson, Dr. Wells,  and the scientific world should have been satisfied,
 It was theirs*, and ought  to have  been the only contest.  Our en-
 lightened system of jurisprudence forbids, except under extraordinary
 circumstances, a  second trial of questions of fact,   It  forbids it as a
 guard against the danger incident to repeated investigations, that truth
 will be overcome by artfully manufactured evidence,   No body, either
 legislative or scientific,  to which  this decision of the trustees  of the
 Massachusetts General Hospital  has  ever  been submitted,  have over-
 ruled it.   It carries conviction with it, and is uncontrovertible.
   We omitted, in quoting from  the report, to give a paragraph which
 stated, as "a mortifying  fact, that Dr. Morton's pecuniary  affairs had
 become  embarrassed  in consequence of the interruption of his regular
 business, resulting from  his efforts and experiments in establishing this
 great truth, and that his  health has also seriously suffered from the same
 cause, so that he can devote only a small  part of each day  to his  pro-
 fessional labors.   He has become poor in a cause which has made the
 world  his debtor."
   It well became these gentlemen, who knew the  sacrifices prompted
 by Dr. Morton's generous nature in establishing'  his discovery, to take
 care that  he (who had imparted  a secret which  in  another age would
 have  secured  to him boundless  wealth and honors  all  but divine)
 should not, after having perilled  his own life to mitigate suffering,  and
 studied for years how to prolong the lives of others, now be forced "to
study to live."
  He had not only spent a great  deal of time, and incurred a great deal
of expense, as we have  related, in  perfecting and in introducing his
discovery, but, by the action of the United States Government he  had
found what promised  to be a source of sustaining revenue transformed
into a heavy incumbrance.  He  was not, it will be remembered, in
affluent circumstances when he  first conceived  the idea, and he now 
GO
found himself, with a family who looked to him for support, depend-
ent on his dental practice.
  This, of course, had been very much interrupted by his devotion to
his discovery, and  even now that he  resumed it, suffering under im-
paired health, he was forced to keep up his extensive correspondence
upon anaesthesia—a task which made him almost a public servant,
laboring for  the benefit of others, whilst there was nothing of advan-
tage to himself, but the consciousness that he was so employed.
   Under these  circumstances, it was  thought by his  friends  that the
magnitude of his discovery and the very disinterested manner in which
he was sacrificing  his time and  his property in diffusing its blessings,
(deprived of  the  guarantee  solemnly  secured by  his letters-patent,)
were fit subjects for the consideration of the American Congress.  This
course had been recommended some months previous  by eminent phy-
sicians, who had  drafted  an appeal to the  National Legislature,  but,
after  due deliberation, it  was decided  that it would be better for  Dr.
Morton to go in person to the seat of Government, and have his claim
brought before Congress by  his personal memorial.
   This had been  the  mode  of  proceeding when  Jenner  submitted the
merits of vaccination to the Parliament  of Great Britain.   By it, proofs
of the utility of the  discovery, and the right of  Dr. Morton to that*
discovery,  would  be  placed in such  an unquestionable shape  as to
put to silence all  gainsayers; and it  would  not only demonstrate  how
much his own private interests  had suffered by  his endeavors to serve
others, but to what extent the course of the Government, in infringing
its own patent,  had rendered it worse than useless.
   Previously,  however,  and in a great degree preparatory to a direct
application to the National Congress, some of the prominent citizens of
Boston began to take measures to give a testimonial  of the value set
upon the discovery, and the sympathy  for the  discoverer.
   The trustees of  the Massachusetts General Hospital took the lead in
this becoming expression of public feeling, and their committee exerted
themselves with laudable energy, more anxious to secure the co-opera-
tion of many eminent citizens than  large amounts from a few.   The
following letter shows the sentiments entertained by these gentlemen:
                                                "Boston, May 12, 1848.
  "Dkar Sir: At a meeting of  the Eoard of Trustees of the Massachusetts General Hos-
pital, a few weeks  since, it was informally suggested, that a limited subscription of one
thousand dollars shall be raised for your benefit  in acknowledgment of your services in
the late ether discovery; no one to be asked to subscribe more than ten dollars.  We con-
sented to act as a committee to receive and apply the proceeds of this subscription.  The
proposed sum having been obtained, we have now the pleasure of transmitting it to you.
We also enclose the subscription book in a casket which accompanies this note.  Among
its signatures you will find the names of not a few of those most distinguished among us
for worth and intelligence; and it may be remarked, that it is signed by every  member of
the Board of Trustees.
  "You will, we are sure, highly value this first testimonial, slight as it is, of the grati-
tude of your fellow-citizens.  That you may hereafter receive an adequate national reward
is the sincere wish of your obedient servants,
                                         "SAMUEL FROTHINGHAM,
                                         "THOS. B. CURTIS.
  "To Dr. William T. G. Morton." 
 
 
61
  The silver casket accompanying this  note was executed by Messrs.
Jones, Low,  and Ball, and bore the following inscriptions:—In front,
"Testimonial in honor of the ether discovery of September 30, 1848;"
and on the lid:

                                THIS BOX,
                     Containing One Thousand Dollars,
                              Is presented to
                 WILLIAM THOMAS GREEN MORTON,
                          By the Members  of the
                             Board of Trustees
                                  of the
                    Massachusetts General Hospital,
                        And other citizens of Boston,
                               May 8, 1848.


   William J. Bowditch and Caleb Eddy, esquires,  were appointed a
committee to present this gratifying acknowledgment of public gratitude
to Dr. Morton, who made  the  following reply to  the gentlemen who
had so handsomely directed the affair:


                                                    Boston, May 15,  1848.
  Gentlemen:—I need hardly say that your communication  of the 12th inst., and the
accompanying casket, subscription book, and donation, have  been received  by me with
gratification of no ordinary degree.
  Apart from the positive value of the gifts,  the kind feeling which has led to this mani-
festation on the part of so many of the first citizens of Boston,  has affected me in a man-
ner that I am not likely soon to forget.  The circumstances in which I have been placed
for some time past give them an additional value; and by my children the  testimonial will
be appreciated hardly less than by myself.
  In recognising among the names those of each  of the Trustees  of the Massachusetts
General Hospital, I  am bound to acknowledge this renewal of my indebtedness to  that
institution.   It was the first to receive, verify, sustain, and promulgate the ether discovery;
and, from the earliest, I have received from its officers, surgeons, physicians, and trusteeB,
nothing but constant courtesy, liberality, and kind  consideration.
  Allow me to acknowledge your personal kindness in acting as a committee for the pur-
poses of subscription, and the tasteful manner in which you have given to it an enduring
value and significance.
  You are pleased to speak of my services as deserving a national reward.   I  am  glad to
have your concurrence and sympathy in this opinion;  and it is not unknown to you, that,
if received, it would be to me not only a reward, but an indemnification and relief.
             Respectfully, your obliged and obedient servant,
                                             WILLIAM  T. G. MORTON.

To Messrs. Samuel Frothingham and Thomas B. Curtis.
he hospital report, meanwhile, had an extensive circulation, many
linent medical and  scientific periodicals copying it  entire—Hays'
  The
pro mi
Philadelphia Medical  Gazette  among the rest.    In Littell's  Living
Age it was accompanied by an  able review of other matters connected
with  the discovery,  by Richard H.  Dana, jr. esq., author  of "Two
years before the Mast."   This  publication Dr. Morton  had  translated
into  French, and sent an edition to Europe.   Unfortunately the  box 
02
destined for the French Academy of Sciences, (as will be shown here-
after,) never reached its destination until too late to be of service.
   "Ether and chloroform;  their Discovery and Physiological Effects,"
appeared in November,  184S.   It was from the pen  of  Dr. Henry J.
Bigelow, one of the surgeons of  the Massachusetts General  Hospital,
and had, in part, been prepared  at the request of the Surgical Com-
mittee of the National Medical Convention, which had that year held its
annual session  at Boston.   In concluding  this elaborate  review of  the
discovery,  the  author  says: "Dr. Morton  was, according to the evi-
dence in print, both the prime mover and the immediate agent in  the
introduction  of this discovery to the world."
   Dr. Morton now appears on a new stage of action, where a national
recognition of  his labors, by reports of Congressional  committees, and
the votes of  each House  of Congress in  his favor, shows that he had
done  well in waiting for public opinion and  a sense of  right to work
their  proper and  just effects.
CHAPTER X.
   Dr. Morton arrived  at  Washington  in  January,  1849,  and  was
warmly welcomed by his friends, and many others, to whom  he was
highly recommended, and to whom he was already well known by repu-
tation.  His acquaintance was also sought by the medical officers of the
army and the navy,  who had used the agent which he had discovered
in the public service, and could bear testimony to the incalculable ben-
efits resulting from it, in saving the lives, and in allaying  the sufferings
of the.gallant soldiers and  sailors who defend our country's starry en-
sign.  To show the estimation in which Dr. Morton was held in Bos-
ton, and the appreciation of  his merits as a discoverer, we give a few
of the letters of introduction which he brought to the national roetrop.
olis."
                       Letter from Governor Briggs.
                                 "Council Chamber, Boston, Jan. 12, 1849.
  "Dear Corwin: Allow me to introduce to your acquaintance Dr. Morton, of this city
whose name the world  knows as the discoverer of the application of ether to alleviate pain.
An application to Congress for some compensation for the discovery is to be made.  May
I ask you, for the doctor, who, thus far, though he has relieved thousands of others from
Buffering, has had nothing but suffering himself as his reward, to look at his case, and, if
you find it has merits,  give it your support.
                         Sincerely and truly yours,
                                            "GEO. M. BRIGGS.
  "Hoa Thos. Corwin."
                       Letter from Governor Morton.
                                             "Boston, January 12, 1849.
^"™^AmS^:iam haPPy-° ^ave lke opportunity of presenting to your acquaintance
Dr. W. T. G. Morton, of this city.  Dr. M., who by reputation is doubtless known to
you, has the distinction to have his name identified with one of the most important discov 
 
 
63
cries of modern times, the application of ether as an agent for producing insensibility to
pain in surgical operations.  His object, as I understand, in visiting Washington at  this
time, is to endeavor to  procure from Congress some recognition of the value of his  dis-
covery.  I beg leave to  recommend him to your kind attention.
                "1 am, very respectfully, your friend and servant,
                                                     MARCUS  MORTON.
  "To  Hon. Thos. H.  Benton."
                           Letter from Mayor Bigelow.

                                                   " Boston, December 9, 1848.
  " Sir: I avail myself of the honor which 1 had of making your acquaintance last season,
during your visit to Boston, to introduce to you my friend, Dr. Morton, the discoverer of
the effect of ether in producing insensibility to pain, a discovery which  has placed him in
the front rank of the benefactors of the human race.  He visits Washington in the hope
of obtaining some recognition on the pari of Congress of the value of his discovery, and
has already secured the favorable consideration of some of the members.  Your assistance
in the matter would be  in keeping with your well-known and enlightened philanthropy, and
would be gratefully appreciated.
  " I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
                                                     "JOHN P. BIGELOW.
  '• Hon. Isaac E. Holmes."
                        Letter from Hon. Charles Sumner.

                                                    Boston, January 11, 1849.
  " Mt Dear Sir*  Dr. Morton visits Washington in  the hope of obtaining something
from Congress on account of his great ether discovery.   I wish to express to you my in-
terest in his cause, and my sense of his remarkable merit.
                                   " Faithfully yours,
                                                    " CHARLES SUMNER.
  " Hon. John P. Hale."
                           Letter from Dr. John Jefferies.
                                                     Boston, January 10, 1849.
Hon. J. G. Palfrey.
  " Dear Sir: Mr- W. T. G. Morton,  a  dentist of considerable eminence in  this cityj
who claims to have originated the use of sulphuric ether to produce insensibility to pain,
and who most certainly first  introduced  it into practice, visits Washington  to seek some
remuneration from Government for this great benefit to the country.
  " At his request, I  beg leave to present this to your consideration, with the unreserved
expression of my opinion, that the world  is indebted solely to Mr. Morton for the intro-
duction of the greatest physical blessing that has been bestowed upon suffering humanity.
  " The use of the anaesthetic agents, begun by Mr. Morton, as a means of preserving life,
and especially of preventing  an  incalculable amount  of pain, is not, I  think, of less im-
portance than the benefit conferred to the world by the immortal Jenner in  the introduc-
tion of vaccination.  I  most truly wish that Mr. Morton might receive some return for hia
benefaction.
                          "With much regard, yours,
                                                      "JOHN JEFFERIES."

  The  Hon.  Daniel  Webster,  who  was  then in the  United  States
Senate, had ever taken  a  great interest  in   the personal success of  Dr.
Morton, and  was again of great service to him, as was his senatorial
colleague,  the Hon. John Davis.   The Hon. Daniel P. King (another
distinguished son of Massachusetts, who has since departed  this life full
of honors)  was earnest  in  his assistance; while the Hon. J. G.  Palfrey,
D.  D., the Hon. George Ashmun, and others from the old Bay State, 
64
seemed to take a pride in the discovery, and in the discoverer.  Nor
Was this disposition to reward just merit confined to (hose from the State
in which the discovery was made, for gentlemen  from all  quarters of
the Union appeared equally interested, asserting that their constituents
had been equally benefitted.   Foremost among those who volunteered
their aid was the  Hon. John Wentworth, of Illinois, (who, like Dr.
Morton, is a progressive amateur farmer,) and, on the 19th of January,
he presented the memorial to Congress, in the House of Representatives.
  This memorial was a brief, well-written statement by  Dr.  Morton of
the leading facts in the case.   It represented that while in the prosperous
practice of the dental profession, " he saw frequent instances of physical
suffering; and was (as many others had been) induced to consider whether
there might not be some means of alleviating such sufferings, and render-
ing operations less  painful to those obliged to submit to them.   That,
in pursuance of this object, he examined such known  and approved
treatises on materia medica as he could obtain,  and consulted with the
most learned  persons to whom he could get access, but found the scien-
tific knowledge on  this subject wholly vague and  unsatisfactory; that,
nevertheless, he continued the investigation, and,  gathering all the in-
formation he could, was led, step by step, after, many examinations and
experimenis, to the belief that sulphuric ether, property administered,
might produce partial  if not total insensibility; that, desirous to verify
his belief by  actual experiment upon the human  system, and finding
the idea prevalent among the scientific, that any application which would
be productive of such effects would be  injurious to health, if not fatal
to life, he made the experiment upon himself, and, after  an uncon-
sciousness of several minutes, awoke with no injury to health; that thus
confirmed in his views, he proceeded,  against much opposition  and
amidst many obstacles, until at last, in the presence of the most eminent
surgeons and physicians of a public institution, and  on a public occasion,
he was enabled to  manifest the truth of his conception,  and exhibited
a patient submitting to an amputation of a leg, without the slightest sen-
timent of pain, or the least injury  to general health, in consequence of
the application which produced this insensibility.
   To this modest statement of his discovery, Dr. Morton added a brief
narrative of the outlays and losses to which it had subjected him, besides
impairing his health by mental anxiety and overexertion, and con-
cluded by appealing to Congress'in these expressive, convincing,  yet
dignified words: "Considering the nature of the discovery, the benefit
which it confers, and must continue to confer so long as nature lasts, upon
humanity; the price at which your petitioner effected it, in  the serious
injury to his  business; the detriment to his health;  the entire absence of
any remuneration from the privileges under his patent, and  that it is of
direct benefit to the Government, by its use in the army and navy, you
should grant him such relief as might seem to you sufficient to  restore
him at least to that position in which he was before he made known to
the world a discovery which enables man to undergo, without the sense
of pain, the severest physical trials to which  human nature is subject." 
 
 
65
  It may not be amiss to state here that history presents many instances
in which masters of the  healing art  have received national  rewards.
Herodotus informs us that wealth and honors were heaped upon Dem-
ocedes for having improved the health of Darius, king of the Persians,
when he was their prisoner.   Hippocrates was enrolled  by the Greeks
as a citizen, presented with a golden crown, and endowed with a pub-
lic maintenance.  The physicians of Smyrna received honors scarcely
inferior to those paid the most eminent magistrates, and  we often see
their effigies stamped upon ancient coins, in  common with the images
of Hygeia, and other divinities who  presided over health.
  Nor was this national recompense  for ameliorating human suffering
confined to the ancients.  So  recently as 1802 the Parliament of Great
Britain  had  received and favorably considered  a memorial  exacily
parallel to that of Dr. Morton, from Dr. Edward Jenner, the discoverer
of vaccination.   He, like Dr. Morton, anxious to promote the safety
and welfare of his countrymen and of mankind in general, sedulously
endeavored to spread the knowledge of his discovery, and was tri-
umphantly successful.  But, in prosecuting his experiments, Dr. Jen-
ner was "so interrupted in  the ordinary exercise of his profession as
materially to abridge its pecuniary  advantages," as he  slated in his
"humble petition" to parliament, in which he prayed that they would
"grant him such remuneration as to their wisdom should seem meet."
The readiness with which England granted this national reward, natu-
rally inspired Dr. Morton wilh the  hope that our republic would be
equally grateful for an American discovery,  equally beneficial to man-
kind.
  Dr. Morton's memorial, on  the day after its  presentation, was re-
ferred under the rules to a select committee, which had been  raised
expressly for the consideration of medicinal questions, and was entirely
composed of physicians, viz: Doctors T. O. Edwards  and Fries, of
Ohio; W. A.  Newell, of New Jersey; Lord and Jones.  They con-
sidered the subject—it was unanimously admitted—with  more care and
attention than had ever before been bestowed by a Congressional com-
mittee on a private memorial.  Their sessions were numerous and pro-
tracted, often extending late into the night, and a large  mass of oral
and written testimony was carefully analyzed.  As was the case when
Dr. Jenner's claim  was  before a committee of the English Parliament,
"efforts of a very extraordinary kind  were made to impugn the claim,"
and several individuals officiously endeavored, by presenting what the
committee styled " irrelevant  affidavits," to  detract from  Dr. Morton's
merits.
  A powerful argument in Dr. Morton's favor was the ease and the
success with which he  personally administered  the ether, while the
subject was before the committee.   Some of these experiments were
successfully made in presence of distinguished members  of Congress,
and of medical  officers in the army  and  the navy.  Surgeon General
Lawson, of the army, and Dr. Harris, chief of  the Naval Bureau of
Medicine and  Surgery, addressed official communications to the com-
          9 
66
mittee, stating that ether was used in the army and the navy, and thai
it constituted a portion  of  the  regular supplies.   Both officers were
zealous in supporting Dr. Morton's  claim, and  Dr. Harris, in  several
letters, spoke of him as  "the acknowledged author of the anasthetic
discovery."
  Congress, moreover,  had frequently rewarded  individuals for dis-
coveries of limited  importance, which in  no wise  entitled them to a
place among the benefactors of  mankind.   Purchasing the right from
a patentee to use a valuable discovery was no new thing at Washington,
as was shown by the Hon. Mr. Borland,  of Arkansas, in the United
States Senate, in a subsequent debate.  " I will cite," said he, "a few
cases:  We paid for the right to make anchors of a certain form for the
navy, $1,500; for the use of circular bullet  moulds, $5,000; for the use
of gas in vapor baths, $5,000; for elevating  and pointing heavy cannon,
$20,000; for the right to use patent anti-attrition metal, $20,000.  We
paid to the heirs of Robert Fulton,  for benefits conferred  by  his im-
provements in steam navigation, $76,300.   We paid for Mix's manger
stopper, used in the cavalry  service, $3,000. We paid to Dr. Locke, for
the  use of his magnetic clock,  $10,000.   We  paid to McCulloch &
Booth, for the right to use the improved method of refining our argen-
liferous gold bullion, $25,000—thus making an aggregate of $165,000
paid in these cases. But, in addition to these, there have been numerous
instances in which patent-rights, or the privilege of using  in the service
of the  Government patented articles, have  been  purchased  by the De-
partments—some of which instances I find  cited in connection with the
report  of the select committee  of the House of Representatives__for
which  were paid $178,032;—making an aggregate of $343,000 paid
by the  United States for patents  and  the use of patented articles.  Since
I have been a member of the Senate, when meritorious individuals have
come before  us who had made important discoveries, we have aided
them to test their discoveries by appropriations amounting, in the whole,

  Meanwhile, the close of the session approached, and with it the close
of Mr.  Polk's administration, which was to  be followed by that of Gen.
Taylor, involving a sweeping change in every important office.  Much
business before Congress remained unfinished;  and there was no chance
of bringing up any question  on which the invariable discussion attending
every appropriation of money must ensue.   The committee therefore
deemed it advisable not  to recommend  any pecuniary remuneration—
but  they submitted a most decisive report.
  This document (Report No. 114) is a careful review of Dr. Morton's
claim to the practical discovery of the anaesthetic properties of ether.
"Your committee are satisfied," it  says, "that Dr. Morton is entitled
to the  merit of the  discovery.   The great thought was  of producing
insensibility to pain; and the discovery consisted in that thought, and
in verifying it practically by experiment.   For this the world is in-
debted to Dr. Morton; and even if the same thought, in all its distinct-
ness and extent, arose also  in the mind of Dr. Jackson, at or prior to 
 
 
6?
 that time, yet he did not carry it out by experiment, and thus give it
 to the world; and, on that  supposition, it was the case of an important
 thought occupying two minds at the same time—one only of whom
 brought it out by experiment, and is therefore the discoverer.   It was
 clear that  the discovery was  destined soon to be  given to the world
 Science had almost reached it—but a single step, and  it was compassed-
 and it happened in this case,  as in many others, that the necessities of
 the profession, and a want deeply felt in the daily business of life, rather
 than scientific induction, at last produced the consummation."
   One of  the experiments showed the utility of the discovery for both
 branches of the public service, in  detecting feigned diseases.   The
 consummate art ofttimes displayed by malingerers,  who are desirous of
 procuring their discharges from the service, or to escape unpleasant duty,
 is such as  not unfrequenily  to baffle the skill  of the  most experienced
 officers.  It is not enough in these cases to suspect that disease is
 feigned.   Humanity  requires that the fact of malingering he proved,
 before the  kind offices of the physician  are refused.  In  the case  in
 point: A man named Charles Lanke, who had been  a private of artil-
 lery, had applied for a pension on account of alleged  anchylosis of the
 knee-joint.  But when Dr.  Morton administered ether to him, in pres-
 ence of a number of members of Congress and medical officers, it was
 very evident that the  stiffness of the knee-joint was  feigned, and that
 no pension was deserved.
   Although  the  committee  deduced their conclusion from evidence
 without resting on  individual opinion or authority, they were  greatly
 strengthened by the report of the trustees of the Massachusetts General
 HospitaL  This  was  confirmed by  a statement, sent by authority of
 Dr. James Jackson,  the head of  the  medical profession in Boston,
 that  "Dr.  Morton is  more entitled  to a grant  from Congress, for the
 ether discovery, than any and all other persons in the world.
   Resolutions were appended to the report, one of which, unanimously
 endorsed by the professional and  scientific  gentlemen who had inter-
 ested themselves in the question, read thus:
  "Resolved, That to Dr. W. T. G. Morton is due the credit of having made the first
practical application of sulphuric ether as an anaesthetic agent, and  demonstrating  to the
world its power to destroy nervous sensibility to such an extent as  to enable surgeons to
perform all the various surgical operations upon the human body  without pain."
                           CHAPTER XI.

  Returning to the North immediately after the presentation of the re-
port made by the  Congressional committee, Dr. Morton made a brief
stay in  Baltimore, where he had  first devoted himself to professional
study ten years previous, and where he now  unexpectedly received
the regular degree of Doctor of Medicine from Washington  University.
Dr. J. C. S. Monkur was at  that time  president of this well-known 
6b
Alma Mater, and among the professors were Doctors Stokes, McC'ook,
Roberts, Bond, Wright, and Cook.   Invited to dine with these gentle-
men, Dr. Morion found the following note under his plate—an agree-
able way of conferring the honor:
  Dear Sir: It affords me much pleasure to inform you, that at a meeting of the faculty
of the Washington University of Baltimore, you were unanimously admitted to the De-
gree of Doctor of Medicine.
                                  THOMAS E. BOND, Dean of Faculty.
  Dr. W. T. G. Morton.

  The  mere announcement of  Dr.  Morton's arrival in Boston  wag
sufficient to bring him a return of the lucrative practice which he  had
previously enjoyed,  and which  he now  resumed at No. 17, Tremont
Row, the birthplace of his discovery.   He did  not cease, however, (he
vindication of  his rights, and lost no  time  in superintending a transla-
tion  of  the Congressional report  into French, that it might be  sent
abroad.   Its character he announced  in a letter which appeared in the
Compte Rendus of the French Academy of Sciences, page 556 of the
volume  for 1849, under the date of April 23d.
  "M.  Morton writes a letter concerning the question of priority for
the discovery of the  anaesthetic properties of ether.  The author  begs
the academy,  in the case they  were  disposed  to pronounce  upon this
question, a wish that it should be made  known to him in advance, so
that he  can  come  in person to sustain his rights  before  them.  M.
Morton, after having noticed that the first experiments with this sub-
ject had been made at the hospital in Boston, announces that the ad-
ministrations of this  establishment, in their annual report for the year
1848, attribute to him formally the honor of the discovery.   He adds,
that the question having  been  brought before the Congress of the
United  States, the majority of  the committee  to whom it had been
submitted have judged in the same manner."
  The academy, unfortunately for its own reputation as an  impartial
arbitrator in  scientific matters, had previously shown a disposition to
make a  decision on the discovery of ether,  based upon the ex-parte tes-
timony  produced  by the friends of claimants  in Paris.   Another ex-
tract from the Compte Rendus, under date of March 24, 1848,  con-
clusively proves this.  "M. Morton," il  says, "announced the sending
of documents  destined to establish in his  favor the  priority relative to
the discovery of the effect of the inhalation of  ether.  The documents
announced are not yet before the academy.  The letter of M. Morton
was sent to be examined by the  commission  upon ether and chloro-
form."
  The  cause of this detention of documents, it was afterwards discov-
ered, was the neglect of the commission  house, to whom  they were
consigned, to take them from the custom-house at Havre, where  they
remained from May 6th to  December 6th.  The consequence was a
partial recognition of Dr. Morton's discovery of the aneesthetical effects
produced by the inhalation of ether,  by  giving him the distinct award
of merit for having introduced this priceless boon. 
 
 
69
  Devoted to his profession, and ever ready to communicate to  others
the results of his practical observation, Dr. Morton wrote, in the  spring
of 1849, a valuable series of papers on "Mechanical Dentistry." These
were published in that sterling periodical, the "American Journal of
Dental Science," then under the editorial supervision of Dr. Chapin A.
Harris, of Baltimore.
   The appearance of the Asiatic cholera at  Boston not only drove all
who could leave into the country, but kept those residing in the suburbs
at home.  Availing himself of this temporary cessation of home-practice,
Dr. Morton visited the  ocean isle of Nantucket, where he had often
been urged to  make a professional visit.  In this  point of view  it was
highly successful, and it was also rendered personally agreeable  by the
attentions of the residents, and those who  were  sojourning there for
health or recreation.
   A new pamphlet on the question of anaesthesia  was published  in the
summer  of 1849, entitled "The Casket and the Ribbon, or the Honors
of Ether."   It was by William  H. Dwinelle, M. D., of Baltimore,
and  was a review of the  whole question, descanting especially upon
the relative value of the casket presented Dr. Morton by the citizens of
Boston, for his labors in the discovery of anaesthesia, and the ribbon of
chevalier, the  minor  degree of the  French  Legion of Honor, sent by
Louis Napoleon to Dr. Jackson.   "We sincerely congratulate Dr. Mor-
ton," says the concluding paragraph of this able pamphlet, "upon the
fact that the opinion is constantly becoming more and more strong and
general, that to his efforts and labors the world owes one of its choicest
blessings."
   It afterwards appeared, by a letter from Mr.  George Sumner (then at
Paris)  to Dr. George Hay ward, of Boston, that the presentation  of this
"order" to Dr. Jackson,  "was principally  owing to the  efforts  of M.
Elie de Beaumont, the  distinguished geologist, and was just as much
for what Dr. Jackson  may have done as a geologist, as for any thing he
may have had to do with  ether.
   In the spring of 1850, Dr. Morton received intelligence that the Paris
Academy of Sciences—the "Institut de France"—had awarded  him
one of the prizes founded by the philanthropic Monthyon, to be awarded
to benefactors of  the human race.   Alexandre Vattemare, esq., the
well-known director of "International Literary Exchanges," said, in
forwarding the announcement to Dr. Morton: "I feel myself  highly
honored in thus being the humble interpreter of the proclaimed esteem
and high appreciation of  the Institute of France, for  the service  ren-
dered to suffering humanity by your important labors."
   Monsienr Flourens, the perpetual secretary of the Academy for the
Division of Natural  Science,  closed his  official announcement  of the
award to Dr. Morton  by saying:  "I avail myself, with great pleasure,
sir, of  this occasion to offer  my personal congratulations, while  I  bear
witness to the interest which  the academy  takes  in your studies  and
in your success.   Be pleased to accept, sir, the assurances of my high
consideration. 
7U
  This was, indeed, a noble evidence of the appreciation of Dr. Mor-
ton's scientific labors  by the foremost learned body in the world.   To
use the words of the  Hon. Mr.  Walker in  a subsequent  debate in the
Senate, "It shows whom they considered as the  real inventor;" and
this flattering mark of distinction, coming from this  high source, was
highly gratifying to Dr. Morion's friends.   Letters  of congratulation
poured in from all quarters, and the award of the Academy appeared to
give it an additional importance  in the eyes of many  eminent scientific
men,  who hailed its decision with pleasure.   Some,  however, thought
that even this recognition  was not commensurate with Dr. Morton's
merits; among them, Dr. Thomas W. Evans, a  distinguished practi-
tioner, then at Paris.   "Althoug'h," he wrote Dr.  Morton, "they have,
in some measure, done you justice, yet I think  not so much as you
merit.   It is the general opinion of medical men here, that you should
have a much larger share of thanks than the Institute  has awarded you.
Allow me to congratulate you *upon the  honorable  mention of your
name."
  The Academy's  expression of opinion was received  by Dr. Morton
in the acceptable form of their largest gold medal. On one side of this
magnificent testimonial  is a finely executed medallion  head of Minerva,
surrounded by the legend : " Institut National de France."   On  the
other side is inscribed, surrounded by a laurel wreath  : " Academie des
Sciences—Prix Montyon—Medicini et Chirurgie—concours de 1847 et
1848—William T. G. Morton, 1850."  Valuable as was the medal,
it did  not absorb the whole  sum of twenty-five hundred franks voted by
the Academy, and the balance was expended in a massive gold frame,
ornamented with branches  of laurel—that classic tribute to victory.
  Attending the annual convention of Dental Surgeons, (which  was
again  held at Saratoga Springs,)  Dr. Morton met his Paris correspon-
dent,  Dr. C. S. Brewster, a gentlemen  whose professional  merits had
won him an order of  knighthood.  Having attained  an ample fortune
by his lucrative practice, Dr. Brewster was then on a visit to his native
land,  and was naturally an object of marked  attention.   Being tho-
roughly acquainted with the introduction  of ether  into Europe,  his
society was especially attractive to Dr. Morton,  and after the adjourn-
ment  of the convention, they took a pleasure tour  westward, accompa-
nied by their ladies and several professional  friends.
  At Niagara they remained  sometime, enjoying the grandeur  and
beauty of  the scene, and interchanging thoughts  upon such scientific
and professional topics as presented themselves.  Returning eastward
by way of the lakes, the whole party continued  together, and were en-
tertained by Dr. Morton at  Etherton Cottage, which had become a
beautiful spot.
  In September, 1850, Dr. Morton published  a  work " On the phy-
siological effects of Sulphuric Ether, and its superiority to Chloroform."
He had been continually called  upon (as he stated in the preface) and
addressed by letter, by  persons unacquainted with  the  properties of
ether, asking information concerning its safety  and adaptation to their 
 
 
71
individual cases.   There was no work of small compass and of good
authority to which he could  refer  the majority of popular readers for
satisfactory answers on these questions; and, in order that he might an-
swer once for all such interrogatories, he reduced his practice in etheri-
zation into the compass of a work adapted for public circulation.
  The Appendix to this work embodies  a mass of  valuable informa-
tion, extracted by Dr. Morton from his scientific correspondence with
Professors Bigelow and Ware, of Harvard University;  Professors Hus-
ton and Muller, of Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia; Professor
Knight, of Yale  College, New Haven;  Doctors Post and Watson, of
New York;  and other eminent gentlemen.
  Dr. Morton also  published an article  on the  " Comparative Yalue
of Sulphuric Ether and Chloroform," in the " Boston Medical and
Surgical Journal" for September 11,  1850.   Having some years pre-
vious written on the proper  way to administer ether,  he now considered
the comparative  value of different anaesthetic agents,  and on this last
mentioned topic he gave evidence of deep research, sustained by exten-
sive experiments  and correspondence.   What was the most interesting
and valuable, was his own tabular statement of professional observa-
tion, from which  valuable results were easily to be derived.
   While Dr. Morton continued to  give direction, as it were, to his dis-
covery of anaesthesia, and spared no exertions in extending its precious
benefits, he continued to supervise and direct the professional opera-
lions at his establishment.  Never, perhaps, had dental surgery been
so scientifically carried on, for  Dr. Morton perfected  every branch of
the practice, even to the manufacture of  artificial teeth.   Experiments
and chemical tests enabled him to furnish directions to those in this
department  of his establishment, with such receipts and directions as
enabled  them to manufacture teeth  from  mineral substances, which
were neither subject to abrasion or decay.   These soon became known,
and were in great  demand, far and  near.   Dr. Edwards  (who after
leaving Congress had  become  a professor in the  medical college at
Cincinnati)  wrote to  Dr.  Morton: "I had hoped ere this  you could
have had an invoice of your teeth forwarded us.  We are doing a  'land
office business' in teeth, and had we yours, with your reputation, we
could double our sales."
   Through  the  next winter Dr.  Morton continued  his professional
labors, although  the subject of etherization had constant possession of
his mind, and at  times gave him no small trouble.   He  continued his
scientific correspondence, in order  to collect reliable testimony on the
best method of enjoying the benefits of his discovery, pursuing his
work with as much earnestness as  if he had been commencing his ca-
reer, and had never effected anything for  mankind.
  Domestic afflictions also restrained his  desires and detained him at
home, when he  would fain  have watched  the  use of  his  discovery
abroad.  "I had expected  to have met you at Paris ere this," he wrote
to Dr. Brewster,  in May, 1851, "but the ill  health of my wife (who
suffers from bleeding at  the lungs) absolutely forbids my  leaving
home." 
72
                          CHAPTER XII.

  At this period of Dr. Morion's life, the agricultural society of Norfolk
county, in which West Needham is situated, was instituted by the Hon.
Marshal P. Wilder, and others who were  his personal friends.   Under
their fostering influence  a spirit of agricultural inquiry was aroused,
which  led practical as well as amateur farmers to such information on
those natural laws and principles upon which depend the full develop-
ment of agricultural resources.
  No one would have supposed that Dr. Morton, who naturally sought
at his country-seat  relaxation  from the professional duties of the city,
would  have been willing to enter into agricultural investigations.   Yet
he was no sooner solicited to lend his aid to the advancement  of the
objects of the county society, than he  entered into  it with zeal.   lis
published transactions show the results of his careful observations on the
different breeds of cattle and swine, with the  food  best calculated to
increase their value; on the various fertilizing substances, and the  best
methods of applying them;  on the circumstances  and requirements
that are essential to enable esculent roots to take up and assimilate the
elementary principles that are essential to  their vitality and growth;  on
the advantages of under-draining; in short, he gave  the results  of his
practical experience, illuminated by the light of science.
  The number of premiums awarded to Dr. Morton,  at different times,
by the Norfolk County Agricultural Society, not only bore testimony to
his  own superiority of culture, but to the necessity for  science in this pri-
mitive vocation.  In fact, there is  no pursuit which requires more
scientific investigation.  It was by studying the laws of those chemical
changes which take place  in fertilizers and soils, and  their influence on
vegetation, from the  germination cf the seed to  the maturity of the
crop, that Dr. Morton-based his much talked-of crops of esculent roots.
  It was by a careful attention to the laws of animal physiology, that
he carried on a  series  of  experiments,  directed by  scientific research
into the nutritive value of substances for food, that he so perfected dif-
ferent  races of live-stock,  as  to  have  his  animals  sought for all over
the United States.   And it was doubtless a source of true enjoyment to
the proprietor of " Etherton," while engaged in the stormy conflict of
professional controversy, to retire to his well-tilled domain, and there—
while  reviving the memories of his childhood's home among his house-
hold treasures—to feel that  he was (by  the fruit of his scientific re-
searches) redeeming labor from drudgery, while quadrupling its effici-
ency,  and crowning the earth with plenty.
   In the autumn of 1851, Dr. Morton received a letter from the Secre-
tary of State, enclosing an extract from a despatch received from the
American minister at Berlin, which stated that Baron  Humboldt wished
the name of the original  administration of ether for  surgical purposes.
"Your name has been connected with  the subject," wrote  Mr. Crit- 
 
 
73
tenden,  " and  therefore any information  you may  see fit to forward
hither for the purpose will be transmitted with pleasure for  Baron von
Humboldt's use."

  Ere this reached Boston, Dr. Morton had determined  to revisit Wash-
ington, and again submit his claim to the investigation of a Congressional
committee.   Supposing that this would not  occupy many weeks, he
delayed his reply, which  will hereafter appear.
  The mere  announcement of his  intention  to  have his claims again
presented before  Congress, was received by his friends with enthusiasm,
and we copy some of the letters of encouragement and of introduction
which reached him on every hand.   They show that the great and
the gifted of  our land bore  him  nobly in their memories, and  did not
hesitate to volunteer their opinion of  his individual worth,  his intrepid
defiance of  professional opposition, his triumphant introduction of his
discovery, and the value of that discovery itself.


                       Letter from Hon. Daniel  Webster.

                                           Washington, December 20, 1851.
Dr.  W. T. G. Morton.

  Dear Sir:  In reply to your letter of  the  17th instant,  I,would  say that, having been
called on, on a previous occasion, to examine the question of the discovery of the applica-
tion of ether in surgical operations, I then formed the opinion which I have since seen no
reason to change, that the merit of that  great discovery belonged to you, and I had sup-
posed that the reports of the Trustees of the Hospital and of the Committee of the House
of Representatives of the United Stales were conclusive on this point.
  The gentlemen  connected  with  the hospital are well known to me as of the highest
character, and they possessed, at the time of the investigation, every facility for ascertain-
ing all the facts in the case.
  The Committee of the House were, I  believe, unanimous in awarding to you the merit
of having made the  first  practical application  of ether, and a majority, by their report,
awarded to you the entire credit of the discovery.
               Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
                                                   DANIEL WEBSTER.
                     One of three tellers from Dr. Holmes.

                                                Boston, November 28, 1851.

  My dear Morse: Here is our townsman, Dr. Morton, anxious to give his high-minded
compatriots one more chance to do him justice.  He expresses himself greatly indebted to
you for your assistance two years ago, and I know you for a staunch friend and sup-
porter when you have once set down your foot.  What can you do for him now?   Will
you do it ?
                                     Yours,"most truly,
                                                        O. W. HOLMES.
  Hon. Isaac Edward Morse.
                        LelUrfrom Dr. George Hayward.
                                                     Boston, Nov 28, 1851.

  My dear Sir: This will be handed to you by Dr. Morton, who is entitled, I think, to
the name of the discoverer of the anaesthetic powers of ether.  You are fully aware what
a blessing this has been already to the human race, and 1 trust  that Congress sufficiently
appreciate it to grant him some reward.
            10 
74
  It is for this purpose he visits Washington, and I hope that he will receive some com-i
bensaiion for the labor he has  incurred, and the sacrifices he has made, though it would
be hardly possible to make him  one that would be at all in proportion  to the benefit
mankind will receive from his discovery.
                    I remain, very truly» your friend and humble servant,
                                                            GEO. HAYWARD.
  Hon.  Chas. Sumner.
                          Letter from Doctor H. I. Botbditch.
                                                          Boston, Nov. 29, 1851.
  Sir: May I be allowed to commend to your favorable notice the petition which Doct.
Morton intends to present to Congress relative to a recompense for the  discovery of the
peculiar properties of ether.   I believe that to him alone We owe the complete proof of these
properties; and that had it not been for the  boldness and determined character of Docl.
Morton, we should  now be  wholly ignorant of that  which relieves so  much  of human
misery.  Believing this, I think he deserves most richly a national reward.
                                     I remain, very respt., yours,
                                                     HENRY I. BOWDITCH*
  Hon. Robert Rantoul.
                          Letter from Doctor R. W. Hooper.
                                                          Boston, Nov. 28, 1851.
Hon. Geo. T  Davis.
  Dt.AR Sir :  Doctor Mortoh»visiis Washington this winter to present his  claims for the
discovery of e therization to the notice of Congress.   I take a particular interest in his claim
which I think a just one, and worthy of being acknowledged by such a tribunal.  If any
thing can be done for him through your assistance, it will be fully appreciated by yuur
friend and servant,
                                                              R. W.  HOOPER.
                            Letter from John J. May, esq.

                                                         Boston, Nov. 28iA, 1851.
Hon. Geo. T. Davis,  Washington.
  Dear Sir : 1 have learned from Dr. Morton that he is going to Washington with the
view of bringing before Congress his merits and claims in the matter of the ether discovery.
Having long felt an interest in the subject, I feel very glad  that he has  decided to give
personal attention to the matter, and hope he may have  success.   And I take pleasure in
introducing Doct. Morton to you, hoping that as far as your lime will allow you will give
to his cause the aid it deserves.
                                   Very respect, and truly, yours,
                                                               JOHN J. MAY.
                         Letter from Dr. Edwards, Ex-M.  C.
                                                       Cincinnati, Dec. 18, 1851.
  My dear Morton : Yours with the telegraphic dispatch reached me.  You have more
confidence and hope than any other living man.  I am ready to do any thing in my power
to aid you in your enterprise.  Write me what you want, and as you are on the ground,
write me to whom to write;  you shall have any number of letters.
  I trust you may find a decided friend in the commiitee, if one  be  raised, who will give
the subject his attention.  I am satisfied of the justice of your claim, and trust sincerely I
may be gratified  m your  success in obtaining from Government the atonement for the
neglect of my profession in awarding you substantial honor for  the greatest discovery of
this or any other age.
                                      Yours, very truly,
                                                            T. O. EDWARDS.
  W. T.  G. Morton, M. D. 
 
 
75
                          CHAPTER XIII.

  On his arrival  in Washington, Dr. Morton was  greeted with that
cordiality ever manifested towards him by those whose minds have not
been warped by prejudice; prominent  among these, who were  well
acquainted with him  and  with  the merits of his discovery, was the
Honorable Daniel Webster, then Secretary of State, who now again
took a deep  interest in  the  just claim  brought before  Congress.   He
also introduced Dr.  Morton to  many distinguished individuals,  among
them the celebrated Kossuth.   The attendance of Dr. Morton at the
Congressional banquet given to this distingushed Hungarian, is the only
occasion  in which  we  find any record  of  his appearance in public,
excepting at professional or  at agricultural meetings.   Conscious of his
position, and of his merits as a world benefactor, he has never sought
to parade himself before large assemblages,  but rather preferred the
quiet enjoyment of home and  friends.   It is  this exemplary  domestic
life which has gained  for Dr.  Morton that  personal popularity which
ever attaches itself to an unobtrusive man, pointing him out as worthy
of esteem and confidence.
  Dr. Morton's memorial, presented in the House of Representatives
early in  the session,  was  referred to  a select committee, consisting
of Hon.  W.  H  Bissell, M. D., of Illinois; Hon. Jos. Sutherland,
of New  York; Hon. Robert Rantoul, jr., of Mass.;  Hon. Graham N,
Fitch, M. D., of Indiana, and  Hon. E.  Stanley, of North Carolina,
Dr. Fitch had been a professor in Rush Medical College, and was at that
time a  regent of the  Smithsonian  Institution; the other gentlemen
were also of high  scientific  character and research.
  The report of  the  four first-named  gentlemen  of the committee
commences  with  a history of  its examination of the  evidence,  from
which it appears, "that, upon the suggestion of the memorialist, that his
claim to the  discovery was contested by Dr.  Charles T. Jackson, of
Boston,  the chairman  addressed to him a letter, notifying him of the
proceedings,  and  of the day  when the committee would begin the
investigation; advising him, that if he desired to do so, he was at liberty
to contest Dr. Morton's application.  The  chairman received a state-
ment from Dr. Jackson, in reply.  Afterwards a memorial from Dr.
Jackson was  presented to the  House and referred  to your committee,
And on  the 20th  day of Dec. 1851, at a  meeting  held pursuant  to
notice, both  parties appeared before  your committee; Dr. Morion, by
his  counsel, J. M.  Carlisle, esq., and  Dr. Jackson, by J. L. Hayes,
esq.  In his paper, Dr. Jackson presented objections to the inquiry,
combining in effect a plea that the matter was res judicata, and a plea
to the jurisdiction of Congress which were discussed, and considered
as preliminary to a general  investigation."
  "Your committee being  unable to perceive the force of these objec.
tjons, overruled them, and, in  the discharge  of the duty imposed on 
76
them by the House, proceeded with the investigation.   A mass of writ-
ten and printed statements was offered by Dr. Jackson, tending to im-
peach the character of Dr. Morton, which the latter requested should
be received, he being allowed time to  produce rebutting evidence, and
to adduce evidence on his  part impeaching Dr. Jackson's character for
veracity,  and proving several cases in which he had claimed the inven-
tions of others as his own.  This your committee rejected, deeming it
wholly irrelevant to the subject committed to them by the resolution of
the House, and leading to a long and  laborious trial of many immate-
rial issues."
   Opposition to the use and worth of his  discovery,  Dr. Morton  had
become accustomed to, and he had at  times suffered from the effects of
innuendoes carefully thrown out  against his reputation  when but a
minor—the pretences for foundations upon which was based the fabric
of falsehood which he now so earnestly endeavored to overthrow.  His
letter of September, 1847, to Dr. Gardner, of London, showed his de-
sire that  his detractors  should  put their insinuations " in print,"  that
he might prove their falsehood  and  their  malevolence.  But, as he
states  in  the same letter,  he  had been induced to believe  that the
personal warfare was at an end, and the matter  in controversy placed
upon scientific grounds.   It would have been  well for his opponents
had this  been  the case, for they would then have  been spared the
mortification  of seeing their cunningly collected mass of defamation
rejected without any further examination than to ascertain its nature.
And although Dr. Morton  might have exclaimed, as did  Lord Stafford
in his memorable defence : " Whefe  has this fire lain hid, without
smoke to discover  it until il bursts  forth  to consume  me  and my
children?"   He did not even seek to avoid it;  and his eagerness to
meet the  issue had an effect on the committee  directly opposite to that
which  had  been intended by the authors of the slanders.
   The committee,  unwilling to entertain any personal slanders, in-
vented for  the purpose of  diverting their minds, commenced an inves-
tigation of the subject of anaesthesia which even eclipsed that submitted
to the preceding Congress.   Their report shows, that after making a his-
torical examination into the attemptsto produce anaesthesia in ancient and
modern times, they were "satisfied, upon a full and careful examination
of all the evidence before them, that until the 30th of September, 1846,
it  was not  known that sulphuric ether might safely be inhaled in suf-
ficient quantity to produce total insensibility  to pain under the severest
surgical operations.   The safety  of this agent, [say the committee,] its
certainty, its efficiently, are now established  beyond question, and ac-
knowledged  by the whole scientific world.  This great discovery, by
far the noblest contribution which  medical  science has made to hu-
manity within the present century, and with  which,  looking through
ail ages,  no other except that of Jenner can  take rank, sprung to light
in the year 1846, in the State of Massachusetts;  and the memorialist,
Dr. William T. G. Morton, claims at as his own."
   " Certain it is," the report goes on to say, " he was the first who 
\ 
 
77
exhibited it to the world, and the only one who publicly used or claimed
it, until after its reality and efficacy had been  fully established.  The
honor of the discovery, therefore, must be awarded to him, unless some
one show, by satisfactory evidence, an older and a better title.  From
the 30th of September,  1846, until the 2d day of January, 1847, dur-
ing which time this discovery  passed successfully  the experimentum
crucis,  Dr. Morton was in  full, and sole, and  undisputed possession.
For a time, he held the operative agent as a secret,  but at last disclosed
it, by letter, to the faculty  of the Medical Hospital at Boston, with  a
view to its trial, in what is called  in surgery a capital case.   It was not
until some time after this trial had been made, and proved successful,
that a claim was  publicly set up by any one to the honor or a share in
the honor of the discovery."
   This position the committee sustained by the publication in their re-
port  of Dr. Morton's  "Memoir to the  French Academy,"* which
they justly say is " simple, natural, and in every step corroborated by
some marked circumstance,  proved by the testimony of one or more
disinterested witnesses.  A narrative such as  his,  so supported, goes
far to sustain the title which  possession, undisputed for a time, would
have given him."
   After this " Memoir" in the report,  is a record of the elaborate in-
vestigation of  all the evidence on the subject, which is analysed  and
criticised with great ability, and the summing up of which is a glorious
triumph of Dr. Morton's claim to the discovery.
   Having established the question that a discovery of great importance
to mankind had  been made—and that  it had  been made by Dr. Mor-
ton—the committee then  took into consideration the question of na-
tional recognition and  reward.   In fixing the  importance and value of
the discovery, (though fully satisfied  themselves,)  "the  committee
thought it not proper to act  upon their own unaided opinions."   Dr.
Morton's carefully continued record of the rise and progress of etheri-
zation supplied them with many  important facts, and  he lost no time in
issuing a circular, addressed  to physicians, and soliciting informations
"of the results of the larger amputations" performed by them.  He
thus provided a  large array of statistical data, showing,  by the most
satisfactory numerical results, that the  mortality of surgical operations
has been greatly lessened by the use of anaesthesia.
   So conclusive  was this evidence, that the chairman of the committee
adopted it, by addressing a second series of circulars,  in  his official
capacity, to the different hospitals, to medical institutions, to many of the
most eminent physicians and surgeons in the United States, and to the
surgeons of the army and navy.  The answers to these were very numer*
ous; too much so, and too lengthy for publication, but were carefully pe-
rused, and their  contents  carefully noticed by the committee.  Only
two of this mass of letters spoke disparagingly of the  discovery,  and
one of them did not profess to speak from the writer's own observation.
• For this " Memoir" see Chapter II. 
78
The committee annexed extracts from  some of these answers,  and a
few entire letters, exhibiting the general  opinion of the value of the dis-
covery;  its value being indisputable,  and  almost universally acknow-
ledged, it  was not deemed  necessary to multiply extracts in its proofs
and exhibiting likewise, the use of the  discovery in the army and navy.
   Prominent among  the professional  documentary evidence were the
following letters from the Surgeon General of the  Army, and the chief
of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery  of the  Navy, addressed  to Dr,
Morton, and laid by him before the committee:

                                    "Surgeon General's Office, March 1, 1852.

  "Sir:  In  compliance with your verbal request to  be furnished with information in
regard to the employment of anaesthetic agents in the army of the United States, and also
for an expression of opinion as to the value and importance of this class of remedial agents,
I have to state:                                             .         .    ,    .  .
  "That sulphuric ether and chloroform were used to some extent in the military hospitals
established at the theatre of war in Mexico, but the use of those articles was not so general
as at present, for the reason that the apparatus at that time believed  to be essential to their
proper and safe administration  was not adapted to  service in the field.
  "At the present  moment it is believed that no surgical operation of importance is per-
formed by the medical officers of the army without the aid of some anaesthetic agent.
  "Previous to the discovery of this new application of sulphuric ether, the annual supply
of that medicine was one pound for every hundred men.  On the revision  of the standard
supply table by a board  of medical officers in 1849, the pure washed  sulphuric ether was
substituted for  the ordinary sulphuric ether, and the quantity allowed was increased one
hundred per cent.   At the same time another anaesthetic agent, the tincture of chloroform,
commonly called chloric ether, was added  to the supply table, and is now regularly fur*
nished to the medical officers in such quantities as, in connection with the sulphuric ether,
will suffice to meet all the demands of the service in this particular.
   "Although the discovery of  this new therapeutic effect of sulphuric ether has led to the
introduction and employment of other anaesthetic agents, this does not in any way militate
against the merits of the original discovery, which I regard as one of the  most important
and valuable contributions to  medical science, and to  the relief of  suffering humanity,
which has  ever been made, the  only discovery to be compared therewith being that of
vaccination, which has rendered the name of Jenner immortal.
   "Through the influence of these remedial agents, the surgeon is  not  only enabled to
perform the most extensive and difficult operations, undisturbed by the cries and struggles
of the patient, but what is of far greater importance, the patient, being rendered insensible,
escapes that shock  to the nervous system, which in itself is not unfrequently fatal.  For
this reason operations can now be performed with much more safety than heretofore, and
that too in cases in which the attempt to perform them would have been forbidden  by the
general condition of the patient.
   "To the physician this class of remedial agents promises to be of the greatest utility,
 though  their application in the treatment of disease has yet to be more fully developed.
   "It will suffice at this time  to  allude  to their  employment for  the relief of suffering
 woman in the hour of her greatest trial, and at the moment she claims our warmest sym-
 pathies.  That these agents can be safely used in parturition, so as  to afford full and entire
 exemption from pain to the mother, and with safety both to her and to the child, has been
 amply demonstrated.
   "In conclusion, permit me to congratulate you upon the flattering testimonial you have
 received from the National Institute of France for this discovery, and to express the hope
 that, inasmuch as  it is impossible for you to derive any  pecuniary benefit therefrom in
 ordinary course by letters patent, you may receive from your country that acknowledge
 ment of your merit which is due to one who has conferred so great a boon upon mankind.
                  "I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
                                             "TH. LAWSON, Surgeon General.

   "W.  T. G. Morton, M. D.
           Brown's Hotel,  Washington, D. C." 
I 
 
79
                    " Navy Department, Bureau ofr Medicine and Surgert,
                                                          " February 26, 1352.
   'Sir: As the views of this bureau are desired  in regard to the importance attached to
 the different anaesthetic agents by the medical officers of the navy, it gives me pleasure to
 express the high sense entertained by them of their great utility, not only in surgical prac-
 tice, but as  powerful agents in many painful affections,  which have resisted the ordi-
 nary remedies.  This opinion is strengthened by the concurrent testimony of the ablest
 civil practitioners of our own country, with the emphatic endorsement of their  value by
 the best British and Continental  surgeons.  In the absence of statistical information, ac-
 curately made up, it is  somewhat difficult to estimate the relative value of these etherial
 preparations ; but if the recorded opinions of professional men, as expressed in the various
 medical journals of this country and Europe, are deemed of any weight, the discovery of
 etherization as a means of avoiding pain in severe surgical operations may be considered
 the most important, in a philanthropic view, which this century has produced
 .  "The observation that exhilarating effects resulted from the inhalation of ether is no re-
 cent acquisition to medical science ;  but the novelty and gist of this discovery consists in
 finding that nervous perception is suspended under the influence of the etherial inhalation
 and while so suspended, the patient is unconscious of pain while under the operation of
 the knife.                                                          r
   " In addition  to the great benefit derived from its use in alleviating pain, it has a decided
 effect in diminishing mortality.   Its advantage in this respect appears to be in saving the
 system from the severe  shock and  nervous exhaustion which  attend most of the graver
 surgical operations, and which of themselves often prove fatal.
   " It  dispels the fear of pain, which formerly prevented  many from submitting to an
 Operation, or induced them to defer  it until too late.
   "It enables the surgeon, also, to operate more  coolly and effectually,  undisturbed by
 the cries and struggles of the patient, which sometimes unnerve the steadiest hand,  and
 render abortive the best  directed efforts.
   "The  medal of the  first class, awarded  to you by the 'Medical Institute' of Paris,
 evinces the high estimation entertained, in that centre of medical science and intelligence,
 of the services you have rendered to humanity.
   " It is earnestly hoped that our Government, with  a similar appreciation of this great
 acquisition to medical science, will stamp their sense of importance, by a substantial  ac-
 knowledgment  which, while it encourages the philanthropist in his efforts to meliorate the
 condition of his fellow-men, will remunerate you in some measure for the toil and vexa-
 tion attendant on your struggle for success.
                      " Respectfully, your obedient servant,
                                                "THO.  HARRIS,
    .,   ,„  m ...                    " Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery.
   " Mr. Wm. T. G. Morton, M. D.,  Washington."

   These  opinions,  strengthened  by  the concurrent testimony  of the
 ablest practitioners of both  Europe and America, convinced  the commit-
 tee that Dr.  Morton's discovery was an invaluable acquisition to  medi-
 cal science, and a real boon to the human  race.   The only remaining
 question then to be decided was, what would  be a proper compensa-
 tion to Dr. Morton,  both as a reward for  the contribution which he had
 made  to the  public good,  and a fair equivalent for the immense advan-
 tage resulting to the public service of the country  from  the discovery.
 To use  the words of the committee :  " Great Britain, France, and  all
 other  enlightened  nations, have,  from  time immemorial,  rewarded
 munificently  such services to humanity.   The  British Parliament,  by
 two successive statutes, bestowed  upon Jenner the sums of ten thousand
 and twenty thousand pounds for the discovery of vaccination.   The
 world  has as yet produced but one great improvement in  the healing
art deserving  to be ranked with that of Jenner.  America, by annihi-
lating  pain, has done as much  for the benefit of the race, as England 
80
did when she furnished the instrument by which the smallpox may be
finally exterminated.  It would be unworthy of our greatness, and our
destiny, as the nation soon to be  the  most powerful on  the globe, to
undervalue a benefaction to mankind, which  is the peculiar glory of
6cience, of our age, and of our country."
  The committee therefore recommend : " That an appropriation  be
made for the benefit of Dr.  W. T.  G.  Morton, to  be paid to him in
consideration of his discovery of the anaesthetic properties of the vapor
of sulphuric ether, and of his public  and successful application of the
said pain-destroying agent in surgical operations, and of  its use in the
army and navy  of the  United States,  and  conditioned  that he sur-
render to the United States his patent for the discovery. The majority
of the committee, in view of its use as above mentioned, and of the in-
calculable value of the discovery  to the whole world, are of the opinion
that one  hundred  thousand dollars would not be an unreasonable ap-
propriation for that purpose."
  And they  reported a bill to that effect.
  This glad tidings was carried  forth by the  telegraph with lightning
speed, awakening joyous hopes  in the hearts of thousands—in every
section of the republic—that this  republic was not  ungrateful, and that
one of her sons, who was a world's benefactor, would be rewarded.
  Strange to say, in the same telegraphic announcement of what was
transpiring at the metropolis, was a paragraph stating that Dr. Jackson
had been arrested and held to bail  at the instance  of Dr.  Morton, on a
charge of slander.   This suit was brought in consequence of the publi-
cation of the verbiage which  the committee  had  refused to take any
cognizance of, but which had been inserted in a scurrilous sheet, a copy
of which was laid upon the desk of every member of Congress.
  Another attempt to prejudice Congress against Dr. Morton was made
at the American Medical Convention, which met about the same time
at Richmond, Virginia.   Careful plans had been laid by Dr. Jackson,
and  by the  attorney of the Wells claim, to obtain from that body the
passage of a resolution disparaging the merits of Dr. Morton as the dis-
coverer of anaesthesia, but the doctor fortunately  became apprised  of
their intentions.   Letters of  the  highest character were given him by
Justice McLean, and by the Hon.  Mr. Faulkner and other gentlemen
in Congress, to Southern physicians at the convention, while those from
the North were already acquainted with his position, and ably defended
it.
                         CHAPTER XIV.

  The political excitement which prevailed at Washington at the time
when the  elaborate and conclusive report of the select committee was
prepared, rendered it impossible to get it  before the House.  Entirely
engrossed  with the important nominating conventions  which  met at
Baltimore in  June, 1852, a majority of the Representatives refused to 
 
 
81
abandon "president-making" for any business whatever, and the bill
recommended was  not, therefore, acted  upon, although warmly en-
dorsed by the Secretaries of the Treasury, of the War and of the Navy
Departments.
   It was then that Dj. Morton lost a staunch and tried friend, the Hon.
Robert Rantoul, jr., of  Massachusetts, who  had  thoroughly  investi-
gated  the question of anaesthesia, and who  had taken a  great  interest
in rewarding the discoverer.  Dr. Morton was with  Mr. Rantoul durino-
his last illness, and sent the sad tidings of his death to the  Boston news°-
papers.   It was sad thus  to lose a champion  in  the hour of  trial,
especially one so worthy and well qualified as Mr.  Rantoul was.   But
Dr. Morton had the satisfaction of seeing his friend and adviser
                   ■------"Sustained and soothed
                   By an unfaltering trust," and sink to death
                   "Like one that draws the drapery of his couch
                  About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams."
   But though thus  deprived by death of one old friend, Dr.  Morton
gained a host of new ones the  moment his case was made known by
the publication of his report.  The following selections from an entire
volume  of letters in  Dr. Morton's possession, shows how the report was
received and regarded:

                      Letter from Senator Houston, of Texas.
                                              Washington, August 16, 1852.
  Dear Sir: I have had the pleasure to  receive the report of the Select Committee on the
subject of your memorial to Congress, and though I have not had the pleasure to give it a
thorough reading, yet I have read enough of it to satisfy me that you alone  are entitled to
the credit of the discovery.   I draw my conclusions from the statements of fir. Jackson
mainly, in his facts as quoted by the committee and set forth in the report.
                          I am, very respectfully, your most obedient,
                                                       SAM HOUSTON.
  W. T. G. Morton, M. D.
               Letter from Hon. A. G. Brown, M. C. from Mississippi.
                                   House of Representatives, Aug. 13, 1852.
  Dear Sir: At the instance of Dr. Edwards, late  a member of Congress from Ohio, I
made some examination (two or three years back) into your claims to be the discoverer
of Anaesthetic  Ether, and more  recently I have read, with greater care, a very thorough
and searching report on the same subject by a committee of the House of Representatives.
I am perfectly satisfied that the credit of the discovery belongs to you, and I am so much
impressed with its importance to the nation at large, and especially to the Army and Navy,
and Marines of the United  States, as to entertain a lively hope that. Congress will ade-
quately and liberally remunerate you for the  use the Government has made of it in these
departments.  You are entitled, justly, to the sum reported by the committee, $100,000,
and I shall, without hesitation, vote for that sum myself.
                            Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
                                                         A. G. BROWN.
  Dr. W. T. G. Morton.
                    Letter from Senator Walker, of Wisconsin.
                                              Washington, August 15,1852.
  Dear Sir: A few days since I received from you a copy of the report of the Select Conv
mittee of the House of Representatives on your memorial, in regard to your discovery of
the anaesthetic .properties of sulphuric ether.  I did not, at first, reflect upon the subject, 
82
and neglected to read the report.  In a day or two, however, I happened, more by accident
than otherwise, to take it up, and after commencing it, I became so much interested in it
that I did not leave it until I had finished it.
  I now frankly say to you, that it is a matter of astonishment that any man should hesi-
tate to acknowledge your right to the discovery, or to a munificent reward from the Gov-
ernment for the inestimable blessing you have conferred upon our country and mankind.
  The amount of this reward I feel myself incapable to determine, but certain I am that
the sum recommended by the House is, by no means, too great.  My reason for this con-
viction is this: You have done more for humanity than any other man of the present age;
you have done that for mankind which is, in fact, priceless, and  which entitles you, at least,
to exemption from future pecuniary cares for life.
  I feel this acknowledgment due from me, as at first I neglected your claims, and the evi-
dence upon which they were based.
                                Yours, very truly and respectfully,
                                                         I. P. WALKER.
  Dr. Wm. T. G. Morton.
                     Letter from Senator Brooke, Mississippi.
                                          Senate Chamber, August 1, 1852.
  Dear Sir :  I have read, with great interest and pleasure, the repcrt of a committee of the
House of Representatives in reference to your claim to the  discovery of the anaesthetic
properties of sulphuric ether, which you did me the honor to send me.  This report most
triumphantly vindicates your rights in the premises, and in view  of the important results
that belong to your discovery, I have no hesitation in saying that you are richly entitled
to the thanks of suffering humanity throughout the world.
  With the sincere hope that you may reap the full reward of your exertions, I remain,
very respectfully, your obedient servant,
                                                            W.  BROOKE.
  Dr. W. T. G. Morton.
                Letter from  Col.  Orr, M. C. from South Carolina.
                                House of Representatives, August 28, 1852.
  Sir:  I have carefully read the reports of Dr. Edwards and Col. Bissell, on your appli-
cation for remuneration as the discoverer of sulphuric ether, as an anaesthetic agent.  The
facts therein elicited, together with others, that have come to my knowledge in an authen-
tic shape, leave no doubt on my mind that you were the first person on this continent to
use sulphuric ether as a pain-destroyer in the human system,  and are entitled to all the
honor incident thereto from the civilized  world,  for your signal service  to suffering
humanity.
      I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
                                                         JAMES L. ORR.
  Dr. W. T. G. Morton.

   Other letters, from  the Hon. Thomas  B. Florence, of Philadelphia;
the Hon. Henry M. Fuller, and the Hon. Alfred Gilmore, also of Penn-
sylvania;  the Hon. Horace Mann, of Massachusetts; the Hon. Emanuel
B. Hart, and the  Hon. Gilbert Dean, of New York; all spoke in the
same terms  of the  high  claims of Dr. Morton  to  national recognition,
and we regret that we cannot give  them.
   Finding that, in the pressure of  business and of politics, the bill in
favor  of  Dr.  Morton   would  not be reached  during the session, it was
(in conformity with the written views of the Secretaries of the War, of
the Navy, and of the Treasury  Departments)  adopted  as an amend-
ment to the Naval  appropriation  bill  by the  Committee on  Naval Af-
fairs.   This consisted  of the  Hon.  Messrs. Stanton,  of Tennessee;
Florence, of Pennsylvania; Goodenow, of Maine; Harris, of Alabama;
and Cabell, of Florida. 
 
 
83
  But a new obstacle presented itself, in a recent ruling of the House,
which made it  out of order to append amendments to the regular ap-
propriation bills, which were not made to " carry out previously ex-
isting laws."  This barrier could not be overcome, and the late period
of the session precluded the hope that it could be reached as an indepen-
dent bill  before the House adjourned.  " Had  this been possible, (as
wrote the Hon.  Mr. Bissell,) there was every disposition on  the part of
the House to favor it, and its many friends were sanguine of its passing
by a large vote."
  Brought now before the notice of the Senate, the  subject  was tho-
roughly investigated by the Committee on Military and Naval Affairs,
who, after a careful investigation of the facts submitted to them, con-
curred  in an amendment  to the Army appropriation  bill, which gave
Dr. Morton, for his discovery of the anaesthetic properties of sulphuric
ether, one hundred thousand dollars.   This amendment was accord-
ingly submitted when  the  bill  was under consideration, on  the 28th
day of August, 1852,  by Hon. S. Borland, M. D.,' Senator from Ar-
kansas.
  Senator  Borland's  argument was effective  and conclusive, giving
(as a member of the medical profession) his opinion of the value of the
discovery;  (as a citizen)  his opinion of Dr. Morton  as the  discoverer;
and (as a Senator) his conviction  that Dr. Morton should receive a
national  reward.   "I will  not,"  he said,  in conclusion, "detain the
Senate by saying more on the subject.  I will briefly sum up.   This
discovery is a most valuable one to the human family at large.  The
two branches of our public service, the Army and Navy, have availed
themselves extensively of it.  It is one of the most valuable  remedial
agents that the world has ever known.  It is in constant and  growing
use.  This  idea which we are thus using,  not only  prolongs human
life, and protects our soldiers and our sailors, and all in our public ser-
vice from immense suffering, but it is saving, in that mode  of treating
diseases, thousands upon  thousands of dollars every  year and every
month.  This individual cannot enforce his legal rights against, anybody,
owing to the very nature of the case.  We are making use of his pro-
perty to our great benefit, and he is receiving no compensation whatever
for it.  Then the papers before me, as 1 have read them, show that
he is the individual who is entitled to compensation, if any one,  for
the use of this property.  We find that the practice of the Government—
a very enlightened and  useful  practice, in  my opinion—has been in
favor of appropriations of this sort.  Then, sir, I ask if this is  not a
proper occasion for  the continuance of  this practice?   When was there
ever before us a more meritorious case? The medical profession  through-
out' the  country  sustain  me  in the assertion that this is the most
valuable remedial  agent that ever has been known.   How  can we,
then  in justice to ourselves, in common justice to the individual who
has furnished us this valuable, or rather invaluable remedy,  refuse to
pay him for it?
   Senator Smith, of Connecticut, took a position as  unexpected as it 
84
Was violent in reply.  It afterwards appeared, (from remarks made by
Senator Badger, of North Carolina,) that the gentleman from Connec-
ticut was the attorney of the heirs of Dr.  Wells, and he used language
in his "plea" that would not have been tolerated in the court of many
a country  justice,  so outrageous Was its tone.   "I pledge," said he,
"whatever reputation  1 may have, that if the Senate will allow me, at
the next session of Congress, an opportunity to be heard on this subject,
1 will make out a  case for the family of Dr. Horace Wells, deceased.
If the subject shall then be referred to the judgment of a committee
of this body, I will be prepared to make out a case worthy the  most
grave and  serious consideration."
  Senator Shields, of Illinois, said: "It ha3 been stated  that this is
one of the greatest discoveries of modern times.   I believe it is.   Of
that, however, I only know this—that if this remedial  agent had  been
known when the  honorable  Senator from Connecticut says he under-
stood  it was, it was unpardonable  that  its use was not  applied to the
American  army in* the late war with Mexico.  It  was criminal that it
was not applied, if it was known, and it was wicked in that gentleman
to withhold his information from the country on such an  occasion as
that; for, sir, I believe it would  have saved thousands and thousands
of lives."
  " Any man," (continued Gen. Shields.) "who witnessed the scenes
which some of us were there called upon to witness, well  knows that
such an agent would have saved  thousands of lives.  Sir, thousands of
our bravest and best men  fell under the pains and afflictions that followed
surgical operations.  I have seen so much of that, that I was rejoiced to
have an opportunity, when 1 found there was such  an agent discovered,
to give it my  support in any  way; and although I  was not acquainted
with the subject, I was happy to have it in my power to turn it over to
the honorable Senator from Arkansas, who was acquainted  with it.  I
venture to say  that there is  not  a professional  man in  America  or in
Europe, who will not  consider this the most beneficial discovery since
the discovery of vaccination."
  " I cannot tell whether Dr. Morton is the discoverer or not;  I know
that those who have examined the subject thoroughly say that he is the
discoverer.   I have seen in  addition,  for he has  shown it to me, the
medal  of  one of the first medical institutions  in  the  world—that of
Paris—acknowledging, and in the name  of France pronouncing him
the discoverer of this agent,  and that he had been able—for it was a
good fortune  on his part—to make a discovery which has been more
beneficial  to  humanity, than  any discovery made in the medical
profession  since the time of vaccination."
  Senator Hale, of New Hampshire,  said, "I am not one of those
who object to the proposition on account of the amount of money.  If
this discovery really  belongs  to  Dr. xMorton, it is no more than  right
that we should pay for it; because, whatever may be the value of the
patent-right,  it  is such a discovery that he cannot enforce his patent-
rights.   It seems  to me that the Government  of  the United States, 
 
 
S5
 having granted a patent by their own officers, are estopped from deny-
 ing its validity; and  as the Government are making use of it in the
 army and  navy so extensively, it seems to me but fair to compensate
 this gentleman."
   " I have been  through  the  Massachusetts General  Hospital, where
 this remedial  agent was first  introduced, and where  it was tested.   I
 went  through all  the wards and rooms of that hospital,  and I saw
 every form of disease and suffering.  I went' into the dissecting room,
 and I confess my blood almost ran cold as I looked at the instruments
 of torture,  as they appeared to me, which were about the room; but I
 was assured by the physicians attending upon that hospital, that, by the
 use of this remedial agent, patients were insensible to the operation of
 these  instruments of torture—that the effect of it was to make them go
 quietly  to  sleep;  and that the most difficult and dangerous operations
 were  performed  there every day,  without  those on whom  they were
 performed  being  sensible  of them. '  That great hospital is one of the
 finest charities on the face of the earth, and by the  operation  of this
 agent the most revolting  surgical  operations are performed every day,
 while the  patients are, as it were,  in a deep sleep."
   " I do not believe there has been a greater contribution made to the
 cause of humanity anywhere.  1 do not put this discovery second to
 vaccination, or anything else; and if the Senate are determined to vote
 upon  it to-day, I  hope they will make this  appropriation; and with my
 present  convictions,  although  I should be glad to  postpone the sub-
 ject until the next session,  in  order to avoid all danger of injustice,  I
 must  vote for this appropriation."
   Senator  Douglass, of Illinois, after exhibiting evidence which put  a
 complete extinguisher on the case  of  the "clients" of Senator Smith,
 and produced an ebullition  of anger from  that gentleman, went on to
 say: "I  shall not enter into  this controversy, or allow my feelings to
 be excited  at all.  I thought  it my duty  to call the attention of the
 Senate to that testimony, because I saw that an impression was about
 to be produced on the minds of the Senate which seemed to be contra-
 dicted by the  testimony in the case.   I know nothing of Dr. Morton.
 I believe I have seen him  once or twice this winter, and that is all  I
 know of him.  I confess that before  I  examined the matter, my pre-
judices were against his claim, until my colleague in the other House,
 [Mr. Bissell,] who is a regularly-educated physician, a man of great
 intelligence, and  has had practice  as a physician,  took it up,  and as
 chairman of that select committee  gave it  a thorough investigation.
 This report produced entire conviction upon my mind  that Dr. Morton
was entitled to the credit of this discovery."
  "I  do not mean, nor does  that report  mean, that  he discovered
sulphuric ether, -or that he  was the first man that ever administered
sulphuric ether,  but simply that he discovered the application  of sul-
phuric ether  with reference to destroying  pain in surgical operations,
and that he discovered  it to a degree and extent in which it had not
before been administered, and in  which it was supposed was not safe 
                                SO

to administer it.   He risked his own life by experiments upon his own
person; and  then he administered it to other persons, and ran the risk
of a prosecution  for malpractice in the event that it should fail.  I  be-
came satisfied from  the testimony that he alone made the experiments,
and he alone introduced it to the public;  that he  introduced it first into
the General Hospital of Massachusetts, and from there to the world; that
he  took the  entire, sole, and exclusive  responsibility of the use and
introduction of this agent, until ils entire success had been established."
  " I also find from the report, that while these experiments were going
on—while  it was doubtful whether they would prove successful—Dr.
Jackson was ridiculing and denouncing Dr. Morton as a reckless man,
who was hazarding the life of his patients by administering this agent
to them; and that he never set up his claim, although experiments were
being made in the immediate vicinity of his own house, until after those
experiments had proven successful, and the judgment of the world was
about to  be pronounced in favor of Dr. Morton, and of this invention
that had been made by him."
  " I find this in the report of the committee of  the House of Repre-
sentatives, and  I understand  that both parties were represented  before
that committee.   Taking, then, the report of that committee,  before
whom both  parties  were  represented in person, and by their counsel,
where testimony  was  adduced,  and taking that report  in connection
with the judgment of the General Hospital of Massachusetts, where the
first experiments were  made, and taking all the  testimony together, I
cannot doubt that the credit is solely due  to Dr. Morton."
  Senator Walker,  of Iowa,  after going into a  detailed investigation
of all efforts made, from the days of Hippocrates down, to  obtain
an anaesthetic agent, showed that Dr. Morton had discovered it, and
was entitled to awards in his favor, from high sources.  "Again," said
he, in conclusion, "as another testimonial, I may  state that the subject
was brought up in the thirtieth Congress, before a select committee of
the House of Representatives, and with all the testimony  before them,
they decided  that Dr. Morton was the discoverer.   Here, again, in this
Congress, after another review of all  the testimony, Dr. Morton ap-
pearing before them in person, and Dr. Jackson, both in person and
by  counsel, a select committee of the House of Representatives has
decided Dr. Morton to  be the discoverer."
  "All that there is now to answer against  his claim, is the remonstrance
to which the Senator from Maine has alluded; and  what is that remon-
strance?  It is a remonstrance said to  be signed  by one hundred and
forty-four  physicians.   The register  of  physicians of Massachusetts
shows that there are about fifteen hundred in that  State.  Not one of
these remonstrators was in the General Hospital of Massachusetts at the
time this discovery was brought out;  but on the contrary, a great many
of them are dentists, who were  personal  enemies and  personal rivals
of Dr. Morton, and they are to this day his  personal  rivals.   At the
time he was  risking his life to bring out this discovery, they were de-
nouncing him, and endeavoring to put him down.  They were getting 
 
 
87
up prosecutions against him, to drive him, if possible, from respectable
society.   Yet these are the men who come forward  and remonstrate?
But, is it true, as the remonstrance states, that it is from "Boston and
its vicinity?"  I have here the State  record of Massachusetts, and I
find  that the names  on that  remonstrance are scattered all  over  the
State.   There are three  hundred medical men in  Boston alone, and
here are one hundred and forty-four remonstrants from the whole State
of Massachusetts, and these are Dr. Morton's rivals—men who had first
given him notes, and then refused to pay them, and became his enemies,
and tried to make out that he had made no discovery!   The remon-
strance is dated in February  last, and  they have been ransacking the
State of Massachusetts  from that  time  to this,  to get up  remonstrators
against Dr.  Morton, and they have succeeded  in getting one hundred
and forty four out of fifteen hundred in  that  State."
  "We have two reports of the  hospital of Massachusetts;  we have
the prize awarded by the Acadamy of Arts and Sciences of Paris; we
have the award of a casket and & 1,000, by the trustees of the Massa-
chusetts hospital; we have  the reports of two select committees.of the
House of Representatives;  we have the concurrent voice of two com-
mittees—the Committee on  Military  Affairs and .the Committee on
Naval Affairs—of this body;  and  there is nothing to answer it but this
simple remonstrance of which we have heard to-day."
  The  debate was protracted by the  factious opposition of Senator
Smith, who was pointedly rebuked for  his conduct by Senator Weller,
of California, and by Senator Badger, of North Carolina.   "I know
not, Mr. President," said he, "what private griefs the honorable Senator
from Connecticut  [Mr.  Smith] has; but, certainly something or other
seems to have stimulated him into a very undue excitement on this
occasion, one not  usual  upon questions of this kind, and one which
certainly that Senator is not  in the habit of  exhibiting  in the Senate.
The honorable Senator demands an opportunity of making out a case—
for whom?   For clients of his.   Does he demand  that we shall post-
pone this inquiry, in order that we may have  another investigation at
the next session?  If so, that is one strong  reason with me why we
should promptly decide  it now.   I do not want to occupy two months
out of three of the  ensuing session  with the investigation of these
contradictory claims, which the honorable Senator desires to set up on
this subject."
   "I do not undertake to decide on  this question, from information
which I have derived from Dr. Morton.   I never had any conversation
with him upon  the subject of the invention;  I  refused to  have any
conversation with him.   I have refused to read anything which he has
written  upon the subject, but I rely upon information which I have re-
ceived from impartial sources, and the unanimous report of the Committee
on Military Affairs.  Upon that I am willing to vote.  We are taking
no snap judgment upon  any person—the clients of the  Senator from
Connecticut, or otherwise.   We merely propose to purchase for the
use of the public service, what  we think is a valuable, or  rather, I
should say, an invaluable remedial agent." 
8b
  Senator Mallory of Florida closed the debate.   "I am pleased," said
he, "to have this opportunity to manifest, by a vote upon this proposi-
tion, my appreciation of the importance of the subject to which it refers;
and, sir, if no  voice in its  behalf  had been  hitherto  raised;  if no
advocate had  ever before appeared to press the claims of him whose
successful devotion, whose  self-sacrificing labors  have secured for him
throughout the earth  this heaven-born gift, I would have considered it
one of the high  privileges of the place I occupy to stand forth in that
attitude.  But, sir, such  fortunately  is not  its position; for the earnest
appeals of men,  women and  children, the  united and consistent testi-
mony of the learned  and the  unlettered throughout this broad  land,
have raised up for it here unwavering friends."
  "This amendment, Mr. President, proposes to pay to  the discoverer
of the anaesthetic  properties of sulphuric ether inhaled, and of their extra-
ordinary advantages  to medicine  and surgery,  $100,000, upon the
condition that he shall relinquish it to the free enjoyment  of  man-
kind, and abandon all the rights of a discoverer and patentee.   If the
question be asked, what  is  the character of the service rendered, what
is the utility of  the discovery?  The response comes from thousands
of our own  fellow-citizens, in every walk of life, whom gratitude has
made eloquent.   It  comes from   the lowly couch of the  poorhouse
patient, and from the aristocratic mansion of the millionnaire; from feeble
woman in the agonies entailed upon her first disobedience, and from
the stern, strong man writhing in pain.   It comes from your  battle-
fields, from your military, naval, and civil hospitals, from your gallant
soldiers and sailors tortured  by wounds and amputations.  It comes to
you from the practitioner in every department of medicine,  and with
our consent the surgeons  of the Old and New World hail it as the great
discovery of the  age.   Its claims  have been examined by select com-
mittees of  Congress,  aided by able  counsel, with an  industry and
accuracy equally honorable to them and to the subject.   The trustees
of the Massachusetts  General  Hospital  presented the discoverer  with
$1,000 and an appropriate letter.   The chiefs of our own Departments,
our Surgeon General, and the head of our Naval Bureau of Medicine
and Surgery, give it their unqualified approval; and the Academy of
Sciences of Paris,  after a thorough investigation of its character, con-
ferred  upon its  discoverer the ' Monthyon  golden  medal' as an extra-
ordinary mark of its approbation."
  " Such are a few of the thousand evidences of the various characters
from Europe and America in its favor.  And well, sir,  does it  merit
this praise.  Hitherto the surgeon's skill, though advancing with gigan-
tic strides, has been circumscribed and controlled by the power of en-
durance of his patient; and many operatidns which comparative anat-
omy justifies and demands  for the  salvation of life, have been rendered
impracticable by their tortures upon an enfeebled or organized  frame,
or by their violent shock  to the whole nervous system; and thousands
have annually perished whom this discovery might have saved.   Men
of  undoubted courage, wounded at last, after facing  death  in many 
 
 
89
 forms, shrunk with undefined terror  from the prospect which the cold-
 blooded torture of the surgeon's knife holds before their eyes; and timid
 woman, sinking beneath disease, not unfrequently prefers the pains of
 death to the untold horrors of the operator's table.   But all this is now
 passed.   The knife has lost, its terrors, the tourniquet and saw are re-
 garded without a shudder, and the appearance of the surgeon by  the
 pallet of the untimely  sufferer  is hailed with  joy, for he  not only
 banishes pain, but substitutes for  an anguished frame the happy dreams
 of a joyous spirit."
   " If I felt justified,  Mr. President, in view of the pressing legislation
 yet before us, I would embrace this occasion to give the  conclusive tes-
 timony of the principal  practitioners  of Europe  and America in its be-
 half; but I do not feel authorized  to consume a moment beyond a
 mere reference to them."
   He then read a few brief extracts from Doctors Warren and Holmes
 already given in this work, and then concluded :
   "And now, xMr. President, if it be difficult to establish a standard by
 which merit generally is to be rewarded, how utterly impossible must
 it be to determine its proper bounds in a case like the present, in which
 an humble individual is the donor, and the whole  human family the
 recipient.   His most enduring and valuable reward will  be in the un-
 dying gratitude of a posterity whose  lot is suffering and pain,  and a
 supreme happiness flowing from gratitude to God  for being made the
 medium  of such a boon to  his  creatures.  But,  sir, let us fulfil our
 duty.  We cannot pay  Dr. Morton.   His services  are beyond  price;
 but we can place his  future life beyond the reach  of poverty, and in
 this manner do justice to ourselves;  for,  Mr. President, to the living
 searchers after truth, as well as to those children of genius who are yet
 to struggle  in her paths,  and in the eyes of all honorable men, the
 course of the American  Senate upon this question will be a beacon of
 warning or of hope."
   "I believe not the worn-out apophthegm, that republics are ungrate-
 ful.   Ingratitude is the crime of men, not of political organization—
 and the sons  of Adam possess in common the same virtues and vices.
 But yet, sir,  there is much  upon  history's page to justify the proposi-
 tion, even within our  own short political existence.  The graves of our
 revolutionary sages are unknown to their free and happy descendants.
 No Old Mortality renews their fleeting letters;  and  the  monument of
 its. father and hero struggles lingeringly upwards,  stone by stone, in
 spite of their seeming indifference."
   " Fulton's merits were disregarded; and he was suffered to die owing
 more dollars than would  have covered him in his grave.   In pleasing
 contrast to this, sir, is  the grant of the British Parliament of $150,000
 to Dr. Jenner for his discovery of vaccination; and  its liberal reward of
 discoverers  in various  walks of science.   I am persuaded that the ob-
jection based  upon a constitutional prohibition, made by  the honorable
 Senator from New York, is  not  seriously urged;  and certainly upon
 one of the alternatives suggested by him, we can reward this applicant. 
90
I never saw him till  within a day  or  two, and  I know personally
nothing of him, but entertain no doubt of the justice of his claim, and
hope the amendment will pass."
  Irresistible as these arguments appear, the personal influence of the
Senator from Connecticut prevailed.   Professing to plead in behalf of
the widow and orphan, he pledged himself so strongly to " make out
a case" for them at the next session of Congress, that the amendment
did not pass.  Seventeen  Senators  voted  in its favor—twenty-eight
against it—and several (who were in favor of it) were absent.
                           CHAPTER XV.

  The position of Dr. Morton at this period of his life would have been
regarded by most men similarly situated as a hopeless one, so far as a
national recognition of his merit as a discoverer was concerned.  He
had successfully combatted professional jealousy—he had lived  down
personal malice—he had received the endorsement of those competent
to decide the question of the discovery of anaesthesia.  Yet, when his
country was about to crown his labors, one of the national Senators, in
his  seat, interposed a veto—disregarding  the eloquent appeals  of his
colleagues  in the upper house  of Congress, he placed  his individual
reputation at stake against  Dr.  Morton's credit to'the discovery.  Most
men, we repeat, would have abandoned the  case in despair, not think-
ing it possible to contest  it with a  national Senator  who  sought to
" make a case  for a client."  But Dr. Morton supported himself gal-
lantly at this dark moment.  Despair might have  flitted with dark
wings across his mind, and urged him to forsake this unprofitable  ap-
peal to the gratitude of his countrymen, for  his lucrative profession—
but a sense of right seized his spirit, asserted his duty to himself and
his family,  and inspired him for fresh contests, for decisive victory !
  Meanwhile he had not been  idle in perfecting his record of anaesthe-
tical progress, continuing his correspondence  with scientific and profes-
sional gentlemen, both in Europe and in America.   One of these let-
ters was a reply to a request, (already alluded to,) from the Department
of State, that he would address the noted Baron von Humboldt, who
is deservedly at the head of the world of science.   This  renders it  de-
serving of a place in this work, with other letters from the members of
the Committee of  the  House  of Representatives to the same distin-
guished individual.

               Lttter from Dr. Morton to Baron von Humboldt.
                                                Boston, May 8,  1852.
Baron ton Humboldt, &c, &c, &c.
  Sir : Through the Department of State of the United  States, I received notice of your
request to be informed of the name of the person who originated the administration of ether
for surgical operations.
  1 do not desire to appear to advocate my own claims by an argument or statement of my
own, but prefer to submit to your consideration the recorded opinions of the most eminent 
 
 
01
medical  gentlemen of this country ; those of the Trustees of the Massachusetts General
Hospital;  and the report of a Committee of the last House of Representatives of the Uni-
ted States; all of which will be found in the volume herewith transmitted.
  I have been informed by the Hon. G.  N. Fitch, that he has forwarded to you a copy of
the report of the present Committee of the House of  Representatives upon the same sub-
ject ; which report, however, has not yet been made public, it not having been reached in
the order of business of the House.
  Upon  the recent investigation, my opponent, Dr. Jackson,  not content to leave the ques-
tion to be decided upon the proofs which relate to it, has resorted to what I am constrained to
characterize as  an infamous attempt  to blacken my private character,  by false and mali-
cious publications  which have been traced to him.  I  immediately caused him to  be  ar-
rested, and proceedings are now going on against him in an action for defamation.
  Your liberal and enlightened mind, sir, will at once determine what  is due to such an
attempt; and I  only  refer to it that you may be made aware of the motives which have
prompted these  falsehoods, and of the means I have adopted to refute them.
  I have the honor to be, with the most profound respect, your obedient servant,
                                                         W. T.  G.  MORTON.
                Letter from Hon. Mr.  Fitch to Baron von Humboldt.

                     House or Representatives, U. S., Washington, May 10, 1852.

Baron von Humboldt,  &c, &c, &c.

  Sir: As a member of the Committee of the House recently charged with the investiga-
tion of the question of invention of the administration of ether in surgical operations, it
became my duty  to consider the  claims of persons who have made pretensions to  that
honor, viz.: Dr.  Morton, Dr. Jackson,  and Mr. Wells; and thoroughly to  weigh  and
examine their respective allegations and proofs.  The committee consisted of five  mem-
bers—four of those concurred in a report awarding the invention to Dr. Morton.
  It having  appeared from a letter of the Secretary of State to Dr. Morton, that applica-
tion had been  made to you,  through Mr. Fay, to that Department, for information upon
this subject,  I have thought that a copy of the report might not be unacceptable to you,
and 1 have therefore the honor of transmitting one to you herewith.
  The subject is one of very general interest, and has especially commanded my attention
from the fact of my  being a member of the medical profession.  The  report has been
finally adopted by the committee,  and is now about to be presented to the House.
                Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
                                               GRAHAM N. FITCH, M. D.

   [Dr. Fitch  was at that time one of the Regents of the Smithsonian
Institution, and Ex-Professor of  Institutes and Practice of Medicine
in Rush Medical College, Chicago, Illinois.]
                 Letter from Hon. Mr. Venable to Baron von Humboldt.

                                         Washington city, D. C, May 31, 1852.
  Sir: The question of the  discovery of etherization, so interesting to science and hu-
manity, has received a very thorough and careful investigation by a special  committee of
this House at the present session; and perceiving by the report adopted  by the committee
that you  sir (as might have been anticipated,) had "directed your attention to the subject,
I thought it might not  be unacceptable to you to receive a copy of the report, of which I
beg your acceptance herewith.  You will observe that the right to the honor and  reward
of this discovery has been fully and impartially examined, with the aid of legal advice
supporting the pretensions of the respective parties, and that the result has been the clear-
est establishment of the right of Dr. Morton, in whose favor the committee has reported a
reward of one hundred thousand dollars.  It would appear that very great  injustice.has
been attempted towards this gentleman, now that all the facts have  been ascertained with
the precision of a practical investigation.  I feel assured  that you will take pleasure in 
92
aiding, with your exalted name, in  defeating the attempt to deprive him of the reputation
which is due to him in Europe, and which has already been conceded to him in this country.
  Begging you to excuse the liberty I have taken,
                          I remain, sir, with profound respect,
                                            Your very obedient servant,
                                                     A. W. VENABLE, M. C
  Baron ton Humboldt, &c, &c, &c.
            Letter from Hon. Mr. Townsend, M. C-, to Baron von Humboldt.

                           Houseuof Representatives, Washington, July, 1852.
Baron von Humboldt, &c, &c, &c.
  Sir: A report which has been adopted at the present session of Congress by a special
committee charged with the investigation of the question of the discovery of etherization,
has called attention to the  fact that you  have manifested some interest in  ascertaining the
true author of this inestimable blessing to mankind, and that some efforts had already been
made to mislead the opinion of Eorope with respect to this question.  Your extensive rep-
utation, and great influence with the scientific world, will,  1 trust, sufficiently account for
the liberty I am taking in  offering to you  the means of forming a correct judgment upon
the pretensions of the parties claiming the discovery.
  By the report, a copy of which  I have tue honor of  begging you  to accept, herewith,
you will'perceive that the controversy has been adjudicated, and  settled definitely in favor
of Dr. Morton,  to whom the committee recommend a reward of one hundred thousand
dollars.
                    With the highest respect, I am,  your obedient servant,
                                                          N. S. TOWNSEND.

   It may not be amiss to state, that after the   report was  made in his
favor, Dr. Morton  thought seriously of accepting the numerous invita-
tions which had  been made him  to visit Europe.  No sooner was this
known,  than a large number of  letters of  introduction were tendered
him, from which we select the  following:

Letter from the Hon. Daniel Webster, Secretary of State, to the respective  Diplomatic  and Con-
                     sular Agents of the United States in Europe.

                             Department op State, Washington, 23d June, 1852.
   Dear Sir: This letter will be handed  to you by William  T. G. Morton, M. D., of Bos-
ton, the discoverer of etherization.
   He  is about visiting Europe in relation to this subject, and I  take pleasure in com-
mending to your kindness and  consideration a person  who has done so much for the alle-
viation of human suffering; and I request that you will extend to him such friendly atten-
tions as may conveniently be in your power.
                                  Yours, truly,
                                                      DANIEL  WEBSTER.


                Letter from Hon. A. J. Donelson, Ex-minister to Berlin.

                                                    Washington,  June 12, 1852,
His Excellency Alexander Humboldt, &c, &c, &c.
   Mt dear Sir: I beg leave to present to your acquaintance Dr. W. T. G. Morton, the
discoverer of the anaesthetic properties of ether, who is the bearer of this  note, and whose
first object, when he arrives at Berlin, will be the desire of seeing the individual who, above
all others, possesses the admiration and respect of the scientific men of America.
   I avail myself of the occasion  to renew the obligations under which  1 was so often placed,
when I was at Berlin, by  your excellency's kindness and regard, and to  subscribe myself
again,
                             Your excellency's very humble
                                               And obedient servant,
                                                            A. J.  DONELSON. 
 
 
[VS
   Mr. Smith's unexpected course in the Senate had forced Dr. Morton
 to relinquish, for the present, his visit to Europe, and he set himself
 to work to overthrow this new obstacle  to his just rights.  The claim
 in behalf of the heirs of Dr. Wells had received a prominent support
 from the citizens  of Hartford, who were, doubtless, stim'ulated by a
 local pride to secure the honor of the discovery for their city, and by a
 natural  sympathy for the widow and orphan.   Much had been said
 about the evidence  there, and Dr. Morton, conscious of his position,
 determined to "carry the war into Africa."
   He accordingly went to Hartford, employed counsel, and commenced
 taking  this testimony himself, before Erastus Smith, esq.,  a United
 States commissioner.  At the same time he had  notices legally served
 upon Mrs. Elizabeth W. Wells and upon Mr. Truman Smith, her coun-
 sel, notifying them to be present at the taking of testimony, and to put
 interrogatories, if they thought fit.  Mr. Smith  immediately  came to
 Hartford and superintended  the cross-examinations, which were made
 by H. K. W. Welch, as counsel  for Mrs. Dr. Wells.  Many of the
 witnesses were informed by him that they were not bound  to appear
 before the commissioner and testify, and thus Dr. Morton was deprived
 of valuable  testimony showing the groundlessness of Dr. Wells's pre-
 tensions, while others were induced to make depositions secretly before
 a magistrate, locked up in a  room, to which the counsel of Dr."Morton
 was refused admittance.   Yet, in the face of this legal chicanery, this
 local feeling, and  this sympathy, Dr. Morton obtained a mass of testi-
 mony which  took all the foundation from the legal  edifice erected by
 Mr.  Smith—a mass of testimony which  is on record as a Congressional
 document, and which has never been contradicted or denied.
   But it was not in  Hartford alone that Dr. Morton busied himself in
 taking testimony.   About  the same time  another  commission was
 opened at Boston, under the statutes of the commonwealth of Massa-
 chusetts, before which Dr. Morton, assisted by R. H. Dana, jr., esq.,
 proceeded to cite and examine such witnesses, in perpetuam rei me-
 moriam, as were conversant with the discovery.   He thus obtained the
 evidence of Doctors John C. Warren, Henry J. Bigelow, S. 1). Town-
 send, J. Mason Warren, A. L. Peirson, A. A. Gould, and other gen-
 tlemen, which made his position as the discoverer of anaesthesia im-
 pregnable—having the testimony taken in the presence of Dr. Jackson's
 counsel, and with ample opportunity to him to detect error, or to ex-
 pose misstatements.  •
  This double duty, with its varying and shifting perplexities, caused
 by the professional  attempts of opposing counsel  to throw embarrass-
ments in this search of  Dr. Morton after truth, must have been ardu-
ous in the extreme.   But, as has been  shown throughout this work,
 Dr. Morton never takes  heed of toil, mental anxiety, or expense when
the question of anaesthesia is involved.  Probably no other man living
would thus have gone into the enemy's camp, and proved, by the uner-
ring  standard  of judicial testimony, that the weapons there were worth-
less.   "This  has been  my course," said he, on submitting  his con- 
91
 vincing  testimony  to Congress,  "open,  bold, courting investigation,
 defying  controversy."
   But this testimony, the fruits of  the commissions at Hartford  and at
 Boston,  was not all that Dr.  Morton had to carry back to  Washington
 in support of his claim.  The speech of Senator  Walker (quoted in the
 last chapter) showed that a remonstrance had been presented to Con-
 gress, signed  by a  small fraction of the  physicians of  Massachusetts.
 "Not. one of these remonstrators was in the General Hospital of Massa-
 chusetts  at the time this discovery was brought out; but,  on  the con-
 trary, a great many of them were dentists, who were personal enemies
 and personal  rivals of Dr. Morton."
   To rebut this " remonstrance," and to triumphantly sustain his claims,
 D. Morton received the following "memorial" and "petition" to Con-
 gress.  Never before, we venture to assert,  did such a  brilliant galaxy
 of medical and surgical talent unite on any one measure:

                                MEMORIAL.

 To the honorable  the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Slates in Congreu
                                 assembled:

  The undsrsigned hereby testify to your honorable  body, that in their opinion Dr.
 William T. G. Morton first proved to the world that ether would produce insensibility to
 the pain of surgical operations,  and that it could be used with safety.  In their opinion,
 his fellow men owe a debt to him for this knowledge.  Wherefore, they respectfully ask a
 recognition by Congress of his services to his country and mankind.

 JOHN C.  WARREN,  M. D.,  Senior Surgeon Massachusetts General Hospital, and late
  President American Medical Society, and Emeritus Professor of Anatomy of Harvard Uni-
  versity.
 GEORGE  HAYWARD, M. D., President Massachusetts Medical Society, and Surgeon
  Massachusetts General Hospital.
 S. D. TOWNSEND, M. D., Surgeon Mass. Gen. Hospital.
 J. MASON WARREN, M. D.,   "
S. PARKMAN, M. D.,        ««
 HENRY J. BIGELOW, M. D., Surgeon Massachusetts General Hospital, and Professor of
  Surgery Harvard University.
 HENRY S. CLARK, M. D., Surgeon Massachusetts General Hospital, and City Physician.
JACOB BIGELOW, M. D., Professor Materia Medica Harvard University, and President of
  the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Physician to Massachusetts General Hospital.
OLIVER W.  HOLMES, M. D., Professor of Anatomy Harvard University.
 HENRY I. BOWDITCH, M.  D.,  Physician to Mass. Gen. Hospital.
 D. HUMPHREYS STORER, M. D.,
M. S. PERRY,  M. D.,               "     «    "     ««
JAMES JACKSON, M. D.,        }
GEORGE  C. SHATTUCK, M. D., 1 Consulting Physicians and Surgeons Mats. General
JOHN JEFFRIES, M. D.,         f  Hospital.
EDWARD REYNOLDS, M. D.,   J
WALTER CHANNING, M. D., Professor of Midwifery Harvard University.
JOHN WARE, M. D., Professor Theory and Practice Harvard University.
JOHN HOMANS, M. D., President Suffolk District Medical Society.
 WM. J. DALE, M. D., one of the Trustees Massachusetts General Hospital.
 JOHN L.  FOX, M. D., Surgeon Naval Hospital, Chelsea.
 WM. 1NGALLS, Physician and Surgeon, U. S. Marine Hospital, Chelsea, Mass.
 S. L ABBOTT, M. D., Admitting Physician Massachusetts General Hospital.
 HENRY W. WILLIAMS, M. D., Secretary Suffolk District Medical Society.
 M. H. CHIELDS, President Birkshire Medical College.
 R. W. HOOPER,       )
 GEORGE  A. BETHUNE, \ Massachusetts Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary.
 EDWARD REYNOLDS, ) 
 
 
95
                 Members op Massachusetts Medical Societt.

  Walter Charming, John Homans, (President Suffolk District Medical Society,) Z. B.
Adams, John C. Hayden John  Ware, Ephraim Bush, George Bartlett, Jonas H Lane
Anson Hooker, Henry Dyer, Augustus A. Gould, Charles  Gordon, Joseph L Jones
Samuel  Kneeland, sr., T.  Fletcher Oakes, Geo. Hubbard, Chas. W. Moore  Richard  H
Salter  Fytche Edward  01w.k  Wm. J. Dale, Wm. Ed.  Coale, James W Stone, B  w!
Newell, Francis A. Willard, Wm. Hawes, Charles Mifflin, J.  Wippasne, Abrm. A. Wat-
son Aaron  P. Richardson, Henry A. Ward, Wm. Bowen Morris, James B. Gregerson.
M. Mattson  David Thayer, Samuel  Morrill, Silas  Durkee,  Geo.  Stevens Jones, Jesse
Chicker.ng  J. A. Tarbelr, Geo. H. Symane, Henry W. Williams, J. Randolph  Lincoln,
George  Derby, Warren J. Whitney, Francis  Minot, D. D. Slade,  W. E. Townsend
John  B Alley, Geo. H.  Gay, Luther Parks, jr., Wm. G. Wheeler, F. H. Gray, James
F. Hartow  George Russeh\ Chas.  E. Ware,  E.  W. Blake. Edw. H. Clarke, Samuel
Gregg, E. D. Miller, C. G. Putnam, Chas. A. Phelps, John Oden, jr., Joseph Reynolds,
Geo.  Hayward, jr., Henry Osgood Stine,  Wm. W. Morland, M.  C. Greene,  Horace
Stacy, Franklin F. Patch, Samuel L. Abbot, John H. Oix, James Ayer, Jos.  J. Fales, P.
Wibrand,  Ezra Bartlett,  S. F.  Parcher, James Hyndman, Henry S. Lee, E. D. Cleave-
land,  John  Stevens, Ira W. Tobie, J. Everette Herrick,  N. C. Stevens, Enoch C. Rolfe
Henry Willard, A. Alexander,  D.  McGowan, Alex. S. Butler, Benj. B. Appleton,  G.
Newton Thomson, J. M.  Phipps, Abner Phelps, Josiah Curtis, E. D. G. Palmer, Daniel
V. Folts, R. L. Hinckley, J. W. Hinckley,  M. B. Souard, P. E. Molloy, Henry Bryant,
Chas. E. Buckingham,  J. W. Warren, jr., D. D. Smith, George Power, William Read,
J. F. W. Lane, Constantine B. O'Donnell, M. R. C. S. E., John S. H. Fogg,  Edmund  T.
Eastman, J. C. Sanborne, E. A. Kittredge.
   Charlestown.—E. E. Braun, A. J. Bellows, Benj. Seabury, George W. Otis, jr., Charles
H. Allen, A. C. Webber, J. P. Alden, W. W. Wellington, H.  L. Chase, Chas. F. Foster,
A. J.  Cummings, Thomas J. Stevens, Hutchinson Germaine, Alexander Poole, James B.
Forsyth, John Toomy.
  Salem, Mass.—A. L. Peirson,  William Mack, George Choate, Wm. Henry Prince, J.
G. Wood, James Stone, jr., E. B. Peirson, Geo. C. S. Choate, Geo. A. Perkins, H. Wheat-
land, Samuel Johnson, Edward A. Holyoke.
  Newburyport, Mass.—E. Cross, S. M. Gale.
  Lynn, Mass.—A. S. Adams, J.  T. Galloupe, Danl. Perley, James M. Nye, John Renton,
Nathaniel Ruggles, D. E.  Johnson, E. Porter Eastman, Chas M. Weeks, Edw. Newhall.
   Worcester, Mass.—Henry Clarke, Saml.  Flagg, Geo. A. Bates, Chas. W.  Whitcomb,
Joseph Sargent, Oramel  Martin, William Workman, Rufus Woodward, Henry Sargent,
A. Goulet,  P. B. Mignoult, Benj. Heywood, John E. Hathaway.
  Springfield, Mass.—.Tas. M. Smith,  Edwin Seeger,  N.  Adams, A. S. McClean, Alfred
Lambert, C. C. Chaffee, H. A. Hamilton, Henry B. Vaille, D. C. Perkins.
  Pittsfield,  Mass—H. H. Childs, President of Birkhead  Med. Institution, N. S. Barnes,
0. S. Root,  Frank A. Cady, 0. E. Brewster, Nath'l Foote, Avery Williams, A. N. Allen,
L. F.  Humeston, Willard  Clough, M. D., Clark F. Hall, M. D., N. J. Wilson.
  Taunton.—Alfred Bayliss, H. B. Hubbard, Horace Bowen,  Ebenezer Dawes, William
Dickinson,  Dan. King, George Leonard.
  New Bedford.—T. S.  Mayhew, Johnson  Clark, Jno. H. Jennings, Wm.  A. Gordon,
Elijah Colby, C. D. Stickney, John Howell  Mackie, Paul  Spooner.
  Fall River.—James W.  Hartley, P. A. Smyth, Jerome Dwelly, Foster Hooper, E. T.
Learned.
  Lowell.—John O. Green,  Henry Whiting, J. P. Jewett, J. D. Pillsbury, Elisha Hunt-
ington, John W. Graves, Benjamin Skelton, H. Pillsbury, P. P. Campbell, L. B. Morse,
Charles A.  Davis,  Ployer G. Kittredge, Chas. A. Savory, Joel Spalding, David Wells,
Daniel Holt, Daniel Mowe, J. W. Scribner.
  Lawrence.—Geo. W. Sanborn,  Wm. D. Lamb, David Dana,  J. H. Morse.
  South Andover.—James  Howarth, W. H. Kimball.
  Fitchburg.—Thos. R.  Boutelle, Levi Pillsbury, T. W. Wadsworth, W. M.  Barrett,
Henry M. Linrab.                                 .
  Plymouth.__Jas. L. Hunt, Winslow Warren, Benjamin Hubbard, Timothy  Gordon.
  Dedham— Jeremy Stimson, D.  P. Wight, H. F. Spear.
  Hingham.—Ezra Stephenson, Robt. T. P. Fiske.
  Quincy__Ebenezer Woodward, William G. Pattee, W. Goddard.
  Danvers —Andrew Nichols, Joseph Osgood, David A. Grosvenor, George Osgood.
  Marblehead.—James C. Briggs,  Chandler Flagg, Daniel Gill.
  Beverly__W. C. Boy den, Charles Haddock, Ingalls Kittredge. 
96
Gloucester.—Isaac P. Smith, C. H. Hildreth, Geo. W. Smith.
Rockport.—Benjamin Haskell, Lemuel Gott, Oscar D. Abbott.
Newton.—Henry Bigelow, Cyrus K. Bartlet.
Framingham.—Simon Whitney, Allston W. Whitney.
Mdford.—Francis Leland, Theodore 0. Cornish.
                              PETITION
          OF  THE TRUSTEES OF THE MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL.

      To the honorable the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress assembled:
  The subscribers respectfully represent, that they are members of the Board of Trustees
of the Massachusetts General Hospital; that the power of the inhalation of sulphuric ether
to produce insensibility to pain during surgical operations, was discovered by experiments
instituted in  this hospital by Dr. William T. G. Morton, and that in their opinion he is
entitled to a liberal national reward  for the service thus rendered to the country and to
mankind.
                   N. I. Bowditch,              Wm. J. Dale,
                   John P. Bigelow,            Ed. Wigglesworth,
                   W. S. Bullard,          *     Charles H. Mills,
                   Francis C. Lowell,           J. Thos. Stevenson,
                   Thomas Lamb,              G. A. Shaw.
                   Amos A. Lawrence,
      Boston, November 22, 1851.
                            CHAPTER XVI.

  The very  first petitions presented  to  the  Senate, at the commence-
ment of the second session of the thirty-second Congress, were those in
favor of a national recognition of Dr. Morton's claim as the discoverer
of«anaesthesia.   They were offered by the Hon. John Davis, and came
from  the Physicians and Surgeons and  the Trustees of the Massachu-
setts General Hospital—the  Massachusetts Charitable Eye and Ear In-
firmary—and members of the Massachusetts Medical Society.   They,
with the evidence collected by Dr. Morton to sustain them, were re-
ferred to the Committee on  Military Affairs, and he waited the action
of his opponents.
  Mr. Smith was still a member of the Senate, before which  he  had
pledged himself to "make out a case"  for his clients, and the profes-
sional advisers of  Dr. Jackson were also there.   But neither made any
manifestation of bringing forward their respective  pretensions, and at
length Dr. Morton's patience became exhausted.  It appeared to him—
as he stated officially—that the strategy  of his opponents was directed
to wearing out his life, and exhausting his means,  that they might be
"in at the death."  This stimulated him to prompt action, that com-
plete and impartial justice should  be done  him if Heaven spared his
life, and if not, that his wife and children might enjoy the  vindication
of his name and memory !
  Dr. Morton, therefore, after having waited  nearly  a  month,  gave
proper notice to  Mr. Hayes,  (counsel  for Dr. Jackson,) and to  Mr.
Smith, (counsel  for the Wells'  heirs,) to present  their evidence, re-
spectively, and have it referred  to the committee  to  which  his  own
documents had been referred. 
 
 
97
  But Mr.  Smith was too old a practitioner to take such a straightfor,
ward course.  Taking a day, (the 3d of January, 1853,) when General
Cass  had announced his intention  of speaking on " Liberty of Con-
science Abroad," and attracted crowds of spectators, Mr. Smith offered
his " Wells'  Petition,"  and moved its reference to the  Committee on
Patents,  of which he was a member.
  As  Dr. Wells had never had any connection with a  patent-right, in
the experiments upon which his claim was based, and  as no question
of a patent was involved in it, this step appeared singular^the more so,
perhaps,  because Mr. Smith, in an offensive speech, undertook to say
that the Committee on Military Affairs had "prejudged" the question.
That  committee, (which consisted of Messrs. Shields, of Illinois,  Cle-
mens, of Alabama, Borland,  of Arkansas, Dawson, of Georgia, and
Jones, of Tennessee,) were naturally somewhat indignant, and a de-
bate ensued on the question of reference.  This was probably exactly
what  Mr. Smith wished, and,  as he must have foreseen, General Cass
grew  restive.   His speech had  been  announced—his audience was dis-
persing—and  he therefore prevailed upon the Senate to lay Mr. Smith's
petition upon  the table.
  The next day, the Senatorial lawyer brought it up again, and moved
its reference to the Committee  on Military Affairs.   But his remarks of
the day previous had made a consideration of the subject, upon which
they  were  said to be  "prejudged,"  extremely unpleasant.   "It
ought,"  said  the high-minded  General Shields,  " to be  investigated in
some  other way.  We had no hesitation in the world,  believing  that
Dr. Morton was the discoverer—and it is my opinion still, after the in-
vestigation  I have bestowed upon the subject, that he is the discoverer—
in proposing that he should be  rewarded, for it is one of the most bene-'
ficent discoveries ever made."   But he now expressed  no wish to in-*
vestigate  the new question forced upon the committee,  and he there-
fore moved its reference to a select committee of five.
  This was objected to by several Senators, who did not like to see
gentlemen  thus driven from the consideration of a subject already re-
ferred to  them.  But the members of  the committee were firm..  " I,
(said Governor Jones, of Tennessee,) am a member of the Committee
on Military Affairs, and I should regret exceedingly, under the circum-
stances that surround us, to be required to  take charge of the question
again. No  matter what report we might make, it could not, and would
not be satisfactory to all the claimants—and it seems to me that, under
the circumstances, we would expose  ourselves to imputations which no
honorable gentleman ought to  be willing to bear.  It is on that ground
that 1 am opposed to the reference of  the memorial to the Committee
on Military Affairs.   I hope it  will be  sent to a special committee, and
that we may  be relieved  from  a further investigation of it."  This,
and similar protests  made  by  other  gentlemen on the committee, car-
ried the day.   A select committee was ordered, to consider the subject
of the discovery of anaesthetic  agents,  and the next day the President
of the Senate, pro  tempore,  announced that  he  appointed:  Messrs.
           13 
9S
Walker,  Smilh,  Davis,  Butler,  and  Mallory.    Subsequently,  Mr.
Hamlin  was substituted for Mr. Mallory.
   At the close of the previous session of Congress, it will be remem-
bered, a  sudden coalition  between the  Jackson and Wells claims  had
suddenly interposed  difficulties  in Doctor Morton's way—and the ad-
vocates of these interests seemed again anxious to procrastinale all ex-
amination, until the last moment.   Apprehending  a repetition  of this
conduct, he had previously determined to subnit his claim to the most
severe judicial investigation, if that were considered necessary, and if—
on that  basis—Congress would  appropriate what it should determine
might  be due to the discoverer, whoever he might prove to be.   Find-
ing,  therefore,  that his  opponents  were  procrastinating, he presented
each of them  with  the followingprojet of a bill:

                                  . AN ACT
To reward, by a national testimonial, the discovery of the means of producing insensibility to pain
                   in surgical operations and other cases of suffering.

  Whereas a discovery has been made of the existence of anaesthetic qualities capable of
being applied safely and certainly, and with great utility, to produce entiie insensibility to
pain, and thus enabling surgical and obstetrical operations to be performed safely and with-
out suffering, and of the application thereof; and whereas the Government of the United
States have had  the benefit thereof in their military and naval service, and the free and
common use by the public generally ; and  whereas a judicial inquiry seems to be neces-
sary to ascertain which of the three claimants hereinafter named is justly entitled  to be
rewarded for the discovery aforesaid,  be it therefore enacted, &c, as follows:
  Sec. 1.  That the sum of one hundred thousand dollars is appropriated in the hands of the
Secretary of the Treasury, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated,
as a remuneration for the use of the  discovery aforesaid, to be paid by the Secretary of
the Treasury to one of the claimants hereinafter mentioned, who shall, by legal and com-
petent evidence in the proceedings hereinafter provided, establish  his claim thereto, for and
on account of the discovery aforesaid: Provided, That if  W. T. G. Morton, hereinafter
mentioned, shall be declared by final  judgment in the proceedings hereinafter mentioned
to be entitled to receive the fund hereby granted, he shall,  before receiving the same,  ex-
ecute and deliver to the Commissioner of Patents a surrender of the letters-patent granted
to him on the twelfth day of Ndvember, in the year eighteen hundred and forty-six.
  Sec. 2.  That the district attorney of the United States for the district of Massachusetts
shall forthwith file in the Circuit Court of the United States for the district of Massachu-
setts, sitting in equity, in the name and in behalf of the Secretary of the  Treasury, a bill
of interpleader, therein  reciting this act  as the  substance thereof; the Secretary of tin
Treasury, as  stakeholder of the fund hereby granted,  shall  be made complainant, and
William T. G. Morton, of Boston, in the State of Massachusetts, Charles T. Jackson, of
Boston, aforesaid, and the legal representative or representatives  of Horace Wells, late of
Hartford, in the State of Connecticut,  deceased, shall respectively be made respondents, in
which suit the said  Morton and Jackson and the legal representative or representatives of
the said Wells shall litigate their respective claims to receive the remuneration hereby
granted for and on  account of the discovery aforesaid.   And the said Circuit Court ia
hereby authorized to take jurisdiction in the'said  cause,  and determine the question to
whom the reward shall be paid, by  reference  to the  principles and  analogies in which
courts of equity having jurisdiction of patent-rights and other equitable jurisdiction pro-
ceed, for which said court is authorized to make all  necessary  orders therein, and to make
a final decree, declaring which of the said claimants is  entitled to receive the said reward
for and on account of the discovery aforesaid.  And from the final  decree of  the said
Circuit  Court made in the premises, either of the other respondents may appeal to the Su-
preme Court of the United States, which appeal shall be taken, entered, prosecuted,  and
disposed of like other appeals from the Circuit Courts in equity cases.
   Sec 3.  If either of the said respondents, after due notice and summons, shall fail to
appear and put in an answer to said  bill  at the time that may-  be prescribed by the  court,
the court shall proceed and adjudicate upon the claim or claims of the other respondent or
respondents who may have appeared  and answered  as aforesaid. 
 
 
99
    This liberal proposition of Dr. Morton to invite judicial investigation
  would, it will be imagined, have met with a cordial reception by those
  interested.   But they well knew the weakness.of their respective posi-
  tions.  Mr. Smith declined, on the ground that Mrs. Wells was unable
  to sustain the expense  of litigation, whereupon Dr. Morton offered,
  (through the Hon.  Charles Chapman, Hon. E.  T.  Davis, and  E.
  March, esq.,) to  either advance her in cash the means for such litiga-
  tion, or to defray the expense himself.   This  doubly liberal  offer was
  declined ! Mr. Hayes, in behalf of Dr. Jackson, also declined !  They
  each sought darkness rather than light!
     One of these claimants,  it will be borne in mind, depreciated and
  condemned  the use of sulphuric ether, but recommended nitrous oxide
  gas.   To prove the fallacy of this argument, Dr. Morton addressed  the
  following letter to the committee:
                            " National Hotel, Washington, January 18, 1853.
    " Dear Sir : The subject of the discovery of anaesthesia being now before a committee
  of which you are chairman, I beg leave to submit to yOu, and  through you to the com-
  mittee, a proposition.
    ** One of those who contest my right to the discovery, does so on the ground that anaes-
  thesia had been discovered by Dr. Wells prior to my alleged discovery; and that the
  anaesthetic agent used in the discovery by Dr. Wells was nitrous oxide gas.  Now, if anaes-
  thesia, for surgical purposes, was ever discovered through nitrous oxide gas as the agent,
  that agent, for the same purposes, will still manifest its efficiency.  I deny that such a
  discovery, by means of said agent, ever was made, or that said  agent possesses available
  anaesthetic properties alone for"surgical operations. At the same time, I assert and claim
  that anaesthesia was first discovered by me, through the agency of sulphuric ether. There-
   fore to prove that nitrous oxide never was discovered  to be an available anaesthetic agent
   in surgical operations, and that it is not such now; and to prove also that sulphuric ether
   wag discovered to be an available anaesthetic agent for such purposes, and is so now, I
   propose that an actual demonstration shall be made before the committee of the two agents,
   in such surgical operation or operations as are considered fair tests by scientific men, at
   such time as the committee may direct, and patients obtained.
                             " Yours, very truly,
                                             «' W. T.  G. MORTON, M. D.
     " Hon. J. P. Walker, Chairman, Sfc."

     This offer was accepted by the committee, who  selected  Dr. May to
   conduct the demonstration.   Apprehensive that it might be said that
   the nitrous oxide gas could not be procured, Dr. Morton caused it to be
   manufactured by Dr. Kidwell, (a competent chemist recommended^by
   a professor of Columbia College,) and further to satisfy Dr. May of its
   purity,  he administered it to several persons on the evening of January
   27th  in his presence, and that of several Senators.          •
     The  demonstration  came off on  the 28th,  at the Washington  Infir-
   marv  where Dr. Morton had a patient and the  nitrous  oxide gas in
   readiness.  Dr. May was urged by the chairman  of the committee to
   use the nitrous oxide.   He refused peremptorily   He had also been
   requested to do so  by  Mr. Truman  Smith, and had refused.   Dr.
   Morton then proceeded in presence of the committee, and  of surgeons
'   of the army and  navy,  and of the medical class,  to administer ether.
   Complete etherization was produced, which continued through a dan-
   gerous and protracted surgical  operation,  lasting about three quarters
   of an hour. 
100
  But this was not the only manner in which Dr.  Morton showed hid
desire to have an investigation which should forever satisfy all impartial
minds.  He prepared, and had published at his own expense, a volume
of over six  hundred large octavo pages, which not only embodied his
own evidence, but that of his opponents.  It contains two annotated
minority reports in favor of Dr. Jackson, with all the evidence, rumors,
speculations, arguments, and  opinions relied  on in these reports to
Bupport  his  pretensions.  And with it  are  re-publications of the  two
pamphlets published in favor of Dr. Wells, (the first by Wells, himself,
the second written by the Hon.  Isaac Toucey,) together with all the
evidences, rumors, hearsay, speculations, arguments, and  opinions by
which they are  attempted to be sustained.  This was novel, yet con-
clusive proof of  Dr. Morton's consciousness of right!   Determined not
to receive  any honor, reward, or payment not  clearly his due, upon
an impartial hearing of all sides, he thus published, at his own expense,,
all that had  ever appeared in  behalf of his opponents.
   With this were the statements in hisfavor, and the evidence supporting
them,  embodying much  that has already been given in these pages,
especially the results of the recent commissions at Boston and at Hartford.
   "It is now more than six years," said  the introduction of Dr. Mor-
ton to his chain of evidence, "since the world received, at my hands,
what I may not scruple to call one of the greatest of physical  blessings.
Whatever attempts may  be made to throw doubt upon other points in
the case, no one has been reckless enough to deny that I  alone  have
been, in fact,  the  humble instrument through whom  a beneficent
Providence  has conferred this boon upon mankind.   Whatever floating
notion's may have crossed men's minds from the earliest ages, tending
to the same  end, it must be conceded that the world was no whit richer
for them, until it fell to my lot to devole-all my energies and sacrifice
all my means to its attainment.  Now it is fully attained.   What \va3
the dream of the philanthropist and the half-formed conjecture of the
scientific speculator, has become a household fact."
   "To me  alone, of  all  the world, this result  has been fraught with
Buffering instead of comfort.  Of pecuniary sacrifices I will not speak;
but surely it was not to have been anticipated that this discovery should
have made me the target for  the  most malicious and  envenomed
assaults.   There are wounds  which are sharper than those of the sur-
geon's knife, and which,
             -----'Not poppy, nor mandragora,
             Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world,'

can make us feel less keenly.  These have been my portion.  I trust
that the reward is at  hand.   I look to you for  justice:  nothing more,
nothing less."
   While the question was under investigation by the  select committee
 of the Senate, a pamphlet entitled "An examination of the question of
 Anaesthesia," was printed and  circulated among members of  either
 branch of Congress.   "It was  written,  (said  the Hon. Mr. Walker, 
I 
 
101
chairman of the committee,) by the Hon. Truman Smith, a member
of the committee, and had thus a quasi-official character.   And as, in my
opinion, that paper presents a one-sided and partial view of the ques-
tion; such  as  might be expected of an advocate of easy faith in hia
client's cause, and strong indignation  against all that oppose it; and
consequently comes to a conclusion widely  different from that which
a calm and impartial  consideration of  the whole case would warrant,
I deem it an act of mere justice to the person who I believe has the right,
to present also the opinion which I have  formed upon the same points
after a careful examination.
   "The writer of that paper gives the whole merit of the discovery of
practical anaesthesia to the late Dr. Horace Wells, of Hartford, Connec-
ticut, and he denounces, in no measured terms, as pirates and impostors
both the other claimants to that distinguished honor.   He is especially
bitter and abusive of Dr. Morton, whose character is above all reproach,
and whose claim to  the contested prize  is supported  by very strong
evidence, while he shows some little forbearance towards Dr. Jackson,
who has failed in making out his claim.   The strength of his  denun-
ciations against the respective parties, and the degree of villany which
he imputes to them, is in direct proportion  to the strength of  their
proofs.
   "I feel no interest or wish in this matter, except that the truth may be
arrived at, and right and justice done; and that I may discharge faith-
 fully the duty which  the  Senate has imposed  on me by the reference,
 by endeavoring to  obtain it, and present it.   And it is but fair to say,
 in the outset, that, after a careful examination of all the allegations
 and proofs to which  I have had access, my mind  is made  up—my
 opinion formed on the  question—and that I concur  with the Board of
 Trustees  of the Massachusetts  Medical Hospital  in the opinion ex-
 pressed in their report of January 26lh, 1848, and with the two  com-
 mittees of the House of  Representatives of 1849 and 1852, that Dr.
 W. T. G.  Morton first discovered and brought into general  use a safe,
 certain, and  efficient  anaesthetic  agent, applicable  generally to  all
 dentrical,  surgical, and  obstetrical cases,  and that he is  entitled to
 whatever honor and reward are due to the discovery, and the free and
 general use of it, by the army  and navy of the United States, by the
 country,  and by the  civilized world."
   The able  opinion of Mr. Walker was afterwards incorporated into
 the report of the  committee to the  Senate.   It gave a review of the
 whole question, and refuted clearly the calumnious statements advanced
 by  Mr. Smith.   "Arguments  like these," it says, "which  have no
 foundation save in the positive imagination of their coiner, show the
 real weakness  of the  cause they are intended  to sustain,  backed by
 gross libels and defamatory charges."
   "It is  in  vain,"  concluded Mr. Walker, "to attempt  success by
 depreciating  the  character or  capacity of Dr. Morton.  He is recog-
 nised wherever known, as a man of integrity and honor, of great enter-
 prise and  of high capacity.  Conscious  of his original claim to this 
102
glorious discovery, he has decidedly asserted his rights when necessary,
amidst sore  buffetings of fortune, and the close-cleaving malignity of
powerful adversaries,  certain that  he would  eventually receive a uni-
versal recognition of his position.   Institutions, learned men, and able
jurists, both at home and abroad, have gradually united in awarding to
him the glory of a discovery that will solace  his declining years, and
impart to his memory a hallowed radiance, as a  benefactor of the hu-
man race.   He proposed to the select committee (as his printed memo-
rals on the files of the Senate show)  a projet  of the bill now reported,
referring the subject to the decision of a judicial tribunal, and has ever
avowed his readiness—in the noble language  of De Foe—' to stand or
fall by the public justice of his native land/ "
  The committee made their report on the 19th of February, and  il
was ordered to be printed.  Taking the suggestion of Dr. Morton,  it
stated :  " That in the opinion of  the committee such a discovery has
been made,  and that the credit  and  honor of the discovery belong to one
of the following persons, all citizens of the United States, to wit: Wil-
liam T. G. Morton, Horace Wells, deceased, or Charles T. Jackson;
but to which of these persons in  particular  the discovery  should be
awarded, the committee is not unanimous, and consequently the com-
mittee is of opinion that this point should not be settled  by Congress
without a judicial inquiry.
  " But the committee  has no  hesitancy in saying, that to the man
who has bestowed this boon upon mankind, when he shall be certainly
made known, the  highest honor and  reward are due which it is com-
patible with the institutions of our country to bestow.
  " The means of safely producing insensibility to pain in surgical and
kindred operations have been the great desideratum in the curative art
from the earliest period of medical science, and  have been zealously
sought for during a period of more  than a thousand years.  At various
periods, and in various ages, hope has  been excited in the human breast
that this great agent had  been found; but all proved delusive, and hope
as often died away, until the discovery now under consideration burst
upon the world from our own  country, and  in our own day.   Then,
and not until then, was the time-cherished hope realized that the knife
would lose its sting, and  that blood  might follow its edge without pain.
  " But for the committee to dilate  upon the importance of this dis-
covery were futile  indeed.  The  father or mother who has  seen  a
child, or the child who has seen a father or mother, upon the surgeon's
table, writhing and shrieking from pain and agony—the husband who
has seen his wife suffering, perhaps dying, under the undurable pangs
of parturition, the  extirpation of a breast or cancer, or the amputation
of a limb, while she appealed and implored for help and ease which he
could not otherwise render—the commander who has seen his soldiers,
and the soldier who has seen his companion, sink, nervously  shocked,
to death from pain, in the absence of  this alleviation—and the surgeon
who is forced to torture, while, perhaps, he weeps—can  all  more
readily feel the magnitude and blessing of this discovery than the com- 
 
 
103
mittee can describe it.   Indeed, while the heart of man shall remain
human, or possess the power to pulsate in sympathy with human suf-
fering, it would seem that none would deny it the meed of pre-emi-
nence among the discoveries of any age."
  The report was accompanied by the elaborate opinion of Mr. Walker
referred to above.
  On the 25th of February, the matter came up for discussion, and at
the request of the select committee, the Committee on Military Affairs
offered as an amendment to the Appropriation  bill the proposed mea-
sure, by which  $100,000 was to be paid to the  discoverer of this great
boon for the alleviation of  human suffering and the saving  of human
life.  The debate was  a warm one, many Senators participating,  yet
it is gratifying to record  the absence of all abuse of Dr. Morton, or de-
famation of  his peculiar claim.  Most especially effective was,the elo-
quent manner in which Mr. Walker closed his remarks :
  " If I could allude (said Mr. Walker)  to what brought me  imme-
 diately to know the value of  this discovery,  I might express  myself
with more  direct feeling than any other member of  the  Senate, for  I
know not whether any other member has had the misfortune of having
this great alleviation introduced into his family circle.  I  have.  I have
seen a member of my family, now dead, suffering under the surgeon's
knife, lying- in a calm and peaceful sleep, and  yet undergoing one of
the most torturing surgical operations in the world.   I felt at that day,
rising in my heart, the feeling that if God should ever give me the  op-
portunity of manifesting my gratitude to the person who has made this
great discovery,  1 should  do  so.   The opportunity is  now offered.
Whether the Senate will sympathise with me or not,  I know not; but
it is now for them to speak, and to decide by their vote."
  The objection on this occasion  appeared to  be one which had been
brought up  against Dr. Morton,  in an opposite direction, previously.
He had been denounced because he had patented his discovery in order
to restrain it from being used  by improper persons;  but he was now
told that he  should enforce his patent.   "Let him (said Senator Norris,
of New Hampshire,) enforce his patent as other  patentees do."
  "As to this objection, (said  Senator  Borland,) that Dr. Morton has
a patent and he should  enforce his patent-right, I need hardly remind
the Senate that this is one of those cases where, from the very nature
of the circumstances, the rights of the patentee cannot  be enforced.
You cannot go into the sick chamber and arrest the surgeon in the per-
formance of his professional duty, and  deprive a patient, who is on the
verge of the grave,  of a benefit from the application of a remedy  be-
cause it may infringe the right of a patentee.   And if you could, it is
one  of those cases at which the feelings of every man would  revolt.  It
is one of those cases where you cannot enforce a patentee's rights.  You
would have  to go to the bedside of almost every sick man in  the coun-
try.  You would have to follow your Army and Navy surgeons through-
out  their whole course, upon the land and upon the sea, and examine
into  every case wmere they have occasion, in the alleviation of human
suffering and the saving of human life, to use this remedial agent." 
104
   "I regard  the  discovery, (said Senator Butler, of South Carolina,)
from its very sublimity, as one which cannot be subjected to a patent.
Yet it comes clearly within the spirit of the patent laws; and if a man
can  have a security for his rights for what is tangible, Dr. Morton  ought
to have some protection for that which is more sublime, and above the
tangible mode and  subject of patents."
   Senator Norris took an opposite view of the subject, concluding by
saying: "It is patentable, and a patent has been issued for it under the
law."
   Quite a protracted  discussion  ensued, for which  we have not  space
in this work.  "Whether this is a matter for a patent or not, (said Sen-
ator  Hale, of New  Hampshire,) the Government is  in the actual and
positive enjoyment  of it—therefore, if it is a great  benefit, if it  is too
sublime for the operations of such a sublunary affair  as the patent laws,
then let us take a sublime position, and compensate the man whose in-
vention and  discovery we are using.  If it is not too sublime  for that,
and  if it does pertain  to the earth, and is earthy,  let us  deal with it in
that  way, and recognise the established fact, that there is a patent-right,
and  that we are  infringing it to-day in the Army and Navy, virtually
saying to  Dr. Morton, 'you  cannot sue us.'   No, sir!  The United
States have received the  benefit of this discovery.   Everybody admits
that  it is a great discovery;  everybody admits that it  is one of the great-
est contributions to the cause of humanity which this age or any  other
has witnessed, and  the world accords to this country the honor of the
discovery.  It seems to me, that if it be such a great benefit, and we
are using it, we ought to  make compensation for it."
   The amendment was  agreed to, by a vote of 26 to 23, and on the
first of March it  came up in the House of Representatives, where the
same objection was offered to it that had  been  raised  in the Senate.
"Let these parties," said Mr. Woodward, "pursue their rights accord.
ing to existing laws.   Let the patentee prosecute his right if the patent
is violated."
   But an unforeseen incident, which unexpectedly arose, defeated the
amendment.   A friend of Dr. Jackson, Mr. Stanly, of North Carolina,
moved to give the  court power to  divide  the award, if they thought
proper,  for distribution to the  different  parties in such  proportions as
might be due to their respective merits in connection with the discovery.
This proposition Mr. Meade thought Dr. Morton would  accede to, but
no sooner did he express  such an opinion, than members cried out, "a
bargain! a bargain!"  Mr. Stephens,  of  Georgia,  openly made the
charge, and, although it was  indignantly denied, yet the impression
could not be removed  at that exciting period of the session, then about
to  terminate.  It was then after midnight,  and everything was in a
confused and disorganized  state.  The amendment of the Senate was
non-concurred in, by a vote of 44 to 85.   One long day more, and the
thirty-second Congress adjourned. 
 
 
105
                           CHAPTER XVII.
   Dr. Morton did not confine himself to placing all the evidence upon
 the question of anaesthesia, before the Congress of the United  Slates
 He had a large edition of a work containing it ail-both for and against
 his  individual claim to the discovery—printed,  bound, and forwarded
 at his private expense  to the principal libraries of  both the Old and of
 the JNew  World.  Gratefully was the donation- acknowledged  by the
 directors of these storehouses of knowledge.   W  H  Smith  esq
 foreign secretary of the RoyaJ Society at London, wrote to Dr. Morton'
 "assuring him that the society duly appreciated  this mark of consider-
 ation.    Signor  Dominico Piani, perpetual secretary of the Academy
 of Sciences of the Italian Institute,  at  Bologna; James  Tod, esq ,
 secretary of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts; Henry Ellis, esq
 librarian, in behalf of the Trustees of the British Museum at London-
 M.  Hausman, secretary of the Royal Society of Sciences at Gottingen,
 and other distinguished Europeans, returning  thanks in behalf  of  the
 institutions with which they were connected, returned grateful acknow-
 ledgments for this mark of attention.
   Other letters of thanks were  received  by Dr.  Morton from the sec-
 retaries of state of the different  states; from the  officers of  the various
 scientific,  historical, and  literary societies,*  and from the librarians of
 the  various public libraries.  He had spared neither  pains nor expense
 in placing this  book wherever U would add to the diffusion of know-
 ledge; and it was evident, from  the time of the  acknowledgments,
 that the donation was a highly acceptable one.   The facts  in the case
 are thus enshrined in the temples of science  and of learning throughout
 Christendom.
   Other copies which had  been  placed by Dr.  Morton  in the hands of
 friends  for distribution  among their  scientific  acquaintances, elicited
 warm  letters of acknowledgment.   We  have  only space to copy one
 addressed to the Hon. Mr.  Faulkner, of Virginia, by Professor Lieber,
 of Columbia College,  the author  of "Encyclopaedia Americana,"
 "Political  Ethics," and other works.
                        Letter from Professor Lieber.
                                           Columbia, S. C, Jan. 15, 1853.
  Dear Sir:  I lately received a copy of  the report made to your house on the claims of
 Dr. Morton as discoverer of etherization, a paper so interesting to me that I must beg leave
 to thank you cordially for having thought of me when you distributed your copies.  1 live
 so far out of the way of the moving world, that I don't know whether any appropriation
 has been made to Dr. Morton, although I am a constant and pretty attentive reader of the
 papers of the day.
  What a different standard people adopt, in rewarding with honors and money the merits
 of men__take Wellington and Jenner, by merits and  demerits—take Columbus and Louis
 Napoleon.
                              Your very obedient,
                                              FRANCIS LIEBER.
 Hon. Chas. J. Faulkner,  M. C.
  At the commencement of the thirty-third Congress Dr. Morton again
repaired  to  Washington, having been assured  that the bill passed by
            14 
1U6
the Senate the year previous would now meet with no decided oppo-
sition in  either House.  The  Hon.  Edward Everett, then a Senator
from Massachusetts, interested himself in the matter, and advised Dr.
Morton to have it referred  to  a  select committee.   "1 would (wrote
Mr.  Everett to Dr. Morton) offer to report on it, but I am on four
committees and am really overwhelmed with business.  It is, besides,
quite important for you to have the matter taken up by some adminis-
tration Senator."
  Subsequently, however, Mr. Everett presented the* bill, and it was
referred to the committee on Military Affairs.  They but confirmed the
thorough investigation of it which  had already been made in both Houses
of Congress, and reported it  back with some few amendments of a
technical character.
  The bill was placed on the Senate  calendar as No. 210, and was not
considered by  that  body as strictly a "private bill," as appears by a
brief debate on the 7th of April, when Mr. Everett made the inquiry.
  On the 19th of April, Mr. Everett  called the attention of the Senate
to the subject, and urged the Senate to reward the discoverer of anaes-
thesia.  But now,  that  Dr. Morton had  generously  admitted other
claimants to stand with him, (conscious that he must succeed,) a host
of interlopers were introduced,  one by one.  The names of Dr. Long,
of Georgia, Dr.  Justine, of* New York,  and a Dr.  Dickinson, were
added to those of Drs. Morton, Jackson and  Wells, besides a general
clause covering other claimants.
  When all these amendments  had been made, (most of them, too,
by gentlemen  who  voted against the bill after it had received  their
amendments,) the final  question was ordered to be token  by yeas and
nays.
  Previous to  this,  Senator Brown presented an invincible argument
for his vote in favor of it, which concluded thus: "That the importance
of the discovery may be known, as it stands in my mind, 1 will simply
remark, that for more than two  thousand years the world has been in
search of this discovery.  At last it has been made.  It is the most im-
portant  boon,  I  think, which  has been given to mankind for many
centuries.  When the Government has taken possession of it, and  is
using it without pay, without compensation, and without acknowledg-
ment to the patentee, its acknowledged discoverer, 1 think we ought to
pay  for it."
  The bill was then passed, by a vote of 24 yeas to 13 nays.
  Generally speaking, it is a somewhat difficult matter to have a bill
which has passed the Senate  called up  for immediate  action  in the
House, and only then by the personal efforts of some member who has
it in especial charge. Neither Dr. Morton or any of his friends had any
idea that the bill would be called up in the House for several weeks,
during which time it was hoped that the documents which had had such
a convincing effect in the Senate  could be laid before each member.
  Neither was the  bill, in strict parliamentary parlance, a "private"
one.  This had been actually settled in the Senate on the 7th of April, 
 
 
107
when the decision of the president pro tern, to that effect had been sus-
tained.
  But, on the second morning after its passage in the Senate, and with-
out any intimation, the Speaker of the House of Representatives called
it up, and laid it before the House.  It was a Friday morning, when
scarce a quorum was present,  and well did Mr.  Clingman, of North
Carolina,  ask:  "How does the  bill get in?  Is it before us regularly?"
  The Speaker replied: "This  being  private bill day, and the  chair
conceiving it to be a private bill, laid it before the House."
  In vain did  the few friends of Dr. Morton present, themselves uncer-
tain how to act, seek to have it referred to the Committee on Military
Affairs.^  It has been thus brought up  to be killed, and  killed it must
be.   The  only objection  offered was  the multiplicity  of claimants:
"Messrs. Morton, Jackson, Nicholson, Wells and others (as a member
remarked) are scattered over the whole country.   There is to be a bill
of interpleader  filed in the circuit court of the northern district of New
York.  The Secretary of the Treasury is to be the complainant, as the
trustee of  this  fund, and  these gentlemen are to be the  defendants.
They are  to get together their witnesses and counsel there from all sec-
tions of the Union, and to litigate this matter to their satisfaction, and
then this money is to be awarded to them, and the  Government is to
pay the costs of that adjudication.   I would infinitely prefer that either
of the committees of the House should, at once,  decide the question,
and give the money, right or wrong, for it would be a saving to the
country."
  Alas, this had already been done by committee after committee; yet
now the more judicial decision, which had been quoted as so desirable,
was set aside, and  Dr.. Morton was told, upon the floor, to "maintain
his  patent-right under the laws of the United States."
  What little  discussion there  was, did not last  but a few moments.
Debate was strangled, and  the  bill was laid on the table by a vote of
80 yeas to  46 nays.   Not content'with  this, and to make his opposition
doubly sure, a  member from Tennessee moved "to reconsider the vole
by which  the bill was laid upon the table, and to lay  the motion to re-
consider upon  the table."   The purpose was accomplished.
  Meanwhile  Dr. Morton's friends, somewhat annoyed at the capri-
cious conduct of Congress,  consulted with the legal gentlemen of emi-
nent reputation, and,  by their advice, prevailed on him to take a new
course in ord'er to secure that national  recognition of his merits as the
discoverer of anaesthesia which  he had  so steadily sought.   The great
objection brought up against rewarding him by Congress, was the opin-
ion  of many members that he  should  enforce his patent.  Now, he
determined to  take an important step  towards  this, by entering  a re-
spectful protest against the violation of his patent by the subordinates
of the General  Government.  It was their open violation of the patent
in the Mexican  war that had not only rendered it useless as a restraining
check, but had involved  Dr. Morton in direct pecuniary loss.   The
patent, which was virtually his  property, had thus not only been nulli 
108
fied, so far as its  pecuniary value was  concerned,  but  had been used
extensively, without compensation, by  the officers of the General Gov-
ernment.   Dr.  Morton, therefore, not only  had  grounds of protest
against the Government for violating its own  patent, but  for  acting in
opposition to that section of the Constitution which  declares that "pri-
vate property shall not be taken for public use without  just compensa
tion."
   Dr.  Morton accordingly issued the following protest, which was en-
dorsed by a large majority of both the Senate and the House of Repre-
sentatives—thus  making, in  fact,  a  Congressional recognition  of  his
position:

            PROTEST AND CONGRESSIONAL  ENDORSEMENT.

To his Excellency The President or the United States, and
   The Honorable The Secretary of War,
                The Secretary of the Navy, and
                The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States.

  The undersigned, Wm. T. G. Morton, M. D., respectfully represents and makes known—
That he, the undersigned, is the original and first discoverer of Practical Anaesthesia, and
that  he  holds the letters-patent of the United  States for said discovery and  for certain
means of applying the same; which  said letters-patent bear date the  twelfth day of No-
vember, in the year 1846, and do grant to the undersigned and his assigns, for  the term of
fourteen years from the date thereof, the exclusive right and liberty of using, and vending
to others to be  used, the said discovery of Practical  Anaesthesia} to which said letters-
patent of record  in the U. S. Patent Office he respectfully refers.
  The undersigned, from motives which must be  apparent from the nature of  the subject,
and relying upon the justice  and magnanimity, first, of his own Government, and then of
all other civilized governments, has  not hitherto exercised his legal rights by suits at law
for damages, or injunctions to prevent the use of a discovery which has happily proved so
beneficent to humanity.  Nor would he now take any step by way of departure from his
previous course, but that his forbearance is sought to be turned to his disadvantage, and
objection is made to granting compensation by an act of Congress, on the ground that h«
ought to enforce his right under his patent against the officers of the  United States using
his discovery in the  Military, Naval and Marine  service, and against all persons violating
the same.
  These considerations have determined the undersigned to adopt this course.   He there-
fore  with great reluctance respectfully asks, that the encouragement given to private indi-
viduals to violate his patent, through the non-observance thereof by the Government itself,
may be no longer continued, and that the honorable Secretaries will either purchase the
right to use said discovery in the respective branches of the public service, or that they
will  immediately issue the necessary orders to the medical officers and others under their
official control to desist from further infringing his patent-right in the premises.
                                                WM. T. G. MORTON, M. D.
   Washington, June 15,1854.

   The  undersigned  members of the Senate and House of Representatives concur in
recommending that the right to use Dr. Morton's discovery,  commonly called "Practical
Anaesthesia," be purchased for the public service, or that the use thereof be discontinued,
because the Government is manifestly bound by  its own patent duly issued to respect tht
■aid discovery as private property, and because  "private property" ought not to be "taken
for public use without just compensation."*

                  James C. Jones,                     J. W. Williams,
                  Ben. Fitzpatrick,                    Philip Allen,
                  S. Adams,                          A. G. Brown,
                  Jas. Shields,                        W. K. Sebastian,
                  J. D. Bright,                        Samuel Houston,
                  J. P. Walker,                       R. W. Johnson,
* Constitution United Siatei, Amendment., article V. 
 
 
109
J.  B.Thompson,
Chas. T. James,
H. Hamlin,
Charles Sumner,
Julius Rockwell,
James Cooper,
W.M.Gwin,
C. C. Clay.jr.,
J.  M. Clayton,
*John B. Weller,
M. S. Latham,
W. R. Sapp,
Hendrick B. Wright,
Jacob Shower,
T. R. Westbrook,
R. H. Stanton,
Alex. DeWitt,
Sam'l P. Benson,
C. M. Straub,
Sam'l Mayall,
John B. Macy,
E. W. Farley,
Wm. Cullom,
John Wheeler,
Wm. Barksdale,
William S.  Barry,
James L. Orr,
Em. Etheridge,
Fred. P. Stanton,
H. H. Johnson,
W. R. Smith,
H. L. Stevens,
Thomas B. Florence,
 Peter Rowe,
W. S.  Ashe,
Wm. M. Tweed,
W. A. Richardson,
James S. Chrisman,
Willis Allen,
J. P. Cook,
J. 0. Norton,
 P. S. Brooks,
Charles Hughes,
A. B. Greenwood,
C. S. Hill,
 John Wentworth,
John C. Breckinridge,
J. R. Giddings,
 Sam'l H. Walley,
 Ed. Wade,
 W. W. Boyce,
 J. C. Allen,
 L. M. Keitt,
 G. Dean,
 D. A. Reese,
 M. H. Nichols,
John Kerr,
 Sam'l Caruthers,
 N. P. Banks, jr.,
Arch. Dixon,
Geo. W. Jones,
Jno. Bell,
J. P. Benjamin,
Henry Dodge,
A. C. Dodge,
B. F. Wade,
S. P. Chase,
*S. R. Mallory,
•William H. Seward.
James Knox,
E. B. Washburne,
P. H. Bell,
J. A. McDougall,
W. H. Witte,
C.  B. Curtis,-
Bernhart Henn,
Geo. Vail,
Asa Packer,
D.  Stuart,
James Abercrombie,
D.  B. Wright,
F. K. Zollikoffer,
Daniel Mace,
Gerrit Smith,
A.  Oliver,
Charles W. Upham,
Thomas D. Eliot,
A.  C. M. Pennington,
Ner Middleswarth,
I. Washburn, jr.,
Thomas Davis,
J. Z. Goodrich,
Edward Dickinson,
N. G. Taylor,
Richard Yates,
Henry  Bennett,
Roland Jones,
James J. Lindsley,
J. S. Harrison,
John G. Miller,
John M. Elliot,
William Preston,
Wm. M. Churchwell,
J. Wiley Edmands,
Samuel C. Crocker,
B. W. Peckham,
Wm. Everhart,
Thomas Richey,
Joseph  R. Chandler,
Alvah Sabin,
A. E. Maxwell,
J. F. Dowdell,
T. S. Russell,
Bishop Perkins,
J. Glancy Jones,
G. R. Riddle,
H. M. Shaw,
 T. J. D. Fuller,
*M  m»h„„,  Mr Spward. and Mr. Weller sign under the following qualification:
■  ~:i£S' ££ tba the patentee of the anesthetic agent, known u Dr. Morton ■ discovery,
1  ^sp*c5"2'L^g,!.P llnited Statei a literal compensation for their past and future use of it.
■heuld receive from the United States 
110
               Jared C. Peck,                   Lewis D. Campbell,
               John Robbins, jr.,                Daniel Wells, jr.,
               B. B. Thurston,                  A. W. Lamb,
               M. Oliver,                      J. L. Taylor,
               Thos. M. Howe,                 George Hastings,
               Ben C. Eastman,                 O. R. Singleton,
               R. C. Puryear,                   Thos. W. Cumming,
               Sion H. Rogers,                  L. M. Cox,
               R. M. Bugg,                     P. Philips,
               W. P. Harris,                   A. Harlan.

  This document was published, with a mass of sustaining evidence,
by Dr. Morton, who was prompted  by an excusable pride to show that
the subject was a scientific one, and  had undergone a far more thorough
investigation than attends the assertion of a mere patent-right.   They
show the  opinions of Webster, Choate, Curtis,  Carlisle, Whiting and
other eminent lawyers as to the validity of the patent-right—the proof
of the use of the patent  in the Army,  Navy and  Marine Hospitals, and
the great value attached to it by the medical staff of  the  Army and
Navy; the opinions of the medical  profession generally, at  home and
abroadj and,  finally, the  conclusions of the Massachusetts General
Hospital, of committees of both Houses of Congress, after thorough ex-
amination of the whole subject.  When it is observed, in connection
with this,  that the memorial to the executive  is endorsed by  a majority
of each House of Congress, it may  be considered a conclusive Ameri-
can VERDICT.
CHAPTER XVIII.
   While Dr. Morton was  thus, during  ten  long  years, industriously
vindicating his claims to that national gratitude which his friends urged
Congress to grant, and which, as we have shown, was only defeated
by personal hostility or jealous revenge, his life was one arduous men-
tal struggle.  Forced into  the turmoil of legislative anxiety, with all
its hopes and fears—its display of passions and emotions—Dr. Morton
received no pecuniary reward, but the record of Congressional proceed-
ings has many a page (between 1846 and 1857) emblazoned with the
story of his self-sacrifices in behalf of suffering humanity.   To perfect
and extend his discovery was the ruling passion of his soul, to which
he dedicated every power  of his mind, every pulsation of  his heart.
Here was the secret of his  success in  enlisting the  sympathy of power-
ful friends, even when his  enemies  loaded him with abuse.   The un-
selfish manner in which he had abandoned a lucrative profession, and
even risked his life, to introduce a blessing to suffering humanity, had
only to be narrated  by him to reach the hearts of his auditors.  No
man who  has appeared before the magnates of the land ever displayed
more fearless enthusiasm;  no man ever possessed the unfeigned friend-
ship of so  many of the good and the great, the gifted and the gay, who
congregate at Washington. 
 
 
Ill
  Yet it  is  equally  evident, that,  throughout this  decade of Con-
gressional struggle,  it was Dr. Morton's delight to retire to the quiet
fields of the Etherton estate, and there  enjoy the placid solitude of
domestic life, out of the turmoil of metropolitan companionship.  Agri-
cultural labor was his recreation!  In the activity of his body, did the
energy of his intellect find its support and its rest.   The barren pas-
tures became, under his management, fertile fields and fruitful orchards,
while around him were comfortably settled his  parents and other rela-
tives.   Leaving the stormy arena of the Capitol, he could gaze around
upon the quiet loveliness presented by the face of creation, and find
calm enjoyment at  the home of his affections.
  While thus recuperated by the  quiet joys of  rural  life, Dr.  Morton
brought his high powers of mind  to a scientific observation of  nature,
which enabled him  to indulge profitably in the mysteries  of modern
agriculture.   Every process was acurately estimated, and then executed
with an exactness, and an exactitude which enabled him to win high
premiums,  and higher encomiums, from the agricultural committees
which sat in judgment on  his systems of tillage, his  crops, his flocks,
and his herds.  As  a sample of the manner in which  these committees
had occasion to speak of Dr. Morton's agricultural management, we
give the following extract from the report of the committee on farms,
submitted to the Norfolk County Agricultural Society, at their annual
exhibition in 1855.
  "Members of our committee visited the farm of Dr. W. T.  G. Mor-
ton at West Needham. The statistics, and a very full description of the
Doctor's estate, were published in the transactions  of last year,  and
Dr. Morton has evinced his energy and public  spirit, by  the improve-
ments that  he has made upon his place—by the fine stock that he has
purchased  and bred—by the convenient and comfortable stables  and
other farm edifices that he has erected, and by the unsurpassed contribu-
tions that he makes to our  annual exhibitions."
  Many pleasant accounts  of this rural  paradise have been written by
literary  personages who have enjoyed Dr. Morton's hospitality; but
none give so perfect an idea of it as the following, by Mrs. S.  J. Hale.
Having known Dr. Morton when he was a lad, earnest in the pursuit
of scientific knowledge, under difficulties, Mrs. Hale  has ever taken
a deep  interest in his welfare.  This  is her description of a visit to
Etherton Cottage in 1853.
  " West Needham, notwithstanding its poor prosaic  name, is really a
pretty, pastoral-looking place, surrounded  by low, wooded hills,  pro-
tecting, as it were, the fine  farms and orchards, and the pleasant dwell-
ings, everywhere seen in the valleys and on the uplands around.   In
iwenty minutes after  leaving the bustle of Boston, if the cars make
good speed you will reach  this  rural scene, where Nature still holds
her quiet sway, except when the steam-horse goes snorting and thun-
dering by."
  " Here  in  the heart  of this still life,  Doctor Morton, some seven
years ago, selected an uncultivated lot, covered  with bushes, brambles, 
112
and rocks, and, by his own science and  taste, and the  strong arm of
Irish labor,  he has formed a home of such finished beauty as would
seem to require, at least, in its gardens and grounds, a quarter of a cen-
tury to perfect.  His grounds slope down to the railroad embankment;
but a plantation of young trees, and, on the height above, thick groves
of a larger growth, hide the buildings from view as the cars pass on this
great route from Boston to the West.  From the station it is a pleasant
drive through  the shaded  and  winding way as you ascend the rising
grounds  to the South.  Suddenly turning a shoulder of the knoll,
Etherton Cottage is before you.   The effect was fine, and what made
the scene more interesting to us was the presence of another cottage
nestled near by, smaller but equally pleasant-looking, where we knew
Dr. Morion had settled his  good parents.  Here they live as one house-
hold, and from the windows of Etherton Cottage may be seen the dwell-
ing of another member of the family, a sister, now happily married,
for whom the Doctor also cared."
  11 We might give a long  description of these pretty cottages and beau-
tiful grounds,  but  words are wasted  to  little purpose in landscape or
architectural descriptions.   So  leaving the walks, arbors, flowers, and
fountains, we will introduce you at once  to Mrs. Morton, a lady whose
attractions and merits we had heard much  praised while in Washing-
ton last winter.  She is, indeed, one of those true women who seem
born to show that Solomon's old  picture  of a good wife and  mother
may now be realized. The Doctor seems very fond and proud of her,
as he may well be; and their children—the eldest a girl of nine, the
youngest a boy of  three years, with a brother and sister between—
formed a lovely group of more interest to us than all the < superb views'
around.  So we will just tell you, dear reader, of the family and their
home pursuits, as  these were revealed to  us during that interesting
visit."
  " We should say  here that Doctor Morton has relinquished his  pro-
fession, and now passes his summers entirely at this country residence,
and his winters in Washington,  where he hopes soon  to gain from
Congress some reward for his great discovery of Etherization.  When
this is granted, he intends visiting Europe, where he is urgently invited
by the savans of the Old  World.  It will be a  triumph for  Young
America  to send forth a man so young, who has won such distinction.
It seemed but a few years since we first saw Willie Morton, a clerk in
the publisher's office where our own magazine was issued; and now
we  were his guest, in his own elegant dwelling, surrounded by every
requisite  of happiness."
  " His country life is just what it should be, devoted to rural pursuits
and filled up with plans of home improvements.   You  only  feel the
presence  of his inventive genius by its active operation on the material
world around.   Not a word is heard of "chloroform" or " ether" at
Etherton Cottage; but various contrivances for obviating all defects or
difficulties in bringing his domain into perfect order he  has planned,
meet you at  every turning, and  all sorts of odd combinations appear, 
I 
 
113
which, when  understood, are found  to contribute to the beauty or
utility of the whole.   In short, everything useful is made ornamental,
and the ornamental is made useful."
  "Then the Doctor has a passion for surrounding himself with domes-
tic animals.  This we like;  it makes  a country  home more cheerful
when dumb dependents on human care share the abundance of God's
blessings.  So after dinner we went to the barn to see the " pigs and
poultry."  This  barn, fronting  north, was quite a model  structure,
built on the side of the sloping ground, combining, in its arrangements,
rooms for the gardener (an Englishman) and his family, and the barn
proper, where ihe horse  and cow had  what  a young  lady called
" splendid accommodations."  There was also a coach-house  and
tool-room, a steam-engine room where fodder was cut up, and food—
that is, grain of several kinds—ground for the swine and poultry;  also
a furnace where potatoes were steamed.  The water was brought by
hydraulic machinery from a brook at the bottom of the grounds for use
in  the barn,  and every thing was managed with scientific skill and
order."
   " The arrangements for  the  poultry were very elaborate.  Their
rooms were the first  floor at the back or southern front of  the barn; of
 course, half underground.   This lower story had a lattice-work front,
 and within Mrs. Biddy had every accommodation hen-life could desire.
 Into these apartments the troop were allowed to enter at evening through
 a wicket  opening in  this southern front; but in the morning the poultry
 all passed out into the northeastern portion of the grounds allotted them,
 where was a pool of water for the water-fowl, and a fine range for all.
 Still, the green field at the south, the running brook,  and  the eventide
 meal made them all  eager to rush in whenever the gate between the two
 portions  of their  range was opened.  It was  this rush  we  went to
 witness."
   " We  stood in the main floor, near the southern or back door of the
 barn, which  overlooked the green field; the little gate opened,  and
 such a screaming, crowing, gabbling ensued,  and such a flutter of
 wings, that for a few minutes  it was nearly deafening.  A pair of
 Chinese geese led the way of this feathered community. These geese,
 a present from the late statesman, Daniel Webster, to  Dr. Morton, who
 prized them accordingly, were entirely brown, of large size, carrying
 their  heads very  high, and  walking nearly upright; they sent forth
 shouts that made the air ring.  They seemed to consider themselves
 the Celestials, and  all beside inferiors.  Next,  came a  pair of wild
 geese; one wing cut, and thus obliged to remain in the yard, they had
 become  quite tame; but still, their trumpet-call seemed to tell  their
 love of freedom.  These, too, were brown, with black heads, and long
 lithe  necks, that undulated like the motions of a snake, with every
 movement.   Very unlike these were the next pair of snow-white Bre-
 men  geese, stout, fat, contented-looking creatures, only making the
 usual gabbling of geese which are well to do in the world.  Among
 the varieties of the  duck genus were several of the Poland species;
            15 
114
snowy white, except the vermilion-colored spots on the head, that look
like red sealing-wax plasters round  the eyes.  These ducks made  a
terrible quackery.   But the domestic fowl was  the  multitude; there
appeared to be all  kinds and species, from the tall Shanghais, that
seemed to stalk on stilts, to the little boatlike creepers that move as  if
on castors.   It was a queer sight, such an army of hens and chickens,
rushing hither and thither,  to pick up the grain scattered for their sup-
per.  And  then the pride of the old  peacock ; he just entered with the
rest, then spread his heavy wings and flew up to the  ridge-pole of the
barn,  where he sat alone in his glory.  It was, altogether, a pleasant
sight."
  "But within the barn was a lovelier spectacle.  From  the centre
beam hung a large rope, its lower end passing through a circular board,
about the size  of a round tea-table;  four  smaller ropes passed through
holes  near the  edge of this round board, at equal  distances, and were
united with the large rope several yards above,  thus forming four com-
partments,  with the centre rope for a res'Jng-place.  In these snug
spaces were seated the four beautiful children,  like birds in a nest,
swinging every way in turn as the little feet that first touched the floor
gave impulse."
  11 It was  a lovely picture of childhood made  happy by parental care
for the amusements of infancy.  The father's genius had  designed that
swing to give pleasure, as it had discovered the elixir for pain, by tak-
ing thought for others.   With both Dr. Morton and his amiable wife,
the training of their little  ones seemed the great subject of interest.
The children were well governed', this was easy to see, and thus a very
important point in their instruction  was made sure.   They were also
made happy by every innocent and healthful recreation.   Their future
destiny seemed the engrossing object of their parents' minds; to bring-
up these little ones in the fear and love of the Lord, their most earnest
desire."
  " During the evening, the topic of education was the  chief one dis-
cussed, and we parted from this interesting family fully  assured that
the good  old Puritan  mode of uniting faith in God with human en-
deavor was there understood and acted on.   Miss Bremer might find,
at Etherton Cottage,  a charming  illustration of her e love-warmed
homes in America.'"