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SOME   ACCOUNT
THE  LETHEON;
WHO IS THE DISCOVERER?
BY EDWARD WARREN. 
     THIS BOOK HAS BEEN LOANED




               by the





Long  Island Historical  Society




          to the Library of the




 Medical Society of the  County of Kings




               1901 
 
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SOME   ACCOUNT
THE      LETHEON:
OR,
WHO  IS   THE   DISCOVERER?
BY  EDWARD  WARREN.
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THIRD EDITION—REVISE© AND ENLARGED.
                 Boston:
DUTTON  AND WENT WORTH, PRINTERS,
               No. 37, Congress Street.
                    1S47. 
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CONTENTS
History of the Discovery, &c, ..... Page 5
Dr. J. Mason Warren's "History"  of the Discovery,    .     25
Dr. Geo. Hayward's " Account" of  the Discovery, .      .     33
Correspondence between the  Surgeons and Caleb Eddy and
      R. H. Eddy, Esqs.,       .....     52
Richard H. Dana, Jr.'s  Communication,      ...     59
Testimony, ........     61
Review  of Dr. Gay's Pamphlet,       ....     68
Address to the American and British Public,      .       .     82
Appendix,  ....-•••     84 
V
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PREFACE.
  The Writer of the following pages deems  an apology due to
the Public for the desultory manner in which this pamphlet has
been prepared.  The first forty or fifty pages  were written some
weeks ago, on the shortest possible notice, and were immediate-
ly put to press.  At that time, no definite plan was  formed,  or
could be  formed, as to the nature or extent of the facts ulti-
mately to be submitted;  and now, when these pages  have as-
sumed a somewhat formidable appearance  as to numbers, it is
found to be impossible at present to re-write or re-arrange them.
  And, while but little  order has been observed in the design,
controlled as the writer necessarily has been  by circumstances,
still it is  not deemed  advisable, even if possible, to divest the
pamphlet of that sketchy and fragmentary character to which
alone it  should make pretensions.    The Avriter's  main—in-
deed,  his only—object has been, to state facts; to arrive at the
truth; to serve the cause of justice.   Most certainly, he has no
selfish ends in view,  having no  pecuniary interests involved  in
the matter, receiving no remuneration whatever for his services
and efforts in this behalf, and only desirous that justice may be
rendered to a person  who, if he be not distinguished for his sci-
entific attainments, is, nevertheless, a benefactor of his race!
  With the learned and eminent  individual who sets up counter-
claims to the honor of this great discovery, the writer has been
acquainted for the last ten or twelve years; and, during all that
time,  there  have existed the  most friendly  relations  between
them.  Soon after the writer's  attention was called to the impor-
tance  of the new discovery, he called on that  gentleman; and it
was the conversation that then and subsequently ensued  which
led to the opinion  that he was not the discoverer, or one of the 
PREFACE.
discoverers.   From the impression firmly made, he then assert-
ed no  such claim;  his only desire being to receive a  certain
(small) pecuniary interest in the sale of rights.  Being  anxious
to learn something explicit as to the business arrangements  of
the parties concerned in the matter, he sent the writer to R. H.
Eddy,  Esq., and to  Dr. Morton, for such  information.   Up  to
this time, the latter was an entire stranger to the writer, he  nev-
er having seen him or heard his name mentioned, as he recollects,
until this discovery was made known.   So much for the parties
claimant.
  The writer has been accused of espousing  this cause too
warmly.   To this it may be replied that, while the person who
was  at first only ''joint-discoverer" was—by means at least
somewhat  equivocal—bearing off the whole honor abroad, no
half-way measures  would  answer  the emergency;  and  that
nothing could counteract this accidental and unfortunate state of
things  save the most decided and thorough course  of procedure.
And  in this  way, with the assistance of the full and ample
statements of Caleb Eddy, Esq. and Mr. R. H. Eddy, (to which
the reader's attention is particularly directed,) it is believed that
a fair and just decision may be gained.

  Boston, May 30,  1847.
N 
WHO  DISCOVERED THE NEW PROPERTY  OF

         SULPHURIC  ETHER,

   AND INTRODUCED IT  INTO SURGERY?
  Wm. T. G. Morton, the fortunate discoverer of a means of annihi-
lating so vast an amount of human suffering, was born in the town of
Charlton, in Worcester county, in the State of Massachusetts.  He is
still  a young man,  being  but about twenty-seven, although few men,
e^en in a long life, have been  able to accomplish so much for human-
ity.  Like  most New  England boys, he was, at an  early age, thrown
upon his  own resources,  to  work  out his destiny  as  he  might.
Wherever placed, however, he  seems to have been equal to the emer-
gency, always exhibiting the most extraordinary mental  activity, with
great diligence and perseverance.  Having chosen dentistry for  his
profession,  and  determined that  no  one  should  excel him  in  his
business, he at once bent the whole powers of his mind to his calling,
and pursued it with a zeal which could but  ensure success.
  On arriving at a maturer age,  and wishing to give a  greater range
to his  mind, he  commenced the  study of medicine in the office of
Dr.  Charles  T. Jackson, and entered his name,  as a student of medi-
cine and  practical  anatomy, in the Massachusetts Medical College,
where  he manifested his usual energy of character in the prosecution
of his studies,  and particularly  in  anatomy.  Having  continued in
attendance at this institution during two courses of lectures, he closed
his  connection with it, and returned fully to his profession, to which
he has since devoted himself with the greatest assiduity.
   About this time, he enjoyed the full benefits of the instructions of
Dr. N. C. Keep, Vice-President of the American Society  of  Dental
Surgeons, with whom he was subsequently a partner, until the health of
that distinguished  dentist  compelled  him  to retire to  a  less active
business. 
6
   Content with no common success in his business, he aspired to reach
the head  of the profession  he had  chosen, and, therefore, sought to
make such improvements in  the  mechanical, as well as other depart-
ments, as  would render his establishment one of the most perfect to be
found.  And, with what results his labors have been crowned, his nu-
merous patients can  testify.   Soon after his return to his business,
having  many orders for whole sets of teeth, which required that many
others should  first  be extracted, it became a matter of  great moment
with him to devise some means of reducing the pain attendant on such
operations, in order to induce his patients to submit to them.  And, at
length,  after  having  often spoken of his desire  to discover such  an
agent, the great  necessity of finding some way to mitigate pain was
forced upon him still more strongly by a refractory patient, who fully
declared that  she would  have nothing  done unless she could first be
put into such a state  as that no pain would be felt from the operation.
This  induced  him  to redouble his efforts and inquiries, and led him
finally to  make the  fortunate and brilliant  Discovery  which  has
crowned his  researches with  such signal triumph and  success !   He
had now reached the  Ultima Thule of his hopes and expectations, and
conferred  upon his race, and the world, a blessing, the extent of which
few seem adequately to have estimated.
   As was to be  expected, this  piece of good fortune,  on the part of
Dr. Morton, awakened the envy and excited  the  jealousy  of some of
his professional brethren.  Among these, Dr. J. F. Flagg stands, and
probably ever will  stand, alone, in his " bad eminence."   He at once
commenced  a terrible onslaught upon the new  application of ether,
and more terrible still  upon the  hapless discoverer !   But not  suc-
ceeding in his first 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 dentists  was called; a
committee of  seven—the  immortal seven—with Dr. Flagg at its head,
appointed; and measures taken to suppress the growing evil!  In due
time, Dr. Flagg and his brother committee-men brought  out their great
manifesto, which will remain  an  enduring monument  to perpetuate
their  malice and envy.
   The  next dentist who  has  rendered a most essential  service to his
race, by exposing the dangers of Dr. Morton's discovery, is Prof.  A.
Westcott, now connected with a dental college in Baltimore.  His
opposition has been  most energetic and persevering.  From the first, 
7
he seems to have deemed it his 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  gentleman, is this sentence : " If
he  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 1   If the thing is really harmless, and the subjects, ' after
breathing  it  from  one half to two minutes, drop into a quiet slumber,'
it certainly would be invaluable for nursery purposes.  Morton's suck-
ing 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 speci-
 men of the learned professor's logic and humor !
   To leave the dental  profession, we come to another class of  persons
 who object no less stoutly to  the use of ether.  Robert  M. Huston,
 M. D., editor of the Philadelphia " Medical Examiner,"  puts in  his
 veto in  this wise:—" A certain Dr. Morton,  a practising dentist in
 Boston, is advertising, in the newspapers of this  city, that he  has re-
 ceived a patent for what he calls ' his improvement,  whereby pain may
 be prevented in dentistical and surgical operations;' and he now offers
 to sell ' licenses to use  said improvement,' to  dentists, surgeons, and
 other suitable  persons.   Looking  upon this  as nothing more  nor less
 than a new scheme to tax  the pockets of  the  enlightened  public,  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 the profession 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 duty, 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 example
 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 efforts to elevate the
 professional character: physicians and quacks will soon constitute one
 fraternity." 
8
   William C.  Roberts,  M. D., editor of the New York " Annalist,"
thus states his objections :—" By-and-by we may see ' Morton's Anti-
pathetic 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 1"  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, subsided.  It has descended to the bottom of that great abyss,
which has already  engulphed so many of its predecessor  novelties, but
which  continues,  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 pro-
fession, 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," father
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 the  auspices  of a patent right, 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?"
   Prof. D. T. Mutter, of Philadelphia, has also to receive a  share of
the credit  due to those who  endeavored to suppress Dr.  Morton's dis-
covery in its youth.   The  chairman of a committee of Congress, to
whom  the  matter  was referred of introducing the use of the Letheon
into the army and navy, addressed Prof. M. on the subject, asking him
if it could be " usefully employed  in the practice of surgery in the
manner proposed  by Dr. Morton."   To this  he replied :—" On this
point,  there is in my mind not the slightest  doubt.  I  cannot consider
any agent  generally  useful that unquestionably subjects  the patient to 
9
 the  risk of losing his  life."   And, in another place, in his letter, he
 says :—"The peculiar method of Dr.  Morton is, consequently, of no
 value, since others accomplish  the same ends without the use of his
 patented apparatus.  But  granting that his measures are peculiar and
 even better 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."  And I have
 cited these passages in order that Prof. Mutter shall receive full credit
 for his sagacity  and foresight,  in thus  pointing  out  the evils and
 dangers attending the use of the vapor.
   Nor  would I  withhold  from  the editors of " The American Jour-
 nal  and Library  of Dental Science," published in Baltimore,—Drs.
 Chapin, A. Harris, Amos Westcott,  and Edwin J. Dunning,—the
 meed of praise that should  be awarded  them  for their timSly warning
 against the new monster!  They say :—" Great interest has been ex-
 cited,  both in professional circles and in the public mind, by an an-
 nouncement, in the Boston Medical and Surgical  Journal, that a Mr.
 Morton, of Boston, has discovered a gaseous preparation of a nature so
 exquisitely  anodyne  as  to fulfil  the great desideratum in surgery."
 Also :—" The effects  resulting  from, or at least liable to result from,
 the inhalation of the vapor of sulphuric ether, are, in our opinion, more
 to be  dreaded than the pain  of almost any  surgical operation.  We
 would, therefore, caution our professional brethren against the use of an
 article  capable of producing  such sudden, powerful, and dangerous
 effects."
   Thus has assault upon assault been made against this discovery, and
sometimes, as in the case of Dr.  Flagg, and the watchful " Committee
of Seven," who may justly be denominated the seven wise men of Boston,
it  has  been aimed at Dr. Morton personally, and always coupling him
with it.  Indeed, praise and spleen have been lavished upon his head,
and  on his discovery,  in  about equal proportions * but never, to any
extent, has Dr. Jackson shared in this  contumely and  opprobium.  O
no! he always took good care  to keep his skirts clear of  the sin of this
monster, until the  storm had, in  a great measure, passed over,  leaving
Dr. Morton to fight the battle and receive the knocks, while he  himself
stood aloof, ready  to rush in " at the death."  He never raised his
voice in the defence of the discovery;  he was never considered the
principal, nor, for  some weeks, known  at all in it; he has sustained no
injury  in  his  business  and character; nor has he shared any of the
odium heaped  upon the head of Dr.  M.,  but  contented himself with
              2 
10
denouncing the discovery as a " humbug,"  and saying he " did not
care what was done with it if his name was not drawn in  with it!"
  The only object the writer has in this matter is, to serve the cause
of truth and justice.   He  has no pecuniary interests whatever involved
in the discussion, but aims simply to establish the right.  It is admitted,
on all hands, that a great  blessing has been conferred upon the world;
and  the  question  recurs, Who  is the discoverer? and, to eettle this
query satisfactorily and justly, is a matter of very great moment, else
what inducement  is there to ingenious minds to  labor and wear them-
selves out in conferring favors upon  mankind, when even the credit of
their toils  is wrested  from them ?  It is a disgraceful  historical fact,
that almost all great discoverers and inventors have been robbed of all
pecuniary advantage  arising from their services; and in many,  too
many cases, alas! has  the  fame of their  achievements also  been
suffered to be seized by others.
  In this particular case, it is the boast of those who are inimical to
its  success, that it is  free to all • that Dr.  Morton has no legal rights
peculiar to himself in the matter;  and that all are using his invention
who may choose!  And this boast is made in America,  over an Ameri-
can  citizen, an enthusiastic,  persevering  young man, who has labored
long, run great personal  risks, suffered in his  reputation, r.nd been
almost ruined  in  his professional business, to achieve and bring out  a
discovery which has  already elevated the American name, and which
shall add lustre to his native country " long after the dust of his enemies
shall have been changed into vile worms!"  The discoverer, therefore,
is to derive no pecuniary  benefit from  his great  achievement, even on
the  admission of those who oppose him;  and now the  questicn comes
up, with still greater force, Shall the  honor also be iniquitously torn
from him?  Every young man, every great inventor or  discoverer,—in
fact, every ont who is  aiming at any human distinction whatever,—is
concerned in a just and equitable adjustment of this question.
  But, thanks  to  the  cause of justice, we have it in our power, as we
think, to furnish such  additional evidence on this subject,  as must, in
the minds of all candid men, place the question beyond a doubt.  This
additional testimony shall be  forthcoming in due time;  and, until then,
we  have to ask the public to suzpmd their decision, assuring them that
they  shall  not be kept long in doubt, if what we have to offer further
shall be deemed  conclusive, as we  trust it will, in substantiating  Dr.
Morton's claims to the discovery. 
11
   And  here I will  introduce the following communication, although,
in doing  so,  I  may  be chargeable,  in  some  degree, with repetition.
The article originally  appeared  in the Boston Daily Advertiser, and
is, in some measure, a summary  of Dr. Morton's  claims, and  of the
arguments refuting those of Dr. Jackson :—
   There  appeared, in the columns of the Advertiser of March 1st, an
article,  signed by Charles T. Jackson, which contains statements wholly
new to me, and probably to many  others—statements, which I propose
in a brief and candid manner to discuss.  And in doing this, a succinct
history of the  matter therein involved—the discovery of the new  use of
Sulphuric Ether—will  not, I trust, be deemed irrelevant.   This is a
subject  which is now  engrossing  much attention,  both in the eastern
and  the western hemisphere; and one may safely conclude that, from
present prospects, this interest in what is  termed, in Europe, " the
greatest contribution to medical science from the new world," is  not to
diminish, but  rather to  increase, until the real  merits of the discovery
are fully established.
   In the communication in question, Dr. Jackson  sets out with a sin-
gular misrepresentation, by giving to the  public a paper addressed to
the  Academy of Arts and  Sciences, and purporting to have  been sub-
mitted to  them, which, in fact, had never been laid  before them, and of
which  they knew nothing, save through the public journals.  If this
paper had been  submitted to the Academy for their action, it was no
longer the property of the writer,  until that action was had.  But if it
had  not been so submitted, then a fraud has been perpetrated in making
it public as a document that has received the sanction of that learned
body.
  In the next  place, great injustice has been done to another individual,
by making this  publication  at all, without consulting all parties in-
terested.  It  is  well  known  in this community, if  not throughout the
country, and in Great Britain, that the chief credit  of the discovery in
question belongs, not to Dr. Charles T. Jackson, the  Chemist, but to
William T. G. Morton, the Dentist.  But, before going into this mat-
ter, it may be stated, that, after the discovery became somewhat  noto-
rious, and a man of science thought it no longer dangerous to his repu-
tation to be named in connection with it, the friends of both  claimants
met  together, and settled the relative merits of each, Dr. Jackson and
Dr. Morton both expressing  themselves  fully satisfied with the result.
By this agreement, Dr. Morton was to continue to  have the sole man-
agement of the invention, by paying the other  party a fixed  per  cent. 
12
on the net receipts, and Dr. Jackson binding himself to make no pub-
lication, and to say nothing further  about  the  matter, not in keeping
with the spirit of this understanding.
  But as  the matter spread and increased in interest, Dr. Jackson be-
came again uneasy, throwing out many threats of " blowing the whole
thing up," &>c. &c, thinking, that he was either  not likely to get his
share of the credit, or of the profits arising from the discovery; so he
addressed several letters to distinguished men in Europe, and particu-
larly to some French savans, in one of which, to M. Elie de Beaumont,
and published in  Galignani's Messenger of about the 25th of January,
he  says:—" I  request permission to communicate to  the  (French)
Academy, through you, a discovery which 1 have made, and which I
regard as important to suffering humanity."   And in the same letter :
" I have  latterly turned this discovery to use, by inducing a dentist of
this city to administer the vapor of ether to persons whose teeth he was
going to extract ,*" and other similar passages.
  Now it will be observed, that not  only has Dr. Jackson failed to ad-
here to his pledges,  as before  referred to, but he has, with  the most
extraordinary  effrontery, carefully avoided even mentioning the name
of the man to whom  he had yielded up his whole interest in the dis-
covery for ten per centum of the  net proceeds!  And this, too, in the
face of the statements contained in the preamble of the Letters Patent,
which are as  follows,  namely:  " Whereas,  Charles  T. Jackson, and
William T. G. Morton, Boston, Mass., have  alleged that they have in-
vented a new and useful improvement in surgical operations, (the said
Jackson  having  assigned his right, title, and interest in said  improve-
ment to  the aforesaid  Wm. T. G. Morton)  which, they state, has not
been  known before their  application ;  have made oath, that they are
citizens of the United States ; that they do verily believe, that they are
the original inventors or discoverers of the said  improvement, and that
the same hath not, to  the  best  of their knowledge  and belief, been
previously known or used," &c.   And also in the paper before referred
to, in which Dr.  Jackson  released  his whole interest in the same dis-
covery to Dr. Morton, which release begins as follows: " To all per-
sons to whom these presents shall come : Whereas I, Charles T. Jack-
son, of Boston, in  the  State of Massachusetts, chemist, have, in con-
junction with William  T. G. Morton, of said city, dentist, invented or
discovered a new  and useful  improvement in  surgical operations on
animals, &c. &c.: I have, therefore, in  consideration of one dollar to
me  in hand paid, the receipt whereof I do hereby  acknowledge, as- 
13
signed, set over and conveyed, and  by these presents  do assign, set
over and convey  to  the said Morton and his legal representatives, all
the right, title, and interest whatever, which I possess in  the said in-
vention or discovery, a specification of which I have this day (the 27th
October, 1846,) signed and  executed in conjunction with him for the
purpose of enabling him to procure a patent thereon. And I do hereby
request the Commissioner of Patents  to issue the said patent to the
said Morton in his  name, and as my assignee, or legal representative,
to the extent of all  my right, title,  and interest whatever in the said
invention or discovery."   I  say  he  has, in the face of  his agreement
before referred to, in disregard of his assignment in the  Letters Patent
and in his release last above  given, and contrary to the sense of justice
and right, privately  made the  publications referred to,  and  various
others, which no feelings of propriety or equity will justify.
   In the letter to M.  Beaumont, from which I have already made ex-
tracts,  Dr.  Jackson  says : " Five or six years  ago, I  remarked the
peculiar  state of insensibility  into which the  nervous  system  was
plunged by  the  inhalation of the vapor of pure  sulphuric ether," &c.
Previously  to  this,  he had  stated, under oath, in the preamble to the
specifications, that " the same hath  not, to the best of  his knowledge
and belief, been previously  known."  Now,  Dr.  .T ickson  either did
know previous to this time, (the 27th of October, 1840,) that sulphuric
ether would produce insensibility to pain, or he did not.   If he did, as
stated  in his letter  to M. Beaumont, then I have to remind  him of his
oath,  under the solemnity of which he states that, according to the
 best of his knowledge and  belief, the  "fact had not been before known;"
 but if he did not, then I remind him  of his other  statement to the  same
person, in which  he says that he had known it for "five or six years."
And the learned doctor can take either horn of the dilemma he may
prefer.
   It is not known that Dr. Jackson ever made  more than one experi-
 ment in inhaling ether; and then he used it as an antidote to the vapor
 of chlorine, which  he had accidentally breathed.  But from his own
 statement in the Advertiser, it did not answer the purpose, the delete-
 rious effects returning with the return of consciousness.  But supposing
 he had known of it six years or six  months before Dr. Morton  applied
 it  in  practice; is it  not  inexcusable  in him to  have  withheld  from
 suffering humanity this inestimable  boon so long—a boon by the gift
 of which, such  an incalculable  amount of  misery might  have  been
 saved?   Or, is it within the limits of probability that, if he had  been 
14
bo long in possession of a discovery which, if made known, would, in
four months, call down blessings on his head from ten thousand hearts,
and from all civilized lands, and which, from present prospects, would
make him to be remembered and  cherished, by the side of  Jenner, by
all comincr generations, and to  all coming time,—I say, is it probable,
had  he known of this noble gift, that he would not have been most
zealous in publishing it to the world ?   If he did make this  discovery,
is it not a remarkable coincidence, that Dr. Morton should  have made
it at the same time, and still more remarkable, that Dr. Jackson should
leave the honor to  another to make his discovery known ?
  But  let us suppose that Dr. Morton, in  making his experiments, had
caused  the death  of one or more of his  patients; would Dr.  Jackson
then have come forward and assumed  the whole responsibility, and, in
publishing  an account of this  untoward  accident in the French Jour-
nals, taken the whole fault  upon himself, suppressing even the name of
the immediate agent in the unhappy  affair ?  Or, to adduce a case in
point:  When Dr.  Flagg and his coadjutors came out against Dr. M.,
calling  him  " Mr."  Morton (!), denouncing the use of the ether, and
citing a long list of " accidents" that had, as  they  said, already  hap-
pened in his practice, and thinking it their duty to suffering humanity
to strangle this  Hercules of a discovery in its cradle, thereby, for a
time, greatly  injuring the reputation and practice of Dr. M.;—at this
critical moment in the history of the young discovery, who  came forth
to its  defence ?  Dr. Jackson,  who knew these allegations to  be false,
and who could have satisfied the public that the ether could  be admin-
istered with safety ?  Certainly not;  but he also joined in the  cry,
pronouncing the new invention a " humbug," and Dr. Morton " reck-
less," for using it!
  Dr. Jackson, in  the extract from his letter to M. Beaumont, already
given, says, that he had turned this discovery to use  by inducing  a
dentist to use it  in the extraction of teeth.  Now it is well known,
that, for ages, it has  been  the  desire of  the humane,  in all countries,
to discover some method of  alleviating the suffering of those who were
about to submit to severe and cruel surgical operations.  And,  amongst
others  who  had given direct thought and attention to this subject, Dr.
Morton may be named.
  For  more than two years,  he  had  bestowed much thought upon this
important inquiry.   At the commencement of that  period, he was a
student of Dr.  Jackson, with  whom  he  often conversed on this and
similar topics.  But it was  not till September, 1846, that a  direct trial 
15
was  made  with sulphuric ether.   About that time, Dr. Morton called
on  Dr. Jackson, to  get some information in furtherance of his re-
searches; and, during the conversation  that ensued, in which the old
topic of the inhalation of sulphuric ether and nitrous oxide gas by the
students  at college  came  up. Dr. M. inquired why he could  not give
the ether to his patients.  Dr. Jackson said he could, and advised him
to get some, of Burnett, highly rectified, at  the same time explaining
to him the nature of sulphuric ether, and its effects, so far as known,
on  the system, assuring him  it  might be safely applied,  although the
next morning he declined giving a certificate to this effect.
   Dr.  Morton procured the ether, and, returning home, locked himself
in  his room, when he  saturated a sponge with it and began to inhale,
noting down accurately when the inhalation commenced.  Soon, he
 recollects  beginning to grow dizzy, when, letting the sponge fall, he
 reclined back in his chair, after which he seems, for a time, to have been
 totally unconscious.   On  coming to himself, he again looked at his
 watch, and found, to his inexpressible delight, that he had been insen-
 sible eight minutes !   He  then  left  his room, anxious to try the ether
 upon  one of his patients, when  fortunately a  stout healthy  man ap-
 peared,  to have a tooth extracted.   The ether was administered and
 the tooth  taken out, the  man avowing a total unconsciousness of its
 removal!   And  this is the first painless operation ever performed by
 similar means in surgery !
   Subsequently, attempts  were  made by the same method,  but with-
 out any  satisfactory results,  until,  at  length,  after many  trials  to
 produce a proper apparatus, and finding the one recommended  by Dr.
 Jackson entirely useless, Dr. Morton arrived at a result, which seemed
 to  be  what he desired.   And from that day  the importance of the dis-
 covery began to develop itself, and the experiments were perfectly, or
 nearly perfectly, successful.
   Dr. Morton, let it be observed, inhaled the ether on the 33th Sep-
 tember; but it was  not until the 21st November following, it is be-
 lieved, that Dr. Jackson  witnessed an operation, which  was on that
 day performed at the Bromfield  House, at which he,  with several
 others, was invited to be present;  nor has he, from that day to this, or
 ever,  by his own  recent admissions, made any experiments himself to
 test the  importance of the discovery, or  whether a state of insensibility
 sufficient  to admit of  a  severe  surgical operation being performed
 without pain, could be induced by the inhalation of sulphuric ether.
    In  Dr. Jackson's letter to M. Beaumont, he says:—"It was  observed, 
16
that no unpleasant consequences attended the administration of the
ether, and I then advised this dentist to go to the General  Hospital of
Massachusetts, to administer it to a patient who was about to undergo
a painful operation."
  Now it is well known, in this community and-to all of his  acquaint-
ances, that Dr. Jackson is a gentleman, whose  moral character  is un-
impeached  and unimpeachable, a gentleman than  whom no one has
more warm personal friends.  And this renders  it doubly painful to say
that he has perverted the truth, although believing,  as  I do, that it
must have  happened  through forgetfulness alone that he made such a
statement,—a statement which, as its errors have been  pointed out to
him since its appearance in this country, he has had ample time to cor-
rect.   The  whole tenor of the letter  referred  to, is  to  give the im-
pression that Dr. Morton was under Dr. Jackson's advice and direction,
than which nothing could be  more unjust and erroneous.   From first
to  last, it is well known that Dr. Morton has acted wholly on his own
responsibility;  and that at no  time  did he ask  Dr. Jackson for his
advice  or directions,  for he seldom saw him.  This  is too absurd a
position to  be refuted, and would not have been alluded to, had not
this letter  to  M. Beaumont produced a most unfair and erroneous im-
pression in  France, wholly opposed to truth, and had not all the  com-
munications in the Paris papers on this subject, ascribing the credit of
the discovery to Dr.  Jackson, originated from that and other letters,
written in dereliction of positive promises, and in the face of his written
release  to Dr. Morton, in which  the  most he  claimed was to be con-
sidered a " a joint-discoverer," while, in this letter, he takes the whole
credit, and does not so much as mention the name of Dr. Morton.
  He  claims  to  have advised  Dr.  Morton  to  go to the Hospital, and
give the ether to a patient.   Dr. Morton went there on invitation  from
the house surgeon, at the request of Dr. Warren,  and it is not known
that Dr. Jackson had  any knowledge of such an invitation being given,
or that the operation was to be performed.  It is unaccountable, that a
man of Dr.  Jackson's  standing, and general high sense of honor and
justice, could  have been capable of so much assurance—to call it by
no harsher  name—as  to say that he had "latterly turned this discovery
to use, by inducing a  dentist of this  city to give the vapor," &c.  In
his communication, published  in the Advertiser of March  1st, he says
he " was desirous of testing it  (the ether) in a capital operation,"  &c.;
and that Dr. J. C. Warren " politely consented to have the trial made,"
&c.; whereas, Dr. Morton called on Dr. H. J. Bigelow, who spoke to 
17
Dr. Hay ward  on the subject of the further use of the ether, the latter
objecting until he knew what the vapor to be gben was;  but, on learn-
ing this, gave his  consent, and  Dr. Morton went accordingly, never
knowing Dr. Jackson in the matter any way.  On arriving at the Hos-
pital, a consultation was had among all the surgeons present, as to the
propriety of continuing to  use  the new anodyne process, when it was
determined  to do so.  It was  not for several weeks, and even  months
after, that Dr. Jackson was present at the Hospital to witness an opera-
tion—certainly not until  more than two months after the discovery had
been  made.   For a long time  previous  to calling on Dr. Jackson, and
previous to the 30th September, Dr. Morton  had been firmly possessed
with the thought—he had the idea indelibly fixed in his mind—that he
could  produce the desired state  of insensibility by the inhalation of
some  kind  of gas  or vapor, and  had tried various experiments to as-
certain what  would  do it.  In furtherance of this purpose, he called
several times on Mr. Wightman, philosophical instrument maker, Corn-
hill, to procure an apparatus.   These  calls extended through two or
three  weeks prior  to the 28th of  September, 1846, as appears  by Mr.
W.'s books.  Mr. Wightman says he recollects about these calls per-
fectly ; that Dr. Morton  wished to procure an inhaling apparatus; that
he then smelt  the ether about Dr. Morton's clothes, and that Dr. Morton
inquired, if "it would do to put ether in an  India-rubber bag;" and,
on  being answered in the negative,  he again inquired, if it would do
to put  it in a silk  bag, upon  which Mr. W. replied, that he did not
know, but advised Dr. M. to go to Dr. Jackson.   Other persons can
bear similar testimony; but this would be irrelevant here, and must be
left for a more befitting occasion.
  But, to settle  this whole matter—and  it might have been done in
the outset, to the satisfaction of  any candid  mind—after Dr. Morton
began to use the ether in  his  practice,  and  for some weeks, it  is well
known  to  a large  number of our most respectable citizens, that Dr.
Jackson clearly and distinctly repudiated and  washed his hands of the
whole thing.   lie, on many occasions, as is well known to his friends,
disclaimed all connexion with the  discovery, or use, of ether in surgery.
A gentleman  of high standing asked  Dr. Jackson,  in  presence of
several  others, if he " knew that,  by the  inhalation of ether,  such a
state of insensibility could  be produced, as that the knife could be ap-
plied, and the patient feel no  pain."  Dr. Jackson replied, " No, nor
Morton either, nor  any one else;  it is a humbug, and it is reckless in
Morton to use it as he does."   In speaking to two other persons, at
              3 
18
different times, on this subject, he said, " I don't care what he (Mor-
ton) does with it (the discovery) if he does not drag my name in with
it."   At another  time, he  said, he " did not know how it would work
in pulling teeth,  but knew its effects at  college, upon  the students,
when the  faculty had to get a certificate from a physician, that it was
injurious,  to  prevent them from  using it."   The  above, and  other
statements even stronger, can be verified by affidavits.

   But it  seems there is another Richmond  in the field; for I see that
"Galignani's  Messenger,"  of  Feb. 18th, contains a letter from Dr.
Horace Wells, of Hartford, Conn., then in  Paris,  in  which he claims
to be the  original discoverer  of the fact, that the vapor of sulphuric
ether, taken  into  the lungs, will produce insensibility to pain.   Here,
certainly, nothing is thought of these absurd pretensions, or only thought
of to be ridiculed; but, lest any should be misled in this matter, I here-
with submit a copy of a letter from him to Dr.  William T. G. Morton,
the real  discoverer, written before the idea  of  laying claim to the dis-
covery in question  entered his head—an idea which was altogether an
after-thought.  The communications published in the New York Jour-
nal of Commerce, and  used by Dr. Wells, in Paris, were written by  a
medical gentleman who had heard Dr. W.'s story, and who, perhaps,
honestly believed it.   If Dr. Wells  wishes to maintain his claims to his
pretended  discovery, that nitrous oxide gas will produce insensibility
to pain, no one thinks to deprive him of the  credit; most certainly the
discoverer  of  the  new  application  of  sulphuric  ether  does not.   But
this letter will speak  for itself:—

                                   " Hartford, (Conn.,) Oct. 20, 1846.
Dr. Morton:
  Dear Sir,—Your letter, dated  yesterday, is just received, and I hasten to
answer it, for fear you will adopt a method, in disposing of your rights, which
will defeat your object.  Before you make any arrangements whatever, I wish
to see you.  I think I will be in Boston the first of next week—probably Mon-
day night.   If  the operation of administering the gas is not attended  with too
much troub'e, and will  produce the effect you state, it will, undoubtedly, be  a
fortune to you,  provided it is rightly managed.
                      Yours, in haste,                  H. WELLS."

   But, corroborative  of what I have said above, and showing where  a
leading member of the  medical faculty of Boston bestows the honor of
this great discovery, I will give the following note:— 
19
                                              " Boston, Jan. 6th, 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 surgical operations, until it was suggested by Dr. W.
T. G. Morton, in the latter part of October, ld4(j.
                                       JOHN C. WARREN,
          Professor of Anatomy, and Surgeon of the Mass. Gen'l Hospital.n

   I would also submit the following notes, which go, as I  conceive, to
show who was known as the discoverer of the Letheon.*  They bear date
only two or three weeks after Dr.  Morton made the first successful experi-
ment, in performing a painless operation, ever published to the world, or
ever performed by similar means.  The earliest of these is as follows :—
                                             "Boston, Oct.  ]7lh, 1846.
   I hereby  certify that I have twice seen the administration  of Dr. Morton's
application for the prevention of pain; that it had a decided effect in prevent-
ing the sufferings of the patients during the operation, and that no bad conse-
quences resulted.
                                                   J. C. WARREN."
   The next in order of date is here submitted :—
   "On Saturday last,  at the Hospital, I removed a tumor from the arm of a
patient who had immediately before inhaled  something prepared by Dr. Mor-
ton, of this  city.  The  operation lasted seven minutes; the patient gave no
indication of suffering.   She assured me, afterwards, that she did not suffer,
nor has she, to  the present time, experienced any inconvenience from the in-
halation.
                                                 GEO. HAY WARD.
   Tuesday, Oct. 20th, 1846."

   The next and last I shall give, dated two days later, is as follows:—

   "I  certify  that I assisted in the administration of Dr. Morton's Preparation
to two patients, operated upon by  Drs. Warren and Hay ward at the Mass.
General Hospital, on the IGth and 17th of October; that, under  its influence,
both these individuals submitted to operations, lasting from five to ten minutes,
without suffering, and that they speedily recovered from its effects.
                                         C.  F. HEYWOOD,
                                 House Surgeon Mass.  General Hospital.
   October 22</, 1846."

   In a statement of this discovery, drawn up by Dr. J. C. Warren, and
published in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, on December
9th, 1846, is the  following:—
                            • See Appendix, A. 
20
   " Application has been made  to me by R. H. Eddy, Esq., in a letter dated
 November 30, in behalf of Dr. W. T. G. Morton, to furnish an account of the
 operations witnessed and performed by me, wherein his new discoveiy for pre-
 venting pain was employed.  Dr. M. has also proposed to mo to give him the
 names of such hospitals as  I know of in  this country, in order that he  may
 present them with the use of his discovery."

   And again in the same paper:—

   "Two  or three days after these occurrences, on meeting with Dr. Charles
 T. Jackson, distinguished  for his philosophical spirit of inquiry, as well as for
 his geological and chemical science, this gentleman informed me that he  first
 suggested to Dr. Morton the inspiration of ether, as a means of  preventing the             ^
 pain of operations on the teeth.   He did not claim the  invention of the appa-
 ratus, nor its practical application; for these, we are  indebted to Dr. Morton."

   He, Dr. J., claims only to have made a bare suggestion of the fact,
 that ether could be used in alleviating pain. But,  as will appear  in the
 affidavits of Dr. G. G. Hayden, Wm. P. Leavitt, Thos.  R. Spear,  Jr.,
 and  Francis Whitman, Dr. Morton had been  making constant experi-
 ments  for  months before, with sulphuric  ether, and only went to  Dr.
 Jackson  to procure  a retort, or other apparatus,  to aid him in his in-             ^
 quiries.  If Dr. Jackson spoke of ether, it will be  observed that  Dr.
 Morton called on him at the time the suggestion was made, for the very
purpose of making inquiries as to its effects on an India-rubber  bag;
 and, as I have already said, to  procure  some  kind of apparatus from
 his laboratory,  from which ether might  be administered.  Had  Dr.
 Jackson  made the discovery in question, why  did  he not give it to  the
world, and not  endeavor, clandestinely, to wrest from Dr.  Morton one
in which  he (Dr.  J.) had no more share than many others?   Dr.  M.             V
 arrived at his discovery by the best process in the world—an inductive
 one—and he is indebted to Dr. J. no more than to several  others from
 whom  he derived  like accidental hints.   The initiative was not  made
 by Dr. Jackson.   He  did  not  come to Dr.  Morton's office and request
 him  to  bring out  a discovery that had been already  elaborated  by
 another.   He never  talked of any great blessing that he was soon to
 bestow upon  the  afflicted  of his  race.   On the contrary, after weeks
 and even months of patient, persevering labor in making  experiments,
 during  which  he gave up his business to another, let his  practice suf-
 fer, and often  endangered his health and very life;  and when hope had
 dawned upon his mind, and he could exclaim, " I have it;"  when  the
 greatness of his  wonderful discovery seemed to have taken possession 
21
of his whole soul, and was, in part, apprehended by his keen, inquiring
intellect;  after going to several distinguished philosophical instrument-
makers, Mr. Wightman, of  Cornhill, and others, to aid  him in an ap-
paratus;  after all this, Dr. Morton went at last to Dr. Jackson,—not to
ask him  what  would  prevent pain in surgical operations, for that he
seems  to  have been  already in possession of,—but to borrow from his
laboratory some instrument to assist him in making his agent available.
Thus all, even Dr. J.'s best  friends, must admit, that the initiative in
this  great  matter  was taken, not by Dr. Jackson, but by Dr. Morton;
and  to him future ages will  ascribe the honor, and on his head lavish
out their  blessings for the  discovery, so long as misery and suffering
are known to man !
   Dr. Jackson has an unfortunate mania for appropriating to himself
the discoveries of others,—a kind of idiosyncrasy,—which detracts
very much from his great merits as a scientific  man ;  for, by wishing
to deprive others of  the  merit that really belongs to them, he injures
his claim  upon what is  justly his own.  A most unfortunate contre-
temps, of  this nature,  was the affair of claiming the electro-magnetic
telegraph.   In a note signed by  him,  and  published  in the Boston
Daily Advertiser of the 8th March, he says:—"Those  who know me,
I confidently believe, can never  suspect me of wishing  to appropriate
a  discovery which  is  not my own;" the  last clause of which I  have
italicized.   Now,  if this be so, how is it that Dr. J. so often  gets into
controversies with other discoverers ?  Whence originated the disputes
about  the  electro-magnetic  telegraph, gun cotton, &,c. &c. of which
the public have heard so much during the last ten  years?   But I will
not  go into these matters in detail, contenting myself with a brief his-
tory of the discovery of the  telegraph.*  And, so far as this goes to
substantiate Dr. J.'s assertion above, I will freely concede it to him.
   In 1832, Dr. Jackson,  Prof. Samuel F. B. Morse, Hon. William C.
Rives, (then on his  return  from the embassy to France,) and Joshua
Fisher, Esq., of  Philadelphia, were  fellow-passengers  on board the
ship Sully, commanded by  Capt. Pell, returning to the  United States.
In a general conversation  amongst  these gentlemen, the then recent
discovery of obtaining the spark  from the magnet was the subject, in
which conversation allusion was  made by Dr.  Jackson to the experi-
ments of  Franklin across tbe Schuylkill  River, and  along  its  banks.
This allusion  was made  to satisfy  the question, asked  by one of the
party, whether, in a  distance occupied  by  the  coil of the magnet,
* See Appendix, B 
22
(some hundreds of feet,) there was not an appreciable interval of time
in the passage of the  electricity.   This distance, at that time, was
deemed  very  great.   Dr. Jackson  alluded  to  Franklin's  experi-
ments, to show that there was no appreciable  time  in the passage of
the electricity.  This experiment  of Dr. Franklin  must  have been
familiar to Prof. Morse from his  youth, as it is to every person of even
ordinary reading; but  it was  thus brought  up to his recollection, and
the idea of the possibility of making electricity the means of commu-
nicatino- intelligence at a distance at once flashed across his mind, and,
in his remark upon  the fact, he  observed that he thought it would nut
be diflicult to construct a system  of signs by wjich intelligence might
be sent by electricity.  This  was  the first thought  of his telegraph,
which he immediately proceeded to carry into execution ;  and the plan
now in successful operation was  elaborated, in  all  its essential charac-
teristics, before the close of  the voyage.   Dr. J.  had nothing to do
with any part of it,  nor did he give a single  available hint which  has
been used in any portion of Prof. Morse's invention.
   A correspondence between  those parties, on  the  subject of this in-
vention,  commenced from the  following circumstance :—Prof. Morse            >
had completed his invention in its practical parts, and, in 1836-7, had
it in operation; and, two or  three months afterwards,  the  first  an-
nouncement of the  European  telegraph was made in the papers of the
United States.  To  secure to himself and the country the  honor of pri-
ority, he wrote to the captain of  the ship, to Mr. Rives, to Mr. Fisher,
and to Dr.  Jackson, for their  testimony  to the  fact,  that he  invented
the telegraph on board the ship  Sully, in 1832.  All  but  Dr.  Jackson
freely gave this testimony,  (which may be found in Vail's larger work            >
on the telegraph, pages 152, 153;) but,  instead of according his testi-
mony, he surprised Prof. Morse, in his  answer, by laying claim to be
mutually interested  (mark this,)  in the invention. In  1839, while Prof.
Morse was abroad  in  France, Dr. Jackson  had the courage—shall I
call it?—not only to claim to be the sole  inventor of  the telegraph, in a
publication made in the Boston  Post,  but he also sent a communication
to the Academy of Sciences in  Paris,  in  which he made the same
claim, but of which latter fact Prof. Morse knew nothing, as I am in-
formed, till about a year since.   He, Dr.  Jackson,  referred,  for  evi-
dence in his favor, to the master of the ship, (Capt. Pell,) to Hon.  Mr.
Rives, and to Mr. Fisher.  On Prof. M.'s return from Europe, in 1839,
he at once publicly called on Dr.  Jackson,  in the Boston Post, either 
23
to retract or substantiate his claims.   To this  challenge, made seven
years ago, he has never replied.
  The gentlemen to whom he referred  each wrote Prof. Morse, it ap-
pears, recognizing him only in the invention, and one of them express-
ing the greatest indignation that Dr.  Jackson should have  appealed to
him  in a matter where it was so notorious, on board the ship, that Prof.
Morse only had the least claim to the invention.
  Such is a brief, but, it is  believed, a correct history of this affair.
And the striking analogy between this history and the controversy now
going on respecting the discovery of the Letheon will  be most obvi-
ous.   In the first place,  from  1832 to 1839,  Dr.  Jackson seems to
have thought his share in  the invention,—or the invention itself,—of
so little importance, as to pay no attention to the subject during seven
years, and  then only when another and  a most meritorious man had
brought it to great  perfection  and into extensive  use, when  he steps
forward and claims  to be mutually  interested in the invention.  Not
content with  this,  however, he next claims  to be the sob,  inventor.
And, to substantiate his claims, he sent, in 1839, to an American gen-
tleman, then in Paris, a statement directed to M. Elie de Beaumont, to
be laid before the  French Academy !  In like manner, in the face of
the most positive assurances to the contrary, after Dr. Morton  had giv-
en to the world the  discovery by which painless operations may be per-
formed in surgery, Dr. Jackson privately forwarded  to the same M. Elie
de Beaumont his claims  to be considered the  sole discoverer in this
matter,  and that,  too,  after  he  had,  for  some  weeks, as  is well
known,   clearly  and  distinctly denounced  the  whole  thing  as a
" humbug."           •
  And here, I wish to point out two or three  statements of Dr. Jack-
son, made public, going  to show how little he really knew of, or had
reflected upon, the effects of ether on the system, and  how little im-
portance he  attached  to  his  knowledge  of the discovery which  he
claims to have kept so long from the world.  In a letter dated  January
Cth, 1847, and published  in the Journal of Commerce,  he says :—" I
would also beg leave to call attention to the fact, that the effect of high-
ly rectified  ether vapor,  when inhaled in the manner employed in
this city, does not act as  an excitant, but as a sedative of a most deci-
ded character, diminishing the pulsation of the  arteries,  and producing
a deep sleep or stupor."  In  his communication, improperly addressed
to the American Academy, he says :—" We are aware that ether ranks,
in the pharmaceutic books and  dispensatories, as a diffusible stimulant, 
24
and that its fumes  or  vapor produce intoxication of a short duration
And, in a letter of his now before me, he says :—" He" (a person be-
fore alluded to in this letter,)  " imagines the effect to be merely exci-
tant, or intoxication, while no  such  effect is produced by the applica-
tion of ether vapor, such as we use in this city,"—a statement  which
seems to contradict the one above, in which it is said, that it does pro-
duce intoxication.
  These passages  are quoted  to show, that Dr. Jackson really had no
more knowledge of the effects  and operation of ether upon the system,
than was shared in common with the whole medical  world.
  And  now, I come to a matter, which I would  pass over  in silence,
did not stern justice  require that it should be set right.  On Monday
morning, the first of March, Dr. Jackson published a statement in the
Boston  Daily Advertiser, purporting to have come from, and  received
the sanction of, the American  Academy of Arts and Sciences.  The
same day,  at noon,  the British steamer sailed, bearing to Europe a large
number of papers containing this statement, apparently with the  addi-
tional sanction of the names  of Dr. Warren  and President  Everett.
Now these gentlemen, being desirous of having a scientific account of
the discovery  in question furnished to the world, and believing that
no person was more  competent than Dr. Jackson to draw up such an
account, addressed  to him the notes bearing their names, little  thinking
that  he was  to  make use of  them to aid him in passing off upon the
public  a  statement most erroneous  and unfair, and calculated to do
much injustice to a very meritorious and deserving man.
  On Tuesday evening  following the  publication  of this  paper, the
Academy  had an informal meeting, at which Dr. Jackson was  present,
and presented a paper, already far on its way to Europe, bearing the
fraudulent stamp of the Academy !  This, Dr. Jackson read, and  made
a motion  to  have  it  printed,  which was declined by the members of
that learned body, and the doctor rather severely catechised for making
public a statement,  as coming from them, which they had never  before
seen, or heard of.   What his surprise was, at the reception his paper
and  the course he had pursued in relation to its publication met with,
those present only  know, and others must surmise !   It is understood,
that  the Academy  are about  to publish a disclaimer to this fraud or
forgery, and to  show, that they are  not to be  used to foist on the
public  an  erroneous, or rather  materially false, statement.
   And it  may be asked why Dr. Jackson  has  been  known in the dis-
covery at  all, when he really rendered no essential aid in making it, 
25
and when, after Dr. Morton had  brought it  out, he  so  carefully  and
particularly repudiated it, and declared, distinctly, that he had nothing
to do with it, nor was responsible for its effects.  To this very natural
inquiry I  reply, that Dr.  Morton  associated Dr. Jackson with  him  in
the affair, at the earnest request and  on the advice of the friends of
both parties, in order that he might avail himself of the great scientific
attainments of  the latter  in  perfecting the  arrangements  necessary
properly to bring his discovery into general use.  At first, Dr. Jackson
claimed no part of the invention, rather  disclaiming the  whole; and
after  it had  been several weeks before the public, he only demanded
the trifling sum of jive  hundred dollars for  his whole interest  in the
thing, and was subsequently  contented to be  named simply as joint-
discoverer, in the Letters Patent, as a full  remuneration for his advice
and  trouble  in what had been done.  This is the whole secret of Dr.
Jackson's-share in the  discovery  under  discussion, all  of  which we
shall  be  able  to show by the best proof possible, namely, by  Dr. J.'s
own friends themselves, or by the one who was principally instrumental
in bringing it about.
   And I  would here allude to a person, who has been,  from the first,
most active in making Dr. Morton's discovery known.  I refer to Dr.
John C. Warren.   Since the great  blessing in question was given to
the public, he  has resigned  his connexion  with the Medical  School.
In his  valedictory, on this occasion, he says:—" And here he might
notice the invaluable means of preventing pain in surgical operations—
a  discovery which every medical  man, and  especially every practical
surgeon,  must hail  with unmingled satisfaction."   As it was before
this  school that he had  often alluded  to this discovery, defended it
against hasty,  inconsiderate attacks, pointed out its vast importance,
and thus given it his high sanction and  aided  in Conferring it upon the
world, so  there was it most  appropriate  that,  in  summing up  the work,
which for a long term of  years he had accomplished, he should thus
have  it in his power to say that he had added  this new but crowning
blessing to his labors.  How  appropriate that he should close his con-
nexion with the Medical  School, by aiding in the introduction of "this
last best gift to man !"

   The following "History,"  appended  to an account of some of the
cases in which the vapor has been used in the Massachusetts General
Hospital,  was  prepared  by that  rising, and  already eminent surgeon,
J. Mason Warren, and published in the Boston Medical and Surgical
              4 
26
Journal of March 24th, 1847.   In this history, by one who has been con-
versant with all the facts connected with the discovery, and who has been
most active in bringing it before the world, it is stated, that " Dr. Warren
met Dr. Charles T. Jackson, who informed him, that  he suggested the
use of ether to Dr. Morton."   A similar statement was published, by
Dr. J. C. Warren, in the  Boston Medical and Surgical Journal,  of Dec.
9th, 1846.  And this seems to be about all that they, or the  other emi-
nent surgeons and physicians,  Dr. Hayward, Dr. Bigelow, Dr.  Gould,
and others, who have been so prominent in  introducing the discovery
to the public, know,  respecting Dr. Jackson's  claims or agency in the
matter;  he informed them as to what he had done, or rather said; for
he does not profess ever to have done any thing.
   If I am accused of espousing  this  cause warmly, I reply, that I did
not do so until  I  had seen  Dr. Jackson's  letters to the French Acad-
emy, and his statement, published in the Daily  Advertiser, in which he
affects to recognize no one in the discovery,  but  claims the sole honor as
his own 1   The most glaring injustice thus done to Dr. Morton seems
to require  equally prompt treatment.

  Having been conversant with the principal facts relating to the introduction
of the inhalation of ether into  surgical operations,  it  may not be considered
inappropriate to connect, with the above  cases, a slight sketch of their early
history, so far as I am acquainted with them.
  In the early part of October,  1846, Dr. W. T. G. Morton called at the house
of Dr. J. C. Warren, and stated to him that he was in possession of a means
for preventing pain in surgical operations, and that he should be glad to have
the application made by Dr. W. in a surgical case.  Having made some in-
quiry as to its safety and mode  of exhibition, this gentleman agreed to afford
him the earliest opportunity for employing it.
  A few days after, on  October 13th, a patient at the Massachusetts  General
Hospital, having  to undergo an operation for removal of a tumor of the neck,
was brought into the operating theatre,  all the arrangements made for the op-
eration, and Dr.  Warren was about to begin, when he arrested his hand, say-
ing—" I now recollect,  that I promised Dr. Morton to  give him  the earliest
opportunity of trying a mode for preventing pain in surgical operations, and,
if the patient consents, I shall defer this operation to another day, and invite
Dr. M. to administer his application."  The patient consenting, the operation
was accordingly postponed to the following Friday, October 16th, and  Dr. W.
having requested the house surgeon to invite the  attendance of Dr. Morton, that
gentleman was present, and made the first application of the inhalation of ether.
  On the following day, a patient requiring the removal of a tumor from the
aim, and being rendered insensible by Dr. Morton's application, Dr.  Warren
requested Dr. Hayward, who was present, to perform the operation. 
2T
   A few days subsequent to this, Dr. Warren met Dr. Charles T. Jackson,
 who informed him, that he had suggested the use of the ether to Dr. Morton.
   On Nov. 6th, Dr.  Morton addressed a letter to Dr. Warren, to be commu-
 nicated to the surgeons of the Hospital, in which  he professed himself ready
 to disclose the composition of  this agent to them, and also to permit as liberal
 a use of it as was reasonable under existing circumstances.
   On the following day, it was exhibited to a young woman, who was to sub-
 mit to an amputation of the leg, by Dr. Hayward ;  being the first amputation
 performed under the  use of ether.  At the same time, Dr. Warren operated on
 a female, for the removal of a portion of the lower jaw.  In both these cases,
 the inhalation was quite successful, but most perfectly in the amputation.
   On November 9th, Dr. H. J. Bigelow read a paper on this  subject to the
 Boston Society for Medical Improvement, which he had previously read before
 the Academy of Sciences.
   On December 3d, Dr. Warren  communicated, to the Boston Medical and
 Surgical Journal, an account of the first surgical operations under the ethereal
 inhalation.
   The preceding operations at the Hospital, by Drs. Warren and Hayward,
 were followed by a variety performed by the other surgeons of that institution,
 Drs. Townsend, Parkman, H. J. Bigelow, and myself.  Among them may be
 mentioned the reduction of  two dislocations of the humerus, by Dr. Parkman,
 one of which was easily managed without having recourse to the ordinary pow-
 erful apparatus.
   To these in the Hospital, succeeded  operations  in private practice, by my-
 self, the above-mentioned gentlemen, Dr. Peirson, of Salem,  and, at length, in
 various parts of the country.
  In Europe, it  has  been received with the greatest enthusiasm.  Amputa-
 tions of the limbs  and  breasts, the removal of stone in the bladder, and the
 Caesarean section,  have been performed, all  with immunity from pain ; it has
 even been given  to mitigate the sufferings of labor  without arresting  the con-
 tractions of the uterus.
  The most striking  part of the history of this valuable remedy remains to be
 mentioned ; which is, that, notwithstanding the general and  almost indiscrim-
 inate use of a means  apparently so powerful in its nature, not a single case has
 thus far been recorded, in which it has produced fatal consequences.   It is to
 be hoped, therefore, that, by a better experience in  its use—an experience we
 shall soon be able to  obtain from the  examples constantly afforded—it may be
rendered as safe  as any other article of the materia medica.
  As was to have been expected, various claimants have arisen for the honor
of the discovery, and  one or two persons in France have certainly approximated
very closely to it—without having carried their investigations,  however, to a
 sufficient length to render any practical benefit to  humanity.  A consent al-
 most unanimous, both in England and France, has conceded  this honor to our
fellow-townsmen, Dr. W. T. G. Morton and Dr. Charles T. Jackson. 
28
   Since writing the foregoing pages, I have seen a pamphlet  by Dr.
 Horace Wells, embodying his claims to the discovery, now the subject
 of no little controversy.  I have, therefore, hastily collected a few facts
 as to these claims—which, were they not put forth with such an imper-
 turbable air of seriousness, I should suspect of insincerity.  But, as it
 is, and from private letters received by the last steamer, from Paris and
 London, I have no doubt but that he will urge these claims to their
 farthest extent.
   As Dr. Wells rests his merits in the discovery upon his experiments
 with nitrous oxide gas, the following facts will show what those merits
 really  are, and how much there is  novel, and before unknown, in his
 researches: in fact,  whether he, or some one before him, is entitled to
 the credit  of suggesting  the  use of this  gas in surgical  operations.
 That his claims must depend upon this alone, and not upon the use of
 sulphuric ether, no one can fairly deny.  But to the facts:—
   The  nitrous  oxide  gas (known to chemists as the gaseous oxide of
 azote or the protoxide of nitrogen,) differs from atmospheric air only in
 the proportions of its  ingredients, air being composed of 27 parts of
 oxygen and 73 of nitrogen, while the nitrous oxide consists of 37 parts
 of oxygen  and  63 of  nitrogen.  Sir Humphrey  Davy  first discovered
 that this gas could be safely inhaled, and that for a short time it would
 support respiration.   He  was  surprised to learn, as he did by experi-
 ments on himself, that it produced a species of intoxication.  In breath-
 ing it,  he says :—" The first inspiration caused a slight degree of giddi-
 ness.   This was succeeded  by an uncommon sense of fulness in the
 head, accompanied by loss of distinct sensation and voluntary power,—
 a feeling analagous to that produced  in the first  stage of intoxication,
 but unattended by pleasurable sensations."
   Sir  Humphrey also says, (in his Researches, p. 465,) that, on two
 occasions, the inhalation of nitrous oxide removed headache.   Further-
 more, he found  that it greatly mitigated, or wholly removed, the pain
 he experienced while cutting a wisdom-tooth. And, in the same work
 (p. 556)  he says:—" As  nitrous oxide, in  its extensive operation, ap-
pears capable of destroying physical pain, it  may  probably be  used
 with advantage during surgical operations in which no great effusion
 of blood takes place."
   Now, even  admitting that there  are good reasons for  Dr. Wells's
 preference  of nitrous oxide over sulphuric ether, in abolishing the pain
 of surgical operations, I  submit to the public to decide, how far the 
29
above  extracts militate against his claims to the discovery of this new
property of his favorite exhilarating or nitrous oxide gas!
  But if so much superior to ether, why are not further experiments
made with it, and why does it not take the place of ether  at once ?  It
may be true  that Dr. Wells  used it  in thirteen or fourteen cases, in
Hartford, as he asserts;  but his statement, in the  London Lancet, that
he  had  applied  it more than  fifty times, would seem to suggest some
doubts as to his former statements.*  Which is true, or whether either,
it  matters not, since Dr. Wells found it dangerous, not  applicable in
dental and surgical operations, unsatisfactory, and wholly  discontinued
its  use  more  than two years  and a half ago.   He was a dentist, and
could make  a  fair experiment  on his patients, besides  having every op-
portunity afforded him, by surgeons  in  Hartford  and Boston, to test
the utility of his  pretended discovery.   If he failed to demonstrate its
importance to the world, certainly  he  cannot blame the public for his
want of success,  but must attribute his failure rather to his pseudo-
discovery itself.
   And here I will make some extracts from a communication made to
the London Lancet,  of March  6th, by "Henry Bennet, M. D."  " I
have,"  he says, " lately  had the  pleasure  of receiving a visit from Mr.
Horace Wells, of Connecticut, United  States, who,  as will appear from
the documents which I enclose, is  the original inventor of the plan of
producing insensibility by inhalation during surgical operations.  Mr.
Wells was  introduced to  me by my friend, Dr.  Brewster,  of  Paris,

  * When Dr.  Wells first laid claim  to this discovery, he stated that he had performed
ten or twelve operations under the effects of nitrous oxide gas.   Soon, however, the num-
ber had increased to fifteen or twenty; next, it went  up higher, and, after reaching the
intermediate stages, is finally set down, in the London Lancet, at fifty.  This reminds
me of the dialogue, in King Henry IV., in which Falstaff gives an account of the number
he had slain the night before. " I have peppered two of them—two  rogues in buckram
suits."  And soon after he says, "Four rogues in buckram let drive at me."
  P. Henry.—What, four? thou saidst but two, even now.
  FaL—Foar,  Hal;  I told thee four.
  Poins.—Ay,  ay, he said four.
  Fal—These four came all afront, and  mainly thrust at me.  I made no more ado, but
took all their seven points in my target, thus.
  P. Hen.—Seven?  why, there were but four even now.
  Fal.—Seven, by these hilts, or I am a villain else.
  P. Hen.—Pr'ythee, let him alone ;  we shall have more anon.
  Fal.—These  nine in buckram, that  I told thee of—
  P. Hen.—So, two more are added already.
  Fal.—Began to give ground; but I followed them close, came in, foot and hand; and,
with a thought, seven of the eleven I paid.
  P. Hen.—O  monstrous! eleven buckram men grown out of two! 
30
who, along with all the Paris physicians to whom the facts of the case
have been made knowu, is convinced of the justice of his claims
to priority.  Indeed,  there does  not  appear to  us  any room  for
doubt on the subject; and it can only be a matter of regret that these
claims should  have  been allowed to remain so long unknown to the
medical profession in Great  Britain.
  " Mr. Wells, however, explains his silence in the following manner :—
He had left America for Europe before Drs. Jackson and Morton  as-
serted a  right to the  discovery;  and it was only some time after  his
arrival in Paris that he heard  of these gentlemen having, in the most
unjustifiable manner, assumed the credit of the discovery!"                      ^
  Now, doubtless this Dr. Bennet is an honorable man, which makes
me regret the more the unfortunate dilemma he has  placed himself in,
thus to give his countenance and endorsement to the statements above.
But this is no affair of mine.  If he has  espoused Dr. Wells's cause
for the honor its defenders are to reap, he is heartily welcome to  his
share.
  Dr. Bennet says, above, Dr.  Wells was  introduced  to  him  by  his
friend, Dr. Brewster, of Paris.   But, to show how the latter was con-            ,
verted over to the espousal of this nitrous-oxide cause, I will quote his
own  words,  as  follows:—" I had  seen  Drs. Ellsworth and  Marcey's
letters, and sent  to Dr. or Mr. Wells, begging him to  call on me.   I
then asked him, ' Are you the true  man ?'   His answers,  his manner,
convinced me that he was!"  If Dr.  Brewster is thus easily persuaded,
one must  conclude, that  he  is more credulous and incautious than  be-
fore he departed from his native state of Connecticut.
  But  let us examine, or rather reply to, the last  statement, by Dr.            ^
Bennet, that Dr. Wells left the United States for  Europe before he
heard of Drs. Morton and Jackson's claims.  Dr. Wells's own letter
to Dr. Morton, written some time  before  he  set  out on  his journey,
will show  Drs. Bennet and Brewster, " along with all the Paris physi-
cians "  who have espoused  his cause,  how far Dr. W.'s " answers and
manner "  are to be  relied upon.  This  letter was dated, and  begins,
as follows:—
                                       " Hartford, December 10,1846.
Dr. Morton:
  Dear Sir,—J have just seen  a copy of your claim,  and find that it is nothing
more than what I can prove  priority of discovery [to]  by at least eighteen
months.  When in Boston, at your room, I was well  satisfied that the principal
ingredient  was ether, and, to  all  appearances, it had just the effect of  this 
31
alone upon the patient to  whom I saw it administered in your office.  Now,
I do not wish, or expect,  to make any money out of this invention, nor to
cause you to be the loser; but I have resolved to give a history of its introduc-
tion, that I may have what credit belongs to me.  Although it is in my power
to invalidate your patent by  a word, yet, so long as we remain on good terms, I
shall not aim to do it," &c.  &c.

   The above extracts from this long letter prove conclusively, it seems
 to me, that Dr. Wells  must have known of the claims of Drs. Morton
 and Jackson prior to his departure for Europe.  The only  chance to
 escape such a conclusion is,  to  suppose that, while under the effects of
 an over-dose  of nitrous oxide  gas,  Dr. Wells,  in his  wild reveries,
 dreamed the contents of this letter, and  wrote them down  before the
 gaseous spell was off !
   But, to be serious,—the fact  is, Dr.  Wells was written to when Dr.
 Morton first made  his discovery ;  was invited to aid in  bringing it be-
 fore the public; came to  Dr. Morton's office; saw the application of
 his  " preparation;"  but, afraid of  its effects, gave his verdict  against
 it, and went home, little dreaming then (whatever he may have dreamed
 since,) that he should one day set up claims to this discovery, as his own !
   Regardless of the date  of  experiments successfully made by others,
 with  sulphuric ether, in annihilating  the  pain of surgical operations,
 Dr. Morton claims to have succeeded  in his  attempts to  discover the
 grand desideratum only  in September, 1846;  and the following is the
 certificate of the first person to whom sulphuric  ether had ever been
 given in such a way as entirely to prevent pain in a severe operation :—.
                                          " Boston, September 30, 1846.
   This is to certify  that I applied  to Dr. Morton, at 9 o'clock this evening,
 suffering under the most violent tooth-ache; that Dr. Morton took out his
 pocket-handkerchief,  saturated  it with a preparation of his, from which  I
 breathed for about  half a minute, and  then was lost in sleep. In an instant
 more I awoke, and saw  my tooth lying upon the floor.  I did not experience
 the  slightest pain  whatever.  I remained twenty minutes in his office after-
  wards, and felt no unpleasant effects from the operation.
                                  EBEN H.  FROST,
                                             42, Prince Street, Boston."

    " We  witnessed  the above  operation, and the statement is, in  all respects,
  correct—and, what is more, the man asked where his tooth was, or if it was out.
                                    A. G. TENNY, Journal Office.
                                    G. G. HAYDEN, Surgeon Dentist.
    Boston, September 30, 1846." 
32
  Although Dr. Morton had been, for a long time, experimenting with
different gases, for the avowed purpose of finding the means of abolish-
ing pain, he was by no means successful, and claims priority to no dis-
covery made before the date of the certificate above.  It is upon that
experiment, and those immediately following, that  he  rests his claims
of priority in the discovery in question.   If others can show that they
were successful in the use of ether at an earlier date,  then  his claims
must fall to the ground : otherwise, others must yield the palm to him.
I see not how  we are  to escape from this conclusion.
  But there is a way of setting this matter for ever at  rest, both as re-
gards the  claims of Dr. Jackson and Dr. Wells, and those of all others,
however and whenever made.   It  is in the power of  the  surgeons of
Boston, and particularly those connected with the Massachusetts Gen-
eral Hospital,  who first heard of the new application of sulphuric ether
from Dr. Morton, and from him alone, to disabuse the public mind, as
to the pseudo-statements of Dr. Jackson and Dr. Wells,  as well as others.
They never heard that such a  discovery had been  made, until Dr.
Morton applied to them, to demonstrate its utility on a patient about to
submit to a severe surgical operation.  They do not know, I am  confi-
dent in saying, that Dr. Jackson had any thing to do with this discov-
ery, aside from his own statements made long after Dr. Morton had giv-
en it to the world.  I  am aware they may justly feel some reluctance in
volunteering in this matter; but now, it seems to me, truth and justice
absolutely require them to unite in publishing to the  world a full and
fair statement of the  matter in controversy, not giving  as  facts what
they understood from  Dr. Jackson, or his friends, to be his share in the
matter ; but only what they absolutely know.   Dr. Morton, doubtless,
is perfectly willing to  submit  his claims to this  arbitrament, and will
abide by  its decision.  But, possessing no distinguished foreign cor-
respondents, and having no influential friends abroad,  {where, it seems
this question is to be settled,) and not being  able, like Dr. Wells,  to go
in person  to  substantiate his claims, he must rely upon his own  coun-
trymen to do  him justice.   And,  although others differ  with  me, it
seems most proper, after all, that this question  should be  adjusted at
home, and those who, like  Dr. Morton's opponents, are not willing to
submit  their claims to such an umpire, certainly give us very strong
grounds to doubt their cause.
   Here, I apprehend, the true history of this discovery is to be written,
let the French or English, or any others, decide  as they please.  Noth-
ing of this kind will affect the truth, which must be known  some time, 
33
disguise or misrepresent it how much soever one may.   And Dr. Mor-
ton is the last one, I doubt not, who has any thing to fear from the de-
cision of this question on principles of equity and justice, or where it
is properly understood.  It is only those who fear this tribunal  who say
that they " care nothing for the honors this country has to bestow,"
and are  only anxious to secure  those of Europe!  This is the decla-
ration of one of the pretenders,  as I am  informed;  and certainly the
course of both  those,  who are trying  to wrest the credit from him to
whom  it  belongs,  seems to  warrant  one in classing them together in
this respect.
  Those who have espoused, and  who now advocate, Dr. Wells's claims,
give, as a reason for his  not  making  his discovery  available  and es-
tablishing those claims for himself, that he did not wish to realize any
thing by it, but  preferred, rather, to bestow it gratuitously  upon the
suffering of his  race.   But how does  this harmonize with the princi-
ples he  discloses when, during his visit  to Boston, in October, he ad-
vised Dr. M. to  sell all the rights he could,  and to make all the money
out of the discovery in his power ?  Or,  how does it agree with a pas-
sage  in  his  letter of October 20th, in  which he  says, " I hasten to
answer it, (Dr. M.'s letter,) for fear you will adopt a method, in dis-
posing of your  rights, which  will defeat your object."
  And similar principles are avowed throughout his two  letters of Nov.
20th and Dec. 10th, to Dr. Morton; from which it would appear, that
he  considered his discovery  of  so  little value, that he was willing to
give it to the afflicted and suffering of his race; and that, appreciating
the immense superiority of Dr. Morton's over any  and all others before
made, he advised Dr. M. to adopt such a " method in disposing of his
rights,"  as would  secure him a " fortune."  Noble and disinterested
generosity this,  of which but few examples  are on record !   Certainly,
the possession of such  virtues, if nothing else, fully entitles  Dr. Wells
to the awards and honors of the public!

  The following  extracts from the " Account" of  the discovery  in
question, by  a distinguished surgeon, conversant with it from its ear-
liest promulgation, ought, certainly,  to  have some weight with our
transatlantic  friends in establishing the honor of giving  this  noble gift
to  the race—unless,  indeed,  as  seems to  be their determination, we
are to have  no voice in the matter.   From present appearances, the
Parisians have  taken  the whole subject  under their own patronage,
and manifested  a disposition  to award the credit and honors wherever
              5 
34
  they please, regardless of the testimony of our own surgeons and sci-
  entific men, who, from the first, have aided and  advised Dr. Morton in
  bringing the discovery before the world.
    The writer of this history of the matter, like Drs. J. C. Warren and
  J. Mason Warren, does not admit that he  knew of Dr. Jackson having
  had  any thing  to do  in  making the discovery, further than what he
  learned from Dr. J.'s own  statements.   His claims were wholly un-
  known  to  others, I believe I am justified in saying, until the matter
 was placed beyond the  chance of failure.   If  Drs. J. C. Warren, Hay-
 ward, Townsend, Hey wood, Bigelow, or  J. Mason Warren, who per-
 formed  the first successful operations  on record, will  state that they          >
 heard of Dr. Jackson's claims at all until some weeks after Dr. Morton
 had been to them  to  have  his discovery  tested in the hospital,—or if
 they had  ever heard his name even mentioned in connexion with this
 use of ether, before  Dr. M. had suggested it to them, and, in fact, ad-
 ministered it to  a hospital patient,—then, he would show some reasons
 for the pretensions which he has so unjustly set up.
   On the  14th of December, Dr. Morton  addressed a note to the gov-
 ernment of the hospital, presenting them the right to use his discovery
 in that institution, in answer  to which he received the following reply:—

                                             "Boston, Dec. 21,1846.
 Dr. W. T. G. Morton :
   Sir,—At a meeting of the Trustees of the Massachusetts General 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 importance of the right to use your discovery in the institu-
 tion under their control.
                 Your ob't servant,
                          MARCUS MORTON, Jr.,
                                    Secretary Mass. General Hospital."

   From  this  note it will  be seen that, at  the hospital, where the dis-
 covery was  first  made  available after Dr. Morton had tested its utility
 in his own practice, and where  the surgeons first heard the subject
 mentioned,  and so late as the 21st of December, nothing definite was
known of Dr. Jackson's claims, and no importance whatever attached to
them;  while Dr.  M. makes the tender of this discovery to the hospital
in his own  name, and receives the thanks of the Trustees for his boon. 
35
   But  I  will  now submit the  following extracts from Dr. Hayward's
paper, read before the Boston Society for Medical Improvement, April
12th, 1847 :—

  It is well  known  that surgeons  have, for a long time, sought to discover
means of lessening, in some degree, if they could not altogether prevent, the
pain of surgical operations ; but their efforts were unsuccessful, and the world
is indebted to individuals,  not strictly of the surgical  profession, for a discov-
ery that will do more than any other to lessen human suffering.   I believe I
am warranted in saying, that this remarkable  property of ether, when  taken
into the human system by  inhalation, of rendering surgical operations painless,
was discovered in this city, and that  the first successful application of it was
made here in September  last  by  Dr. Morton, a distinguished dentist  He ex-
tracted teeth from several  individuals, who were  made insensible  and uncon-
scious in this way, without any subsequent ill effects.
  It is understood that Dr. C. T. Jackson, well known by his great attainments
in geology and chemistry, first  suggested the use of the ether; but to Dr.
Mot ton, I think, must be awarded the credit of being the first  who demonstrated,
by actual experiment on the  humin subject, the existence  oj  this wonderful prop-
erly.  Having satisfied himself that teeth could be  extracted, without  pain,
from those who had previously inhaled  the ether, he was desirous of having it
tried on patients who were to undergo longer  and more severe surgical opera-
tions.  For this purpose, he applied, about the middle of October last, to have
it used at the Massachusetts General Hospital, and Dr. J. C. Warren, the at-
tending surgeon at the time, at once consented.
  The ether was  administered at the Hospital  by Dr. Morton, on the 16th of
October, to a man upon whom Dr. Warren was to operate for a tumor on the
face.   The effect, in this case, was not complete; the suffering, however, was
very much less  than it would  have been under ordinary circumstances, and
the result was, on the whole, so satisfactory, that a second trial was made on
the following day.
  The patient, to whom the  ether was  administered on the  17th  of October,
was a female with a fatty  tumor on  the arm, between  the shoulder and the
elbow.  At the request of  Dr. Warren, I did the operation.   The  patient was
insensible during the whole  time, and  was entirely unconscious.   The opera-
tion lasted about seven minutes, but could not be regarded as a very severe
one.
  These are the first surgical operations, except those of dentistry, that  were
ever performed on patients while under the influence of the ether.
  On the 1st of November,  I took charge of the surgical department of the
hospital, and, on the following day, in conversation with Dr. Warren, I stated
that I did not intend to allow the surgical patients to inhale this preparation of
Dr. Morton (for we were then ignorant of the precise  nature of it,) during my
period of service, unless all  the surgeons of the hospital were told what it was, 
36
and were satisfied of the safety of using it.  Dr. Warren agreed with me as
to the propriety of this course.
  On the 6th of November, Dr. Morton called at my house, and asked me if I
was willing to have his preparation inhaled by a patient whose limb I was to
amputate on the following day.  I told him of the conversation I had had with
Dr. Warren on the subject.  Dr. M. at once said  that he was ready to let us
know what the article was, and to give to the surgeons of the hospital the right
to use it there when they pleased. He added, that he would send me a letter,
in the course of the day, to this effect.  I requested him to address it to Dr.
Warren, as he was the senior surgeon, and told him that I would submit it to
my colleagues at a consultation to be held on the following morning.  He
wrote the letter accordingly; the subject was maturely considered by the sur-             ▼
geons, who were unanimously of opinion that the ether should be inhaled by
the individual who was to undergo the operation that day.

  The question has arisen to many why, if Dr. Jackson really had no
share in making the discovery, his name  has been joined with that of
Dr. M.  in  the letters patent, and  elsewhere.   This question, which has
been  often put,  and which few have heard  answered, is nevertheless
easily disposed of.
  As has been before stated in these pages, Dr. Morton had  been a stu-             ^
dent in Dr. Jackson's office, and boarded in his family;  so that he was
acquainted with  the  scientific attainments of the latter, and  his great
skill as a chemist.  When, therefore, Dr.  M. had perfected his discov-
ery, in order to  avail  himself of this  knowledge and  skill, and agreea-
bly to  the  advice  of  R.  H. Eddy,  Esq., and  others,  he  finally
consented to offer Dr.  J. a pecuniary interest in  it,  little dream-
ing that such an act would be equivalent to  a felo de se,—at least, if
his new associate in the  discovery should succeed in his plans.                     N
  Some time after this,—and on the  16th  of  November, I think,—Dr.
Jackson had an interview with Mr. Eddy, accepted ten per centum of
the net sales, and pledged himself, in the presence  of several  persons,
not to send to Paris certain letters by the steamer to sail that  day—let-
ters which he had with him, and which he had threatened  to dispatch
unless this compromise  was  effected.   In the sequel, it appears how
well he kept this promise; for the February  steamer brought  back pa-
pers containing one of these letters, dated  prior to the interview above,
or on the 13th November, it having been laid before the Academie des
Sciences, and subsequently published  in  the  Compte  Rendu.  This
may be set down as the first breach of good faith.
  The second is of a more reprehensible  nature, but is not altogether
chargeable to Dr. Jackson.   As  I  have said, the February steamer 
37
brought back this and other publications of his, in which he lays claim
to all the honor of the new discovery.  Of course, the scientific part of
this community, and particularly our surgeons, were thunderstruck at
such astonishing audacity ; and we can only conceive of Dr. Morton's
surprise at such a course, after he had consented to give Dr. Jackson a
pecuniary interest in his discovery !   But no one—I believe I am jus-
tified in saying—was more astonished, than Dr. J. himself, thus to find
the whole credit of bestowing so great a blessing upon the world ac-
corded  to him.   And how was this  brought about?   Fortunately, we
have, as I am informed, the authority of  Dr. J. himself for the truth of
the  answer  I give to this  query.   If I am incorrect, let him refute or
deny it.  The letters above referred to, in which Dr.  Morton's name is
either not mentioned at all or only casually, originally conceded a part,
at least,  of the  credit  due him; but,  before they were  read to the
Academie des Sciences, and finally published, the person who had them
 in charge, M. Elie de Beaumont, was instructed to say as little of Dr.
 Morton's claims as possible.   Accordingly, before they were read to the
 Academie,  that  distinguished savan (who had  received  these  letters
 several weeks prior to this time,) struck out Dr.  M.'s name entirely,
 and all allusion to his claims !  This, of course, made Dr. Jackson sole
 discoverer; and the whole French  press, for a  time, united in  saying
 that all future ages must, for this great boon, pronounce with honor the
 name of "  Jackson."
   Well,  in due time, this unexpected piece of good fortune was  wafted
 across  the  Atlantic, and, finally, reached Dr. Jackson.  But what did
 he do on hearing of this extraordinary injustice ?  Repudiate it, as  he
 had before done the use  of the vapor of ether 1  By no means; but,
 fearing an  exposure, and  justly dreading the reproaches of his  former
 student  and unwilling to retreat from this  false and accidental posi-
 tion, he sent his attorney, F. B. Hayes, Esq., to  open negotiations
  with Dr. Morton anew, for an adjustment of  all the difficulties.  This
  was the  last week in February.   True  to  his orders, Mr.  Hayes saw
  Dr. M.; assured him of their wish  to accommodate matters; had fre-
  quent  interviews with  him; and all  the while  pretending the greatest
  friendship  for him,  and  the sincerest  regret at the misunderstanding
  that had arisen!  This continued through the week, and up to Satur-
  day night, the steamer sailing the next  Monday.  On Sunday, Dr. Mor-
  ton, at the request of  Mr. Hayes, called on Dr. Jackson ; and, during
  their interview, they had considerable conversation on the subject then,
  as now, engrossing much of their attention:  when  Dr. J. remarked, 
                                38

 " Well, I have prepared an  article, to appear in  the Daily Advertiser
 to-morrow morning, which will satisfy you, and set the matter for ever
 at rest;"—or words to this effect.  Dr. M. asked to see a copy, but,
 being refused, he impatiently waited for the forthcoming paper, which
 was thus to settle his claims for ever.  The morning came; the Adver-
 tiser was procured; and the article, which was to make or mar his fu-
 ture fame, hastily perused.   And then it was that  the whole scheme of
 duplicity practised on  him flashed upon  his  mind.   He at once saw
 that he had been duped, and made the victim of  a trick, the enormity
 of which others must define.  He saw that all this pretended desire to
 settle the  difficulties was only to gain time to prepare this paper, and
 to prevent him, Dr. M., from drawing up, and forwarding by the steamer
 of the 1st of March, such  a statement as would expose Dr. Jackson's
 unjust claims.   And how well he succeeded has been already shown
 in a  paper, under the  signature of " E. W.," published  in the Daily
 Advertiser of the 5th of March.
  But this was too  late to  counteract the influence of the unfair and
 unwarrantable document thus dispatched  to Europe—carrying, as has
 been  already elsewhere shown, the  implied  approval and  endorsement           >
 of the American Academy, and  of the names of  two of our most dis-
 tinguished citizens.*  And this paper was drawn up principally by Dr.
 Jackson,  as Mr. Hayes  himself admitted, during the very time Dr.
 Morton was kept in town from his family, who were sick in the coun-
 try,  while Dr.  J. was pretending the greatest anxiety to adjust  all
 difficulties, and while Dr. Morton honestly supposed that  there was to
 be an end to  the troubles which he has ever  shown the strongest pos-
 sible disposition to accommodate.                                             \
  But, in the face of all  this, Mr. Hayes addressed Dr. Morton a note
 the same day this deception was thus  made manifest, inviting Dr. M.
 to call at his office, or to name  an  hour  when he would  be at home.
 Towards evening, he came in, and endeavored to  explain away the
 ruse that  had been  apparently played upon Dr. M., but to no purpose,
 Dr. M. having, in the mean time,  been advised to hold no more in-
 tercourse with him on the subject.
  And thus things remained until  about a  week  before the sailing of
the April steamer, when the friends of both parties made another at-
tempt to arrange matters.  At the  request of  Mr.  Hayes,  by note, Dr.
Gould called on  him  at his office, when the importance of an adjust-
ment, and the probability of effecting it, were conversed upon.  It was
* See Appendix, C. 
39
thought that a statement might be drawn up which both could sign, and
the basis of such a statement was arranged.  It was also  agreed that
Dr. G.  should  write  what he  regarded as a correct  history, and Mr.
Hayes promised that he would cause the same to be done immediately
on  his  part; and that  from these  papers a final statement should be
derived.  In order  to  be  ready  on  his  part,  Dr.  Gould  spent
the  greater  part  of  the  night  preparing  his  paper,  Mr.  Hayes
having promised to have his completed by the next morning.  The time
came, but not so Dr. Jackson's  attorney, Mr. Hayes.   Neither did he
nor his paper afterwards make their appearance.  On the other hand,
Dr. G.  submitted his paper to Mr.  Hayes, to Dr. Jackson, and two or
three of his friends, none of whom  made any material objection to the
statement, but  thought, with a few  alterations, it would answer.  Dr.
Morton expressed the  same  opinion.   But, though the effort was in-
vited on the part of Dr. J., no reciprocal  attempt whatever was made
for its  success.   And  thus was a  second attempt  made,  on the part
of Dr. J., to blind Dr. Morton and his friends, in order that they should
send out no refutation  to the unjust and  unfair  statements Dr. Jack-
son had  made in  Paris and elsewhere.
   But  all these efforts on the part of Dr. Morton and his friend, as
well  as the friends of both parties, failing, Dr.  Morton might have well
been excused from another attempt  at an arrangement of these difficul-
ties.   Nevertheless, he was willing  to  make one  more trial, and deter-
mined, this time, to appeal directly to Dr. Jackson himself.  Accordingly
 he wrote and addressed to Dr. J. the following note :—

" Charles T. Jackson,  M. D.:
   Dear Sir,—Being desirous that the misunderstanding  between us, as to the
 discovery of the fact that  sulphuric ether will produce insensibility to pain,
 may be speedily and satisfactorily  adjusted, 1 now propose  to you to refer the
 whole matter to some disinterested umpire, before whom all the testimony on
both  sides as to the matter in controversy shall be  submitted, and whose de-
 cision shall be perpetually binding to both parties.
   An answer to this proposition, made with the anxious desire for a full set-
 tlement of our difficulties, is expected to-day, or early Monday morning.
                   Respectfully,
                                Your obedient servant,
                                              W. T. G. MORTON.
  '  Saturday, March 27, 1847."
    To this note, Dr. Jackson called on Sunday at Dr. Morton's rooms,
 and left the subjoined reply :— 
40
                                            "Boston, March 28, 1847.
 W. T. G. Morton, Esq.:
   Last evening, I received your note of yesterday, and now reply that it will
 be as agreeable to me as it can be to you to avoid any further dispute as to the
 claims of you and myself in the discovery of the application of sulphuric ether
 by inhalation to surgical purposes.
   All I require is impartial justice, and therefore I cheerfully accept your prop-
 osition to refer the question to a suitable umpire.
                          Respectfully,
                                                C. T. JACKSON."

   Highly gratified with this new and favorable aspect of the case, Dr.           ^
 Morton lost no time in expressing the pleasure  he experienced from the
 foregoing note,  and he immediately returned the following :—

                                            " Boston, March 29, 1847.
 C. T. Jackson, M. D. :
   Dear Sir,—Your note  of the 28th  inst., accepting my proposition to refer
 our difficulties to  a disinterested umpire, has this moment come to hand, and I
 hasten to express my satisfaction at this favorable feature in the controversy.
   It only remains for us to select the person or persons  to whom the matter in            ^
debate shall be referred.  If we can agree—and I trust we can—upon some one
 gentleman, I  shall be perfectly satisfied;  or, if not, then you  may select one
 person or two, as you prefer, and I will do the same, leaving  them to choose
another,—whose decision shall be forever binding.   Please inform me what is
 your choice in the matter, and oblige,
                  Most respectfully,
                             Your obedient servant,
                                              W.  T. G. MORTON."             ^

   This was dated, let  it be observed, on the  29th of March,  and the
 steamer was to sail on  the 1st of April, which  made it desirable to Dr.
 Morton that all  the conditions should be settled, and the matter fully
 referred, before that time.  He, therefore, with past experience in view
 and the " Punic faith" of his opponents before  him, waited impatiently
 for an answer.  But again he  waited  in vain, and the steamer sailed.
 During the  month of April, Dr. Jackson said, more than once, that the
 whole matter was in  course of adjustment,  and he said  this in such a
 way as that Dr.  Morton should hear of it, and  be led thereby, we must
 presume, to infer that things could still be amicably arranged, although
 he neither saw nor heard  directly from Dr.  J.  all  this time.  But the
 May steamer having sailed, and there being  no immediate opportunity 
41
to send to Europe, Dr. J.'s claims having meanwhile had time to be fully
known and established,  he thought it safe to write the following note,
to wit:—
                                           "Boston, May 3, 1847.
Mr. W. T. G. Morton:
  Sir,—I have lately received a pamphlet, entitled, " Some Account of the Le-
theon," &c, published, as I am informed, by your consent, and Would  now
inform you that, by this procedure, and especially by the publication  of such a
pamphlet, you have absolved  me from  all obligations to submit our relative
claims upon the subject to an arbitration, as was formerly agreed upon be-
tween us.
                    Your obedient servant,
                                      CHARLES T. JACKSON."

   And  thus,  Dr. Jackson  having gained the time  he required, and
accomplished his ends  by the delay, all hopes of a compromise, from
which so much had been expected, at once vanished into thin air.  Noth-
ing is now left for Dr. Morton but to present his claims fairly and justly
before the public, trusting  that their sense of justice will award him
the credit that is his due.   And here it may be asked why Dr. Morton
has manifested so strong a desire  to refer the  dispute to a third party.
To this  I reply, that many persons,  on whose judgment he could rely,
strongly urged him to pursue such a course, as being perfectly fair, and
as the best means of drawing out all  the facts in the case.   Having
nothing to suppress  in  the matter, and  only desirous the whole truth
should be known,  he was  always ready to pursue  such a course as
ought to be  satisfactory to  Dr. Jackson,  and convince the public that
he was not unwilling to have  his  claims  thoroughly investigated.   He
has now, as all must admit, shown the strongest disposition to pursue
a just and honorable course in  endeavoring to adjust this unfortunate
 misunderstanding; and  if he and  his friends have been thwarted in the
 matter,  the public should blame others and not them.
    To several communications, setting forth,  as the  writer was  able,
 some  of Dr.  M.'s claims,  Dr.  Jackson  has  contented  himself with a
 simple denial, promising to bring forward the proof of their error; but
 up to this time,  on this subject, he has observed a " masterly inactiv-
 ity."  If, however, he has such proofs as  will overthrow all other claim-
 ants, especially Dr. Morton, why  are they not produced?  The public
 have a right to expect  and  ought to see them, and I would here, as I
 have elsewhere,  demand their publication,  feeling that,  as he has pro-
 nounced my statements  " malicious misrepresentations," and as he avers
              6 
42
 that he has the evidence  to prove them such, I have a right to make
 such a demand, and that  he cannot with propriety refuse to exhibit  it.
   One statement which Dr. J. controverts, and which he deems mate-
 rial to his cause, is,  that Dr. Morton went of his own  accord to the
 surgeons of the Hospital for permission to give his "preparation" to a
 patient about to submit to an operation.   And as this is a point of some
 moment, I shall be pardoned in submitting the subjoined notes,  going,
 as they do, to set this matter entirely at rest.   The first bears date only
 tyvo weeks after the discovery  was made, and  about the same time be-
 fore Dr.  Jackson's opposition to the discovery ceased, and, of course,
 cannot be supposed to have originated with any suggestions of his. Or,
 if he did, as he states on  several occasions, suggest such  a  step,  was it
 not a strange way to effect his object first to ask Dr. Warren to request
 Dr. Heywood to invite Dr. Morton, whom he claims to have been under
 his direction, to be present  at the  Hospital and administer his prepara-
 tion to a patient!   This note is as follows :—

  " Dear 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, and to adminis-
 ter, 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. HEYWOOD,
                 House Surgeon of Mass. Gen. Hospital, Oct. 14, 1846.
 Dr. Morton, Tremonl Row."

  Other  similar notes were  addressed to Dr.  Morton, but  I will only
 submit another, which was  written in December, and which  goes to
 show  where the surgeons placed  the credit  of the  discovery at  that
 time.   The subjoined is a copy :—

  " 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. HEYWOOD,
 _  „       „,                    Mass. Gen. Hospital, Dec  11  184fi
Dr. Morton, Tremont  Row."                    F   '       '   4b#

  And here, as evidence bearing  upon this  subject, I cannot  resist
giving two other notes which go to prove that, at the time of their date, 
43
Dr. Morton was considered by the writers not only the true discoverer,
but the person who was  alone to be consulted by those who wished to
avail themselves of its application.  And, furthermore, one of them cer-
tainly clearly shows that Dr. Morton was not under Dr. Jackson's direc-
tions, and did not go to  the Hospital by his advice, as he states.
   The first of these is from Dr. Brown, and was addressed to Dr. War-
ren, whose influence with Dr.  Morton was solicited to gain permission
to use his preparation in the Orthopedic  Institution :—

  " Dear Doctor :—I wish Dr. Morton  to give the privilege of using his
preparation to the Orthopedic Institution.  My operations are not severe, and
I shall have no great use for it; but still I should like to have his consent to use
it, and 1 think it would  be to his credit to give it.  1 shall give notice of the
gift.  My institution is almost a charitable one.  Nearly half my patients are
charity patients, and I have few or none who could afford to pay for the prep-
aration.
                           Yours truly,
                                                  J. B. BROWN."

   This note, with the one following,  was sent to Dr. Morton by Dr. J.
C. Warrren :—

" Dr. Morton :
   Dear Sir,—I enclose 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, Dec.  11,  1846."

   And here I may be permitted to express the belief that the foregoing
evidence, as to the question, who introduced the use of  the ether into
the Hospital and to the world, will be a sufficiently conclusive refuta-
tion of Dr. Jackson's statements, that Dr. Morton acted under his direc-
tion in bringing out  the discovery, and that he caused the matter to be
 made known, not only to the Hospital, but, by means of Dr. Morton, to
 the public  generally.   This evidence will also  be a sufficient reply to
 Dr. Jackson's statement before me,  that " Mr. Morton was associated
 with me as joint-inventor on account  of his  having performed the ex-
periments directed by me, and having made some modifications in the
  apparatus."
    And, as to this  statement, I will  only  add,  that, for  Dr. Jackson's 
44
cause, it certainly proves too much.  For how can I make oath that the
agent I employ to carry out the details of my invention is a co-discov-
erer ?   Or, with still  more pertinency, I inquire how that person is a
" joint-inventor" with me, in one thing, who makes some modifications
in something else quite different?  This looseness of expression savors
very little of that  scientific exactness which  a man of Dr. J.' s celebrity
ought to observe.
  In  the  former part of  this paper, I have glanced at the reasons why
Dr. Morton consented to have Dr. Jackson joined with him in the Let-
ters  Patent, or elsewhere.  But I now feel  at  liberty to make some
statements on this subject which may further elucidate the  matter.
  When Mr.  Eddy was  applied to by Dr. M.  to assist in procuring a
patent, having heard from Dr.  Jackson and his  family all that he knew
respecting Dr. J.'s claims, and  believing, from their statements, that
Dr. Morton had been  assisted in his discovery,  he induced the latter to
associate Dr.  J. with him, assuring him that he  could not otherwise pro-
cure a patent.   In this  Mr. Eddy acted conscientiously :  but he was,
as a subsequent examination soon convinced him, under erroneous im-
pressions.  At  that time,  but  little importance  was attached to Dr.
Morton's discovery, and Mr.  Eddy, as did several  others, advised Dr.
M. to concede something to Dr. J. in order to gain his cooperation and
advice in giving it to the world under as favorable auspices as possi-
ble,—thereby  insuring its success,  so far  as  could be  done.   And
another reason that induced Mr.  Eddy to give Dr. M. this advice was,
solely to gain some share  of the credit and emoluments arising from the
discovery to Dr. Jackson.   But he has since, I believe I am fully war-
ranted in saying,  entirely  changed  his views,  and now acknowledges
that  he had been misinformed as to Dr. Jackson's having any thing  to
do in  making the  discovery,  more than many others.   Indeed, I feel
confident that, were Mr. Eddy to publish what he knows of this matter,
it would not only  settle  the relative merits of the two claimants, but
place the claims  of the real discoverer beyond any chance of dispute.
No one is so thoroughly  conversant with all the bearings of this ques-
tion as he, and no one has  it so completely in his power to give  a full,
satisfactory, and convincing history of the matter in controversy.  And
could he deem it consistent with his  duty, at this stage of the investi-
gation, to publish a full account of the matter,  the  public would cer-
tainly be under lasting obligations to him.   Such a history, joined with
the testimony of Caleb Eddy, Esq., would, I think, place  the credit of
the discovery  where  it belongs,  and settle the question, " Who is the
discoverer," beyond a doubt. 
45
  But there are many other persons familiar with the origin and prog-
ress of the discovery, almost any one of whom could, were they ready
to state all they are cognizant of, convince the public mind, and termi-
nate the dispute.  Are they not called upon to speak out plainly on the
subject at this juncture, when  the question is up, and  while the facts
are full  in  their minds ?  As I have  before said, without doubt, Dr.
Morton is ready for, and will  abide by, this decision.  He has ever
shown a  disposition  to accommodate  matters, while his opponent, as
appears by the foregoing correspondence, is unwilling to trust his cause
but  to  those  who  know nothing of his claims, aside  from what they
gather from his own statements; and these, through  the ardent  temper-
ament of Dr.  J., may sometimes be a little colored,—not to say, as he
has of mine, that they are " malicious misrepresentations."
   But, before  closing this account, I will adduce the testimony of Dr.
Jacob Bigelow,  as I have  already done that of several other  eminent
surgeons, to show  who was deemed to be the discoverer, and the sole
 discoverer, so late  as  November 28, 1846,—two months after the dis-
 covery was announced.  This gentleman, too widely and too favorably
 known to need any  encomium  from me, in a letter of the above date
 on this subject to  his  friend Dr. F. Boott, of London, says, " The in-
 ventor is Dr. Morton, a dentist of this city ; and the process consists
 of the inhalation  of ether to the point of intoxication."  Is not this
 explicit  and  conclusive ? or will it be said  that Dr. Bigelow,  notwith-
 standing he was, like the gentlemen above alluded to, perfectly conver-
 sant with the whole matter, is yet not a competent witness ?  And will
 Dr. Jackson  undertake to invalidate the testimony of all the  high au-
 thorities I have cited  by his single ipse dixit, and without a word by
 way of corroboration ?  If he does, he will need a more potent agent,
 even than " Aladdin's Lamp,"  to give him success,—great as  that suc-
 cess was in Paris,  before others appeared to overthrow it.
    If the  foregoing  statements  do not satisfy the public, and  even Dr.
  Jackson's friends themselves, then would they not be convinced, though
  one should rise from  the  tomb and  proclaim Dr. Morton the discov-
  erer,—even from that tomb into which Dr. Flagg and his  companions
  have so untimely hurried scores of Dr. Morton's patients !
    And here  I would say, that I should not be doing justice to my own
  feelings, nor properly representing this matter to the public, not to give
  all  credit to those from whom Dr. Morton has received important aid
  and  advice  in bringing his discovery  before the world.  In the earlier
  part of these pages, allusion has been already made to the important 
46
 assistance rendered  by Drs. J. C. Warren, Geo. Hayward, arid J. Ma-
 sdn Warren ;  and it now remains for me to advert to the other names
 which, equally with those just given, will be remembered with gratitude
 and respect, so long  as human suffering remains to be assuaged.
   And, amongst those  to whom Dr. Morton and the public are greatly
 indebted in  this way, stands Dr. Augustus A. Gould.  He clearly per-
 ceived, from the first, its vast importance to mankind, and was a zealous
 advocate for its employment.   About three weeks after the first suc-
 cessful experiment, on  the 30th of September, and on the evening pre-
 ceding the  first operation  at  the Hospital, Dr. Gould suggested, in a
 conversation with  Dr.  Morton on the  subject, the application of the
 system of valves to the  inhaling apparatus which was employed on that
 occasion, and  has ever since been used  in this country and in Europe.
 Being thus  concerned  in the invention, and learning that Mr. Cham-
 berlain, of School Street,  was claiming to have devised this arrange-
 ment,  he consented  that  his  name should be associated with that of
 Dr. M. in the specifications to the Letters Patent; and this for the sole
 purpose of securing  the rights of Dr. M., and for no other considera-
 tion.
   To Dr. Henry J. Bigelow, also, must be awarded the credit of being
 one  of the earliest friends  and promoters of this great blessing.   His
 paper, which was read, Nov.  9,  1846, before the  Boston Society of
 Medical Improvement,  being the first authentic announcement of this
 discovery ever published, does him credit for great foresight,*  as well
 as for a talent for scientific  inquiry and investigation.  When we con-
 sider with what  reluctance professional men espouse a new, untried,
 and  somewhat  doubtful cause, and reflect  upon  the odium which is
 generally thrown upon new discoveries, (which, from the first, has been
 heaped with an  unsparing hand  upon this,) we are constrained to admit
 that  he  has  no ordinary share  of fearlessness and independence.   In-
 deed, it has ever  been a matter of surprise to me that, so early in the
 history of this discovery, Dr. Bigelow had the courage to publish such
 a  paper, when even  now,—as  in the case of the  Medical Faculty of
 Philadelphia,—many still oppose it.  And it is equally surprising that,
 at so early a period, he could have grasped the matter so clearly, as that
 the types of almost all subsequent  cases are found in his report.   That
 one,  taking this bold stand in favor of the ether vapor, should come in
 for a liberal share of  the abuse of Dr. Flagg, and the other guardians
  * Dr. Bigelow, immediately after witnessing the first operation at which he was present, on
meeting  another physician, and speaking of what he had just observed, exclaimed, with
much emphasis and animation,« 7 have seen something to-day that will go round the world!" 
47
of the public  health  and safety  here and elsewhere, is only a natural
consequence.  Indeed,  when these  envious,  querulous people  pro-
nounce  against  an individual, or a measure, it is the strongest prima
facie evidence that  this particular  individual, or measure,  is right.
These men, who  oppose every thing that comes up of utility because
they  had  no voice in the matter, or were not consulted,—such men
take  the opposite side, from instinct and from a constitutional tendency
to the wrong,  and forcibly illustrate the doctrine of natural depravity.
They gravitate  downwards,  according to a law of their  nature.  But
fortunately,  as amongst the lower  animals,  so  with men, those who
make the loudest outcry  do the least harm :  the one  brays,  but bites
not,  while the other deafens you with his loud threatenings, which no
 one regards.*
   To Drs. S.  D.  Townsend,  C. F.  Heywood, and  O. W.  Holmes,
 likewise,  as well as to many others, and indeed to the whole medical
 profession,—with a  very few  exceptions,—is  Dr. Morton  suitably
 grateful for that uniform  kindness and  countenance which they have
 courteously shown him throughout, and which  have  incited  him to
 persevere amid the discouragements and  abuse of the dental profession,
 which the meanest of all the passions,  envy,  has arrayed against him.
 And, whatever may be the result of the efforts of a distinguished scien-
 tific gentleman, backed by the prestige of a wide-spread fame, to rob
 Dr.  M. of the honor of his great discovery, he will not, in any case, I
 trust, be forgetful of the high obligations  he is  under to those  who have
 so kindly and unwaveringly  lent him their advice, encouragement, and
 support.
    And, in contradistinction  to the noble course pursued by the Profes-
 sion to which he does not belong, I  cannot refrain from mentioning the
  ignoble course of the Profession of which he is a member;—a member,
  too, of good  standing, his certificates  from Dr. N. C.  Keep,  Dr. Jack-
  son,t and others, and the fact that he has recently been a partner of Dr.
  K. and antecedently to that, of Dr. Horace Wells also, being a sufficient
  proof.   I have already several  times adverted to the fierce  and bitter
  assaults that were made upon him and his discovery at its  first promul-
  gation ; and  I have now only to allude to a species of contemptible
  and petty annoyance, to which his (no longer open) enemies have since
    * Since writing the encomium on the 27th page, et passim, I am happy to learn, as I do on
  the very highest authority, that some of those, at least, who signed Dr. Flagg's manifesto, ex-
  tremely regret taking the hasty step, into which they were hurried, almost without reflecUon,
  by their seniors in years and in their profession.
                             t See Appendix, D. 
48
resorted, to malign and injure  Dr. Morton.  Overt acts and open as-
saults failing to silence Dr. M. or to kill his discovery, and finding that,
out of evil intentions, good was  educed,  they determined  to  change
their mode of warfare,
                 " And out of good still to find means of evil,
                  Which oft-times may succeed :"
therefore,
                          ■ " our better part remains
                  To work, in close design, by fraud or guile,
                  What force effected not."

  They now commenced  sending anonymous  letters,  circulating vil-
lanous libels, and resorting to such means of accomplishing secretly
what could not be done openly.   If  a  stranger inquired for Dr. Mor-
ton's  office, they would pretend not  to  know such a person.  " Dr.
Morton—Dr. Morton?" they would say :  " We don't know any Doctor
Morton;" and then, perhaps, recall the different persons of that name
whom they recollected, taking care not to  give  the one desired.  But,
on being questioned as to the Dr. Morton who discovered  the new prop-
erty of ether, they would  exclaim, " O yes; there is a Mr. Morton, in
Tremont Row somewhere, who lays claim to that honor,  but who  had
no more to do with making it than you or I."  This is an actual fact,
and there are many more like it that  could be given.  And it was the
same spirit that dictated the  contemptible anonymous communication
published  in the  Medical and Surgical Journal of May 12th, over the
signature of " A.," in  which,  although compelled to place the credit
where it belongs,  yet he says  it  is thus " due undoubtedly to Dr.  M's
talent of recklessness;"—"the  same credit is  due to him that should
be awarded to another distinguished  quack," &.c.;—" reckless quacks
have done considerable, in all ages, to advance the science of medi-
cine and surgery;"  and  like  passages.   Now,  if Dr.  Morton is a
" quack," as he is here styled, or a " mountebank,"  as he is named by
some other vilifier, then are all other dentists quacks and mountebanks ;
then have Dr. Keep and Dr. Wells been the associates and partners of
a quack  and mountebank, and  Dr. Jackson has endorsed his pseudo-
pretensions  in giving him a certificate.  The truth is, Dr. M., having
studied dentistry with the two first-named----" quacks," (according
to this interpretation,) and the science of medicine with Dr. Jackson,
they are all either guilty of educating  and countenancing a quack, or
are themselves equally entitled to that cognomen.  But as this is a nice
point,  and " doctors  may  disagree"  about it,  I will not undertake to 
49
decide.   I  may here say, however, that mean,  indeed, must be the
spirit that is unwilling to bestow upon " Mr." Morton the title of Doc-
tor,—the cheapest, poorest, and most easily obtained of all titled wares,
and  ordinarily  conferred  upon the veriest driveller who ever mixed a
dose of calomel  and jalap, and never before, to my knowledge, denied
to the most humble, unless, perchance, he attained to some distinction
by which the hatred or  envy of the " doctors"  par excellence was ex-
cited.  Then, instead of bestowing the  title that every ass may wear
by sitting half  an hour in any apothecary's shop and imbibing its pe-
culiar  airs, their paucity can afford  only  the  opprobrious  prefix of
" Mister."
   These little attempts to annoy, although they show the quality of the
spirits whence they  emanate, do not in the least answer their desired
end, only in so far as they injure the business and reputation of the per-
son at whom they are aimed.  Undoubtedly, when the winds, which such
traducers are now letting loose, have done their utmost upon the head
of him whom they were untied to destroy, they will return to complete
the  shame and overthrow of those who gave them liberty.   He who
sows the wind will  reap the whirlwind.
   And before  leaving  this subject, I ought to say that I  am aware I
may seem to have dwelt too long on this matter ;  but the public cannot
be aware of the immense  injury these repeated attempts upon Dr. Mor-
ton's reputation and business have  really  done  him.  As a proof of
this, however,  the manifesto put forth by  Dr.  Flagg, and others, has
been circulated all over this  country, and has absolutely prevented Dr.
M.  from making sales enough to meet the expenses of bringing out his
discovery and getting up  the  apparatus, besides  frightening  away  his
patients, so that his business, for some time, fell off to an alarming ex-
tent.  This manifesto has been  broadcast, as it were, insomuch that,
wherever Dr.  M.'s  agents went, they  met with, and had to contend
against, its exaggerated and alarming statements.  In many, very many
places, these agents were insulted for daring to offer this " humbug,"
this poison,  this bane  of mankind,—and the result was  that, out of
more  than  twenty agents who have been  sent out, only two or three
have failed to bring him in  debt.   This is a matter of fact.   And had
 not this manifesto,—bearing so many names distinguished in the dental
 profession,—been issued, nor the other opposition from the same quar-
 ter  made, or had  Dr.  Jackson ever raised his voice in defence of his
 discovery, I do not hesitate  to say that, at the lowest estimate, Dr. M.
 would have  cleared hundreds of thousands of dollars for the gift of a
              7 
50
boon, at least, as valuable to man as the jEolian attachment, the addi-
tion of a new globe to our solar system, and last, though by no means
least, gun-cotton !  And what has been gained to Dr. Morton's oppos-
ers, by their  attempts to prevent  his discovery from coming into gen-
eral use ?  What, by  their endeavors to throw doubt and discredit upon
this discovery, and to invalidate his Letters Patent ?  Why, simply the
right (or rather wrong,) to  use the ether in their practice without pay-
ing for  it.  It now appears, that they were not fighting pro bono pub-
lico, but contra  bonum publicum, and for their individual good.   This
seems to be  all they  aimed at, whatever  more they may have done.
And here I must leave these disinterested " doctors," where Mr. Webster
left one of the same envious genus,—to their own company !

  The following extracts  are too curious to  withhold.   The first  is
from a communication made to the Journal of Commerce, by Dr. E. E.
Marcy, in December :—

  " During the same month, (October, 1844,) the writer of the present article,
while witnessing the experiments of the gas, suggested  to Dr. Wells the use
of the sulphuric ether as a substitute for the nitrous oxide gas.  Being familiar
with the effects of both these agents, and knowing that their operations upon
the system were analogous, I first urged upon him the  use of the sulphuric
ether, as being equally  efficacious and less troublesome to prepare.   Upon re-
flection, and a more full discussion of the matter, I advised Mr. Wells to aban-
don the use of  the ether and confine himself to the exhilarating gas."

   In another  communication, of January 8, made to the.same paper, Dr.
Marcy says, " One fact is incontrovertible, viz:—that inhalation of the
vapor of the rectified sulphuric ether, for preventing the pain of surgi-
cal operations,  was suggested to Mr. Wells by the writer of this article
more than two  years since."
   In the first article  quoted from, Dr. Marcy also says, " In the month
of  October, 1844, a  dentist of  Hartford, Ct., Horace Wells,  Esq., first
made use of inhalations of the nitrous oxide gas in extracting teeth."
And from these premises, he makes the following deductions, viz :—

   " 1st.  The discovery of the inhalation of a gas, which would prevent pain
during surgical operations, was first made by Mr.  Wells, of Hartford, Ct., in
 October, 1844.
   2d. That the use of the vapor of sulphuric ether was suggested to him a short
 time afterwards, and that its properties, as well as those  of the gas, were, at
 that time, fully discussed and appreciated. 
51
  3d. Simple justice should induce the public to give the credit of these discov-
eries to the men who first made known and demonstrated to the world that the
inhalation of a gaseous substance would render the body insensible to the pain
of surgical operations."

  From the foregoing, it appears that Dr.  Marcy is preparing the way
to announce  his own  claims  to the discovery in question!   I had be-
fore given him the credit of disinterestedness, but I now see the object
which he has in view :  He is to establish Dr. Wells's claims, thus shut-
ting out all  others, and then to come in himself for the honor, by rea-
son of having suggested the use  of  ether  to  Dr. Wells, thus pushing
the latter aside.  This accounts, also, for his  having  taken so much
pains to settle, in advance, the principle on which alone Dr. Jackson's
pretensions are based,  by withholding  all the credit from Morton, on
the assumption that the former made the suggestion to  the latter ;  for,
this principle settled in his favor, and  Dr. Wells admitted to stand in
the same  relation to him that  Dr. Morton—according to his version—
does to Dr. Jackson, and it becomes an easy matter for him to apply it
to his secondary,  in  the same way he has already applied it to Dr. M.,
and thus  carry off the palm of being the sole discoverer!
   And, apropos to the foregoing, I cannot refrain from giving the most
curious specimen of medico-legal  special pleading I have  ever  come
across.   An  affidavit,  made  and  sworn to by Dr. Marcy, for the pur-
pose  of establishing his protege—Wells's—protoxide  claims, has the
following deductions and reasonings from the premises he  had  before
laid down.  " In conclusion," says he,  " I beg leave to offer it as my
opinion,(!) that the man who first discovered the fact, that  the inhala-
tion of a gaseous substance  would  render the body insensible to  pain
during  surgical operations, should be entitled to  all the  credit or emolu-
ment which  may accrue from  the  use of any  substances of this nature.
This is the principle—this is the fact—this is the discovery."   The
italics are Dr. Marcy's, and the passage will speak for itself,—although
it is not a full endorsement of Dr. Wells's pretended  claim to great
disinterestedness in wishing to give his discovery to the public.
   Dr. Marcy likewise says, in this certificate or affidavit, " I gave it as
 my opinion,  that  nitrous oxide  gas was  the  safest, inasmuch as the
 after-effects of the gas are not so unpleasant as from the ether vapor."
 And both he and Dr. Wells always state the same preference.   How
 far they are correct in this, will  be seen by the passages I  have trans-
 lated below.
    Dr. Wells  lays  much stress upon an interview, in  1844, with Drs. 
52
Morton and Jackson, during which  he pretends to have made certain
suggestions, which led to the present discovery.  In  answer to this, I
will quote a passage from a letter of Dr. Jackson, now before me, and
which I received from  Dr.  J. while at Washington last January.  He
says, (and  I submit it for what it is worth,) " I  wish you to state in my
behalf to Mr.  Dixon, that Mr. Wells never said a  word  to me about
the use of sulphuric or  other ether vapor, nor ever  mentioned the word
' ether' in my presence."
  It is  known  that, while  in  Paris the past winter, Dr. Wells made a
communication to the Academie des Sciences, claiming  priority of dis-
covery in using sulphuric ether in surgery, although, at the same time,
he states  he had  used nitrous oxide gas, which he still prefers.  To
show how these claims were received by the Academie, I have translat-
ed the  account of their  proceedings thereon, which I beg leave  to
submit.

  "Acadtmie des Sciences—Sitting of Feb. 23d.   Dr. Wells, (of Hartford,
Ct., U. S.) addressed a communication to the  Acadimie  claiming  the priority
of the discovery of ether  vapor,  and its application to practical surgery.  He
had, he said, communicated to Drs. Jackson and Morton his experiments and
their results, who have, since that time, appropriated his idea.  In conclusion,
he says that it is no longer ether, but the protoxide of azote,  (exhilarating gas,)
which he employs to prevent pain.  M. Orfila does not believe that  this gas
can be used with impunity, instead of the vapor of ether; he believes himself
warranted  in concluding, in fine, from  the numerous  experiments made  by
Vauquelin,  by  Davy, and by himself, that this is a dangerous gas.  It other-
wise appears, that there has formerly been some question on this point.  M.
Geradin remembers that, fifteen or eighteen years ago, a letter was addressed
to the Acadtmie by  an  English physician, who pretended, by means of the  ni-
trous oxide gas,  to render patients insensible to pain.   Larrey alone did not
repel this communication with incredulity ; he promised to make some experi-
ments, which, doubtless,  did not succeed, for the subject  was not again agi-
tated."
Correspondence between the Surgeons  of the  Massachusetts
  General Hospital, and Caleb Eddy, Esq. and Mr. R. H. Eddy.

  Since writing the foregoing,  the  wish therein expressed has been
gratified;  and, by the kindness of Drs. Hayward, Townsend, Parkman,
and  Bigelow, surgeons of the Massachusetts General Hospital, I am
permitted to lay before the public the following correspondence between 
53
them, and Caleb Eddy, Esq. and Mr. R. H. Eddy.   As these communi-
cations will speak for themselves, I need not add any comments, but will
give them at once, merely expressing the pleasure  it affords me, thus to
be able to adduce a kind of testimony which cannot fail, as it seems to
me, to carry conviction to the minds of the  most incredulous.   This
correspondence affords me the means of corroborating  many of  my
foregoing statements.
  The subjoined is the letter from three of the surgeons,  Dr. Bigelow
having  addressed a separate  note  to the same  effect, which, therefore,
I will omit:—
                                               Boston, May 18,  1847.
Caleb Eddy and R. H. Eddy, Esqs.:
  Gentlemen,—The  undersigned,  having been informed that you are in pos-
session of important  information relative to the discovery of the new property
of sulphuric ether, and of its subsequent history, are desirous that you should,
at your earliest leisure, furnish them with such an account of the matter as
will elucidate so important a subject.
  They will thank you to state how the names of Dr. Charles T. Jackson and
Dr.  W. T. G. Morton became associated in the Letters Patent; what  share
each had, in  your opinion, in making the discovery ; and any other facts you
may choose to communicate tending to the same end.
                                     GEO. HAYWARD,
                                     S. D. TOWNSEND,
                                     SAMUEL PARKMAN,
                           Surgeons of the Massachusetts General Hospital.
                                              Boston, May 24, 1847.
To Drs. George Hayward,
                             Surgeons of the Mass.
                                   General Hospital:—
S. D. Townsend,
Samuel Parkman,
Henry J. Bigelow,
  Gentlemen,—Your  favors of May 18th and 20th, addressed to myself and
Mr. R. H. Eddy, have been received.   As I presume any  reply I may make
will be made public, I would take the occasion to remark, that, were it not that
there now seems no possibility of the controversy existing between Drs. W.
T. G. Morton and C. T. Jackson being settled by mutual arbitrament, owing to
the refusal of the latter to submit the same to a reference, I should feel an in-
disposition to make any relation of what came under my notice relative to the
discovery  in question.  I have no wish to  rob Dr. Jackson of any honor to
which he  may be properly entitled, and am governed by no interest further
than a desire that he to whom the world is really indebted for making the dis-
covery may receive that reward to which he is justly entitled. 
54
   On the evening of Friday, October 23, 1846, Dr. Charles T. Jackson visited
my house.  During the evening, I requested him to relate to me the particulars
of the new discovery for prevention of pain in surgical operations.   He stated
to me, that Dr. W. T. G. Morton called on  him near the latter part of last
month to obtain the loan of a gas-bag, which he said it was his intention to
use for the purpose of administering atmospheric air, or something else, to a
patient to quiet her fears in order that he might extract one of her teeth: that
he informed Dr. Morton that his  gas-bags were in the attic story of  his house,
and it would be attended with some  trouble to procure  them: that Dr. Mor-
ton stated  that he was desirous of  operating on the imagination of the person
in some such way as was said to have been practised on a criminal condemned
to death, viz.—by suffering warm water to trickle upon and from some wound-
ed or  lanced part of the body while the eyes of the person were bandaged.
Dr. Jackson stated, that he told Dr. Morton  that such  an experiment would
prove a failure, and he would be ridiculed for making it;  that he had better let
her breathe some ether, (if  he  could induce her to  inhale it,) which would
put her to sleep, and  then he could pull her tooth, and she could not help her-
self, or could not prevent him by  any  resistance: that Dr. Morton inquired  of
him as to the danger and mode of using it.   He replied to him, that he might
saturate a sponge or cloth with it, and  apply  it to her mouth or nose.  After
Dr. Jackson had related the above, I said to him,  " Dr.  Jackson, did you know
at such time, that, after a person had inhaled ether, and was asleep, his flesh
could be cut with a knife without his experiencing any pain ?"  He replied,
" No!  nor Morton  either: he is a reckless man for  using it as he has; the
chance is, he will kill somebody yet."  This is all, or nearly all, of any impor-
tance, that I now recollect in relation to the discovery, previous to the applica-
tion for the patent in which the names of Drs. Morton and Jackson were asso-
ciated.
              With respect, your obedient servant,
                                                      CALEB EDDY.

                 Commonwealth  of Massachusetts.
County of Suffolk, )
  City of Boston.  S

  Be it known, that, on this twenty-ninth day of May,  Anno Domini eighteen
hundred and forty-seven, before me, the undersigned, a notary public, within
and for said county and city, duly commissioned and sworn, came Caleb Eddy,
and made solemn oath that the foregoing statement, by him subscribed, is true.
The said Caleb Eddy is well known  to me as being one of the most respecta-
ble and trustworthy citizens of said Boston.
  In witness whereof, I  have hereunto set my hand and seal notarial.

                                   JOHN P. BIGELOW, Notary Public. 
55
                                                 Boston, May 22,1847.
To Drs. Geo. Hayward,    "\
        S. D. Townsend,    !  Surgeons of the Mass.
        Samuel Parkman,  j        General Hospital:—
        H. J. Bigelow,     J
   Gentlemen,—I have received your communications of the  18th and 20th
instant, in which you state that you have understood me to be " in possession
of important information relative to the discovery of the new property of sul-
phuric  ether, and of its subsequent history," and  are desirous that I should
" furnish such a statement of the matter  as will elucidate so important a sub-
ject ;"—also, " to  state how the names  of Drs. C. T.  Jackson  and W. T. G.
Morton became associated in the letters patent, and  what share each had, in
my opinion, in making the discovery."   " Also, any other  facts  I may choose
to communicate tending to the same end."
   The friendly relations which, for many years, have existed between myself
 and Dr. C. T. Jackson, have heretofore caused me to refrain from making
 known many facts in my possession in relation to the late discovery of the new
 effect of sulphuric ether.   The difficulties,  between him  and Dr. W. T. G.
 Morton, I hoped to see settled by an impartial reference,—one, where the evi-
 dence, produced by both parties, could be subjected to a  rigid  examination, in
 order that truth might be elicited,  and strict justice rendered  to whichever of
 those gentlemen such a tribunal should accord the chief merit of making the
 discovery.   I have  earnestly recommended Dr. Morton, whenever an oppor-
 tunity has presented, to induce Dr. Jackson to submit  the matter of the dis-
 covery to such a reference.  Accordingly, it was a cause of much gratification
 to me to learn, that  a  proposition  of  Dr. Morton to do so, had received the
 favorable consideration of Dr. Jackson.  I find,  however, my anticipations
 have  not been realized.  Dr. Jackson, after having consented to refer the case,
  and after delaying, a long time, to agree on a suitable umpire, has, as I learn,
  utterly refused to submit his claims to a just arbitration.   Under such circum-
  stances,  I feel it a duty to make known to you a few facts.  My business en-
  gagements prevent me from stating a particular history of much that has come
  under my observation in relation to  this matter.  I shall, therefore, endeavor
  to confine myself to a simple statement of what I was witness to, from the time
  I first heard of the discovery until a patent was applied for on it in this country.
    Within a few days of Sept. 30, 184G, I think the 1st of October, Dr. W. T.
  G. Morton  called on me at my  office, stated to me that he had made an im-
  portant discovery, by which he could extract teeth without pain, and desired
  to learn from me whether it could be secured by  a patent.  After replying to
  him that he must state the nature of it, before I could render  him any definite
  opinion, he informed me,  that  he used sulphuric ether, by administering it by
   inhalation in a state of vapor.  He mentioned, that he  had extracted a tooth
   without the patient being sensible  of the operation, and that, on awakening
   from the sleep into which he had been thrown, he was much  surprised to find
   his tooth drawn and lying on the  floor. 
56
   l stated to Dr. M. that, as to the patentability of the discovery, I had some
 doubts; but  that I would  consult the law, and the various legal decisions on
 the subject of patents, and advise him of the result.  After this, I saw Dr.
 Morton not more than once, I think, if once, until Wednesday, the 21st day of
 October.   In the mean  time, I had read  several articles  in  the  newspapers
 relative to  the experiments  performed  at the Massachusetts General Hospital,
 and had understood, from  Dr. Charles T. Jackson, that he had had some con-
 nection with Dr. Morton in making the discovery.  My reflections on the sub-
 ject led me to the belief, that a patent could  be obtained in this country, and,
 on the  21st  day of October,  Dr. Morton having called at my office, I so in-
 formed him.   I stated to him that, from what I had learned from Dr. Jackson,
 I considered  the discovery to be a joint one, and that the patent, if applied for,
 must be conjointly by him and Dr. Jackson.   In rendering such advice, I  was
 fully impressed with the belief, from the statements  of Dr.  Jackson, that he,
 Dr. J., had suggested to Dr. Morton the propriety of experimenting with ether,
 —that Dr. Morton, without the presence or further assistance of Dr. Jackson,
 had practically demonstrated the effect of ether  to annul pain.  Upon this I
 reasoned, that, had Dr. Morton kept the discovery secret, neither Dr. Jackson
 nor the world would  have known of the result; or,  in other words, had Dr.
 Morton not performed  the experiment  that  he  did, the  discovery  made
 could not have taken place;—also, that had not Dr. Jackson given  Dr. Morton
 the idea of using ether, neither Dr. Morton nor the world would have known
 of the discovery.  It  seemed  to  me to be a  clear case of joint invention or
 discovery.  Dr. Jackson had admitted  to me that he had never performed  a
 surgical operation of any kind on  a patient, under  the  influence of inhaled
 ether.
   In reply  to my remarks to Dr. Morton, he stated that  he did not know by
 what  right Dr. Jackson should  have any interest in the patent, as he (Dr.  M.)
 had an understanding with Dr. Jackson to fully remunerate him for any advice
 he might have rendered him.  In order to satisfy myself more fully as to the
 position of  Dr. Jackson in this discovery, and the understanding between him
 and Dr. Morton, I called at  the office of Dr. Jackson the next morning.  I can-
 not recollect the precise conversation which ensued at  this interview, but the
 substance of  it was, that Dr. Jackson informed me that, by  the laws of  the
 Massachusetts Medical Society, he would be prevented from joining with  Dr.
 Morton in taking out a  patent, as he would be expelled from the association if
he did so.   He further stated, that he intended  " to make a professional charge
of $500" to Dr. Morton, for the advice he had  given him, and that Dr. Morton
 had acceded to this; that he did  not wish his  name connected with Dr. Mor-
ton's in any manner; that Dr. Morton might take out a patent if he desired to,
 or do what  he pleased with  it.  I made inquiries as to the assistance  rendered
 Dr. Morton, and asked Dr. Jackson if he had ever tried any experiments to prac-
 tically demonstrate  the  fact that the inhalation of ether  would prevent pain
 during a surgical  operation.  He informed me that he had not.  I am fully
 persuaded that Dr. Jackson, at  this time, thought  the  whole  matter of little 
57
 value or importance.   The conversation I had with him led me to this belief.
 He supposed Dr. Morton might realize something from it  in  his business of
 dentistry, and was willing he should do what he pleased with it, so long as he
 did not couple his (Dr. J.'s) name with it.  I afterwards inquired of Dr. Mor-
 ton whether he had agreed  to give Dr. Jackson #500 for the assistance ren-
 dered, as well as for all the Doctor's  interest  Avhatever in the discovery.  He
 said that he had, and that he had agreed  to pay him at the rate of ten per cent.
 on the sale of licenses until the $500 was paid.
   On Friday evening,  Oct.  23d, on my  return to my residence after a visit to
 the theatre,  I  found Dr. Jackson in conversation with my father, Caleb Eddy,
 Esq., and waiting to see me.   At this interview, I urged Dr. Jackson to waive
 his objections to associating  with Dr. Morton, as I was confident that he was
 mistaken in his views of what would be the action of the Medical Association;
 that Dr. Morton could not properly take out a patent without him; and  that, by
 joining in the patent, he would, of a certainty, be obtaining credit as a discov-
 erer ; whereas,  should he not do so, he might lose  all credit, as  in the case of
 the Magnetic  Telegraph, which I had  understood from  Dr.  Jackson he had
 suggested to Professor Morse.
   The next day, or within a few  days after, I  called on Dr.  Augustus A.
 Gould, to learn from him the  nature of the  rules of  the Medical Society.  Dr.
 Gould I knew to be a personal friend  and a well-wisher of Dr. Jackson.   He
 exhibited to me a copy of the by-laws, in  which I found they only  provided,
 so far as I  could see, that no member should deal in secret remedies.  I per-
 ceived at once from  them, that no objection could  arise to Dr. Jackson's pa-
 tenting any invention  he might make, as it would  cease to become secret the
 moment it might be patented.    I understood Dr. Gould to coincide with me in
 my views.   After preparing the specification, I submitted it to Dr. Jackson,
 who fully approved it.  I next had it copied in a manner suitable to be signed
 and sworn to by the parties.
  I recommended to  Dr. Morton to allow me  to insert, in the written agree-
 ment to be made between him and Dr. Jackson,  ten per cent,  on all  sales of
licenses,  instead of ten per cent, until the amount to be paid would reach $ 500 ;
 advised him to be liberal towards Dr.  Jackson, both in giving  him credit, and
 a chance of profit.  In this, I was governed by a  sincere desire to benefit Dr.
 Jackson, while, at the same time, I supposed I was doing my duty to Dr. Mor-
 ton, as I believed it would be  for his interest to  do so. I thought the chem-
ical science  of Dr. Jackson would be brought to improve the article used, or to
produce a better quality of ether than could be found in the market;  that his
association with Dr. Morton would give immediate character to the discovery,
and his future advice might be of great service to Dr. Morton.
  My views seemed to strike Dr. Morton very favorably, and he acquiesced in
them.
  Here I would remark that he (Dr. M.)  had never informed me of any ex-
periments with ether, which I have since  understood he made  previous to his
               8 
58
obtaining advice in relation to it from Dr. Jackson.   This I can readily ac-
count for, as  I saw very little of him, from the  21st  to the  27th of October,
the latter being the day on which the papers for the application for the patent
were executed by the parties.
  Dr. M. was so much  engaged in his discovery and business  of dentistry,
that 1 found it exceedingly  difficult, if not impossible,  to obtain an  audience
with him.  His  office was constantly thronged with persons in waiting to con-
sult him on  professional and other business.  Had Dr. Morton, during this
time, stated to me what I have  since read in the affidavits of Dr. G. G. Hay-
den, Messrs.  W. P. Leavitt, T.  R. Spear, Jr., and F. Whitman, I am confi-
dent I never should have advised him to associate Dr. Jackson in  the discovery
or patent, as I should have concluded that his friendly intimacy with Di Jack-
son had led him to visit him, as the readiest manner of obtaining certain chem-
ical information respecting  ether and  its properties, which might be found in
various   scientific  or medical  works not conveniently accessible  to  him.
  I should have  considered that the idea  of using ether was an original one
with Dr. Morton;  that he had,  by a practical application of it, made the dis-
covery that it would annul pain  under the operation of a surgical instrument;
had been the first to  publish this to the world, and under peculiar  circum-
stances, in  which he had developed much of that  remarkable energy of char-
acter we often find to belong to most great inventors, who are generally obliged
to stem  a powerful current of difficulties and  risks, in  order to impress on the
community the importance  of their discoveries.   With such views, I do not
hesitate to  affirm that I should have accorded the discovery to him.
  On Tuesday morning, the 27th of October, Drs. Morton and Jackson  exe-
cuted the papers for  the American patent.   While Dr. Jackson was passing
from his office to my own, I informed him that I had seen Dr. Gould, and he
had shown me the laws of the Medical Association ; that Dr. G7s opinion and
mine  coincided as to what was meant in them  by the prohibition of secret
remedies ;  that such could not be patented  ones, as they (the latter) could not
be  secret.   He replied, " Well, if Dr. Gould thinks so, that settles the mat-
ter with me.  I have no objections to signing the papers with Dr.  Morton."  I
think I give nearly, if not exactly,  the words made use of by him.
  I would here remark, that I had found Dr. Jackson  tinctured with old and
exploded prejudices against patents, and I  labored to remove them.   So suc-
cessful  was  I, that he  subsequently informed me, that, after a consultation
with a distinguished chemist at the south, he had resolved to secure every in-
vention  he might hereafter make ; and, in accordance with such views he sent
me  the specification of an  alleged improvement in preparing a certain article
for  dentistry purposes, with the view of filing a caveat and taking out a patent
on the same.  His disinclination to associate  with Dr. Morton, in a patent
arose from no disposition, ever  evinced to  me, to give the public a Gratuitous
use of the discovery.   The most important objection to his taking out a patent
arose from what he supposed would be the action of the Massachusetts Medi-
cal  Association.
/ 
59
  In conclusion, I would remark that I have endeavored to state a few facts
relative to the early  discovery of the effect of  sulphuric ether in surgical op-
erations.   In doing so, I am influenced  by no other motives  than to render jus-
tice to whom it may be due.  It is a matter of indifference to me to whom the
world may ultimately accord the merit  of being its benefactor for having given
to it the great discovery in question.  Dr. Jackson has been  my personal friend
for many years.  With Dr.  Morton, I  have had, comparatively, but little ac-
quaintance, never having seen or known him  previous to  my introduction to
him while he  resided in the  family of Dr. Jackson.   My  sympathies would
naturally tend towards Dr. Jackson ; but personal friendship, private character,
or scientific attainments, are matters which, it seems to me,  ought not to preju-
dice me or any one else in favor of or against  either  of the claimants, when
judging of the merits of their respective claims.
                            Yours respectfully,
                                                       R. H. EDDY.

                 Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
County of Suffolk,}
  City of Boston.  )  *'                                 June 18> 1847*
  Then personally  appeared the above-named R. H. Eddy, and being duly
sworn, did declare that his  statements, contained  in the foregoing letter, by
him  subscribed, are  true, according to the best of his recollection, knowledge,
and belief.
                   Before me,
                            JOHN  P. BIGELOW, Justice of the Peace.
  The  following  communication,  from the  accomplished and  well-
known  author of that entertaining work entitled " Two Years before
the Mast,"  has been quite  unexpectedly  received,  and which  I  am
happy to have an  opportunity to  introduce  here, corroborating,  as
it  does most amply,  the statements  in  the affidavits of Dr. Hayden,
and  Messrs. Leavitt,  Whitman, and Spear, as to the early  date of Dr.
Morton's experiments, and the importance he  attached to them.   It
would be  supererogatory to make  any remarks upon this communica-
tion,  (or its author,) and I will submit it  at once:—

                                 30 Court Street, Friday, June 4,  1847.
Mr. Edw. Warren :
  Sir,—On reading the pamphlet you were so kind as to send me,  I find that a
fact slated by one of the deponents is within my own knowledge, and, in a con-
troversy of so much interest to the  public and importance to the parties, I
feel that they have a right to information which any one may happen to possess. 
60
  I perfectly well  remember that Dr.  Morton and  Dr. Hayden came to my
office late one afternoon last summer, (which I find, on referring to my books,
was the 30th of June,  1846), and  desired me to draw a contract for them.
They stated the intention they wished effected, which was substantially this ;
Dr. Hayden was to leave  his  place of business  and go to Dr. Morton's, and
take the entire management of the work going on  there in mechanical dentistry.
The business was to be done in Dr.  Morton's name, and he was to be respon-
sible to the public ; but Dr.  Hayden was to take  charge of the work, and Dr.
Morton was to be at  liberty to work  and to direct the work whenever he
pleased, but to be  under no obligation  to do so.   On this point, Dr. Morton
was very particular, reserving his right  to control or labor if  he pleased, and
when he pleased, but freeing himself from all obligation to do either. Dr. Hay-
den was to receive, as a compensation, a liberal share of the profits of the busi-
ness.
  Dr. Morton had  occasionally been to  me  for professional assistance, and I
knew something of his  business.  I knew that it was almost  exclusively me-
chanical dentistry, and  that he had  spent his time and given his attention with
unusual energy to  this department,  and  that it had been on  this he relied en-
tirely for success,  and  even for subsistence.  For this reason,  I was rather
slow to apprehend the intention of the parties, and made two or three rough
draughts of a contract, none of which were satisfactory.  At length, Dr. Mor-
ton explained himself more fully, and said his object was to be  free from all
obligation to  work, and all responsibility, as far as possible, as he  wished to
give  his  entire  attention  to something  else.  The contract was accordingly
drawn  to effect the  purpose named, which seemed to be the sole object of the
parties.  I have found, among my papers, a duplicate of the contract, and
have it now  before  me.   It  bears date June 30, 1846, and was duly executed
by the  parties in my presence on that day.
  So much  I can  say that  I recollect distinctly.   There is  one thing further
which I am  not quite willing to state as matter of distinct recollection, but as
to which I have a very strong impression.  I have a strong impression that Dr.
Morton, toward the close of the interview, finding me slow to  apprehend that
he intended to give up his. business in  the manner referred to,  besides stating,
as I have said, that he wished  to give his attention to something else, went
further, and told me that th^s was something of great importance connected
with his profession, and as to which he expected to do something very remark-
able.
  On this last point, I do not mean  to make a positive s tatement,  but I  cannot
in justice fail to say that my impression is very strong to that effect.
  I think proper to add, that I make this communication of my own accord, at
the suggestion  of no one.   The circumstance had entirely passed from my
mind, and was recalled by reading your pamphlet yesterday.  Had I made my-
self acquainted with the controversy, and known  what facts were involved in
it, or had Dr. Morton  or Dr. Hayden applied to me, I could  have  made the 
61
communication before your pamphlet appeared. It is, however, only corrobora-
tive of what you have already published.
                      Your obedient servant,
                                          RICHARD  H. DANA, Jr.

   Postcript.— {Saturday Morning.)—The correctness of my impression has
 been placed beyond a doubt in my own mind.  Last evening, after writing the
 above, I happened to meet a friend, a surgeon dentist and member of the Med-
 ical Society of this city, and mentioned to him the subject of this communica-
 tion. He  said, at once,  " You are perfectly  right in your impression ;" and
 told me that, between  the 1st and 8th of July, I was at his office for the pur-
 pose of a dental operation, (we have the means of being sure that this is the
 time;)  and,  in  the  course of  conversation, told him that Dr. Morton was at
 work  upon something which, when brought  out, he believed would astonish
 the public, and work an entire revolution in the practice of dentistry.
   This gentleman remembered the conversation because  it related to his pro-
 fession ; and says that, when Dr. Morton's announcement appeared, in the au-
 tumn, he  immediately said to himself, " This is what I was told Dr. Morton
 was at work upon in the  summer."  I have no doubt this gentleman will read-
 ily testify  to this effect, if it shall be thought material.
                             Your obedient servant,
                                                        R. H. D. Jr.
  And here I will introduce the following

                       TESTIMONY.

  The  undersigned, having been for some years intimately acquainted with
Grenville G. Hayden, surgeon dentist, of the city of Boston, have the  most
undoubted confidence in him for truth and  veracity, and do not hesitate to say,
that his statements or affidavit may be fully relied upon. Wc consider him a
gentleman of strict probity and truth.
                                        B. FISKE,
                                        GILBERT BROWNELL,
                                        JEFFREY R.  BRACKETT.
   Boston, May 29, 1847.

                                             Boston, March 25, 1817.

   I, Grenville G. Hayden, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk, and State of
 Massachusetts, dentist, on oath, depose and say,—
   That, about the last of June,  1846, Dr. William T. G. Morton called upon
 me at my office, No. 23, Tremont Row,  and stated to me  that he wished to
 make  some arrangements with me that would relieve him from all care as to 
62
the superintendence of those employed by him in making teeth, and all other
matters in his office.  He stated, as a reason for urging me to superintend his
affairs in his office, that he had an idea in  his  head,  connected with dentistry,
which  he thought " would be  one  of the greatest  things ever known," and
that he wished to perfect it, and give his whole time and attention to its devel-
opment.  Being extremely urgent in  the  matter, I made an engagement with
him the same day, according to his request.  I then asked  him what his " se-
cret" was.  " Oh," said he, " you will know in a short time."  I still insisted
upon knowing it, and he finally told me the same night,—to wit, the night of
the last day of June,  1846, aforesaid,—that " it was something he had discov-
ered  which would enable him to extract teeth without pain."  I then asked
him if it was not what Dr. Wells, his former partner, had used, and he replied,
" No !  nothing like it;" and, furthermore,  " that it was something that neither
he, nor any one else,  had ever used."  He then told me he had already tried
it upon a dog, and described its effects upon him, which (from his description)
exactly correspond with the effects of ether upon persons who have subjected
themselves to its influence, under my observation.   All this happened in June,
1846.  He then requested me not to mention what he had communicated to me.
  About a month after this, or the first of  August,  1846, Dr. Morton asked
me where he could get some pure ether,  and asked me to go to Joseph Bur-
nett's apothecary shop, and purchase a 4-ounce vial  full  of ether, which  he
said he wished to carry home with him, he being about to leave town for Need-
ham, where he  then resided.   And  about the same time he  explained to me
the nature and effects of ether, and told me that, if he could get any patient to
inhale a certain quantity of ether gas, it would cause insensibility to the pain
of extracting teeth, and he tried to induce me  to take it.  Dr. Morton said  he
had breathed it himself, and it would do no harm; and he  at the same  time
tried to induce three young men in  the office  to take the gas.  This was in
August, 1846.  He was continually talking about his discovery to me.  From
the time  I engaged with Dr. M. as aforesaid, he frequently stated to me that
he had nearly perfected every department in dentistry, save extracting  teeth
without pain,  and that he was determined to accomplish that also.  But
towards the last of September following, he  intimated  to me that, in  some
particulars, his discovery did not work exactly right, and, in my presence, was
consulting his books to ascertain something further about ether.
  Upon this, 1 recommended him to consult some chemist on the subject.  Dr.
Morton then sent Francis Whitman to see  if Dr. Jackson  was at home  but
Francis returned, and said that Dr. J. was not at home.   The next day,  how-
ever, which was about the  last of September,  1846, Dr. M. said that he had
that  day seen Dr. Jackson, and derived  from him a hint by which  Dr. M.
thought he could remove the only remaining  difficulty.   Dr. M. said that in
his interview with Jackson, the subject of  nitrous  oxide gas and of ether gas
and  atmospheric air, was freely talked of,  as having an effect on the imagina-
tion  of the  patient, and various experiments which had been  tried with these
gases on students at Cambridge college; also, the experiments of Dr. Wells 
63
and himself together, with the nitrous oxide gas ; but that he withheld from
Dr. Jackson  the  fact that he had been experimenting on ether gas before.
The same day, Dr. Morton told me that he had just tried ether again—in ac-
cordance with Jackson's hint—on himself, and that he had remained insensible
seven or eight minutes,  by the watch.
   The first successful experiment upon any patient was made September 30th,
1846,  by  inhaling  ether through  a folded cloth, and on that occasion a tooth
was extracted without pain.  We tried repeated experiments with the  same
means subsequently, and they all resulted in total failures.   Dr. M. said that
Dr. Jackson recommended a certain apparatus, which he lent Dr. Morton from
his laboratory, consisting of a glass tube of equal size throughout, having a
neck, and being about three feet long.  This was likewise a total failure.  So
far, all our experiments, with one exception, proving abortive, we found that a
different apparatus must be  obtained, and it was at this time that Dr. M. pro-
cured, from Mr. Wightman, of Cornhill, a conical glass tube, with which, by
inserting a sponge saturated with ether in the larger end, we  had better  suc-
cess, and our experiments began to assume  a more promising aspect.
   Still, our success was not uniform, and far from perfect.  At this time, Dr.
M. suggested that our failures might be owing to the fact that, in  all  our ex-
periments so far,  the patient had breathed the expired vapor back into the ves-
sel, thus inhaling the same over  and  over.   He then stated  that the expired
air should pass off into the surrounding atmosphere, and wished me to make a
pattern for an apparatus, by which the air should pass into the vessel,  combine
with the ether, be inhaled into the lungs, and the expired air  thrown off into
the room.   The idea, as thus forced upon him, and communicated to  me, was
fully elaborated, and corresponds most accurately  with  the apparatus now in
use in this country and in Europe, and for  which  Dr. M. has  applied for Let-
ters Patent.  I replied, that  he had explained his idea so clearly that he would
have no difficulty  in directing a philosophical-instrument maker to manufacture
a proper inhaler at  once,  without a pattern,  and recommended to him Mr.
Chamberlain, in School-street, to whom he applied accordingly, andwhomade,
as thus  desired, the first inhaler.   And with such an apparatus, we have had
almost uniform success to this day, the results of which are known to the
world.
   And I will here state that, on the evening of the 30th of September, after
the first experiment had been made with success,  Dr. Morton  spoke about go-
ing to the Hospital and using the ether there, and thus bring out the new dis-
covery.  After several  other successful experiments,  the question came up
anew, how to introduce  it to the world, when Dr.  M. stated, that Dr.  Jackson
had declined  to countenance it, or aid in bringing it out, and then he (Tr. M.)
said he would see Dr. Warren,  and have  his discovery introduced  into the
Massachusetts General Hospital.  He went  out and soon returned, stating that
Dr. W. had agreed to afford him an opportunity to apply the  vapor,  as soon
as practicable, in  the Hospital.
  For more than  four weeks after our first experiment, it was well understood, 
64
and often  spoken of in the office, that Dr. Jackson repudiated all share, pre-
tence of, or interest in, the discovery.  He was never in Dr. M.'s office during
all our experiments, to my knowledge, until the "21st of October,  and I never
knew that Dr. M. advised with Dr. J. as much as with many others, or in fact
but once.
                                       GRENVILLE  G.  HAYDEN.

                  Commonwealth of  Massachusetts.
  Suffolk, ss.                                      March 30th, 1847.
      Sworn to before me,              WILLIAM  WHITING,
                                                 Justice of the Peace.
  The undersigned, having been acquainted with William  P. Leavitt, of Bos-
ton, for several  years, feel no hesitation in saying, that he is a person of strict
integrity, and that any statement made by him may, in our opinion, be fully
relied upon.   We have never known him other than a young  gentleman of
veracity and worth.
                                          WILLIAM  FLAGG,
                       Justice of the Peace for Norfolk County, Mass.;
                                 also, Postmaster at West Needham, Mass.
                                         EDWARD A. DANA.
  Boston,  May 28,  1847.

                                             Boston, March 25, 1847.
  I, William P. Leavitt, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk,  and State of
Massachusetts, on oath, depose and say,—
  That, about one week after  Dr. Hayden came to practise dentistry in con-
nection with Dr.  Morton, with whom I was then a student,—that is to say,
about the first of  July, 1846,—Dr. Morton stepped into his back office, much
excited, and exclaimed, with great animation, (as nearly as I can recollect his
language,)  "I have  got it now.  I shall  take  my  patients into the front
room and extract their teeth, and then take them into the back office and put
in a new set, and send them off without their knowing any thing about  the
operation."
  Some days after this, about  the  first of August, 1846, Dr.  M. asked Dr.
Hayden where he  (Dr. Morton) could get some very nice pure ether.   Dr. H.
recommended him  to send to Brewer, Stevens & Co.  Dr. Morton then called
me out behind the  screen, and requested rne to go  down to Brewer, Stevens &
Co.'s, and get him some pure ether.  He told me to keep every thing to my-
self.  He said he wished me to be careful not to let them know who it was for,
or where I was from or was going to.  I then bought some ether; told them
it was to be sent out of town, and requested them to make out the bill in the
name of some person in the country,—whom, I don't now recollect. 
65
  I brought the ether home and gave it to Dr. Morton.  A short time after
this, he requested me to call on Dr. Gay, and ask him if ether would dissolve
India-rubber, as he wanted to put some ether into an India-rubber bottle or bng.
I went to call, but could not find his residence.  I returned, and said so to Dr.
M. the next morning.
  About a week after this, Dr. Morton told me that, if I would find a man
who would have a tooth extracted, and have  an experiment tried upon him
which was perfectly harmless, he would give me five dollars, and  he  sent me
out with Thos. R. Spear, Jr. for that purpose.  We went down to  the wharves
and spoke to  a number of persons ; but they declined coming ; so that, after
some time, we returned without bringing any one with us.  Dr. Morton then
asked me to try it; but I refused.  He then "aid that he had taken it,  and that
it was perfectly harmless, and that he wanted some one else to lake it, that he
might see how it operated.  Dr. Hayden said, " Tom will take it;" but he said
no, he had no teeth he wished  extracted.   But he finally  said,  "I will take
some,  won't you?"  We both took  it the same evening, inhaling it frorr ?.
handkerchief.  Thomas took it first, and I  stood by him.  He seemed to faU
nearly asleep, so that he dropped the handkerchief;  and,  when he  was coming
to himself, he was very much excited, so that I was obliged to hold him in the
chair.  When he came to, he seemed perfectly delighted with the sensations
he had experienced—so much so, that he could not find language to express
himself.  He then persuaded me to inhale it.  I told him I would, if he would
leave the room, as he did, when I took it with much the same effects.
                                               WM. P. LEAVITT.

                  Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
  Suffolk, ss.                                      March 30th,  1847.
       Sworn to before me,               WILLIAM WHITING,
                                                  Justice of the.Peace.
                   To all persons whom it may concern.
  We, the  undersigned, citizens of Boston, do hereby  certify, that we are
well acquainted with Thomas  R. Spear, Jr. of said city, and have entire con-
fidence in his integrity and veracity.
                                            JOHN P. BIGELOW.
                                            CHARLES SPRAGUE.
  Boston,  May 26, 1847.

                                            Boston, March 25th, 1847.
  I, Thomas R. Spear, Jun. of Boston, in the State of Massachusetts, depose
and say,—
  That, about the first of August, 1846,  at request of Dr. Morton, I inhaled
a portion of ether, which William P. Leavitt brought from Brewer, Stevens,
              9 
66
and Co.'s, in a demijohn, in Dr. Morton's office.  The rest of the young men
in the office were afraid to take it; but, having taken what I supposed to be
the same before, at the Lexington  Academy, I did not hesitate to take it when
I learned what it was.
  About a week after the ether was purchased of Brewer, Stevens, and Co.,
Dr. Morton was expecting some persons at his office to witness an experiment,
and he then offered me a sum of money if I would be present and inhale the
ether.  I went home and consulted my parents, and  they advised me not to
go.   I have often heard Dr. M.  say  that, when he  had completed his inven-
tion for extracting teeth without pain, he should be satisfied.
  Ever after Dr. Hayden came into the office, Dr. Morton seemed wholly ab-
sorbed in making this discovery, and had a number of bottles, an India-rubber
bag, &c, &c, with  which  he prosecuted his experiments in the little room ad-
joining the front office, where he frequently locked himself in.
  Dr. Morton offered me five dollars if I would  get some one to come into the
office  and to have an experiment tried  upon him, of having a tooth extracted
while under the operation of gas.   I went, accordingly,  down to the wharves,
in company with Wm. P. Leavitt, in  order to get some one for  this purpose,
but did not get any one to have the experiment tried upon.
                                         THOMAS R. SPEAR, Jr.

                 Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
  Suffolk, ss.                                         March 30,  1842.
       Sworn to before me,               WILLIAM WHITING,
                                                 Justice of the Peace.
  The undersigned take  pleasure in  stating that they have  been acquainted
with Francis  Whitman—now of Boston—for  many years, or even from his
boyhood; that he has ever been perfectly correct and upright in his deport-
ment ; and that any statement made by him verbally, or, still more, an affidavit
over his name, is entitled to the highest credit and consideration of the public.
His family are our neighbors, and are persons of high standing and worth.
In conclusion, the undersigned  would say, that they should place the most
implicit confidence in Mr. Whitman's statements, and believe them entitled to
full credence,  so strict have his principles ever been as to probity and truth.
                                       GILES  STILLMAN,
                                                   Justice of the Peace.
                                       JOHN  HOOKER,
                                                     Notary Public.
                                       GEORGE D. COWLES,
                                                         Postmaster.
   Farmington,  Ct., May 25th, 1847. 
67
                                              Boston, March 25, 1847.
  I, Francis Whitman, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk, and State of Mas-
sachusetts, student at dentistry, on oath depose and say,—
  That I have often heard Dr. Morton speak about discovering some means of
extracting teeth without pain.  This discovery appeared to be the subject of
his thoughts and investigations during the greater part of last year, i. e., 1846.
One day,—I think it was previous to July, 1846,—Dr. M., in speaking of the
improvements he had made in his profession, and of some one improvement in
particular,  said, if he could only extract teeth without pain, he " would make
astir."  1 replied, that I hardly thought it could be done.   He said, he believed
it could, and that he would find out something yet to accomplish his purpose.
  In conversation with Dr. M., some time in July, he spoke of having his patients
come in at  one door, having  all their teeth extracted without pain and without
knowing it, and then going  into the next room, and having a full set put in.
  I recollect Dr. Morton came into the  office one day in great glee, and ex-
claimed, that he had " found it,"  and that he could extract teeth without pain!
I don't recollect what followed ; but, soon after, he  wanted  one of us in the
office to try it, and he then sent William  and  Thomas  out to hire a man to
come in and have an experiment tried upon him. After all these circumstances
happened,  Dr. Hayden advised Dr. Morton to  consult with some chemist in re-
lation to this discovery.  I went, at Dr. Morton's request, to see if Dr. Jack-
son had returned, (he having been absent from the city,) but found that he was
still  absent.
  I told Dr. Morton I knew  what it was that William had bought, and said it
was  chloric ether.   Dr. M. then said,  he wished to know if ether would dis-
solve India-rubber, and sent William P. Leavitt to inquire of Dr. Gay if it would.
  About this time,  Dr. M. asked me to get the  books  on chemistry, and find
what they  said about ether.   I did so,  and read  it over to him, and I think he
went to Burnett's to see if he could not find something there.
  After the first announcement of the  discovery in the papers, I went to Dr.
Jackson's, and he spoke to me of some notices in the papers ; but, immediate-
ly after, said he did not " care how much Dr. M. advertised, if his own name
was not drawn in with it."   A week or two  after this  conversation, 1 was at
Dr. Jackson's, when he asked me how we got along with the gas.   I told him
that we got along first-rate.  He then said, he " did not know how it would
work in pulling teeth, but knew its effects at college upon the students, when
the faculty had to  get a certificate from  a physician, that it was injurious, to
prevent them from using it:" but that he " did not know how it would operate
in pulling teeth."                   ^        FRANCIS  WHITMAN.

                   Commonwealth of  Massachusetts.
   Suffolk, 55.                                         March 30' 1847*
       Sworn to before me,                 WILLIAM WHITING,
                                                    Justice of the Peace. 
68
 Review of  the  " Statement"  of Dr. C.  T. Jackson's Claims to
              the Discovery of the New Use of Ether.

   A pamphlet written by Dr.  Martin Gay, containing " A Statement
 of the Claims of Charles T. Jackson, M. D.,  to the Discovery of the
 Applicability of Sulphuric Ether to the Prevention of Pain in Surgical
 Operations," has been handed  me, and I propose, in  a few words, to
 notice some of its contents.   But, before doing this, I must say that I
 admire the fairness and  candor the  learned  author exhibits, and will
 endeavor not to be outdone in this respect.
   In the outset, Dr. Gay very  properly says,  that " the history of the
 discovery has been derived from Dr.  Jackson  himself," a very impor-
 tant fact to be known, and appropriately stated in  the preface.
   This  fact in mind, let  us  pass at  once  to the  leading idea  of the
 " Statement," which idea is, that Dr.  Morton could not have made the
 discovery in question because " of his want of the medical information ,
 required for understanding  the operation of sulphuric  ether upon the
 system."  Upon this point, Dr. Gay has bestowed  much labor, and his
 deponents more.  But  in this, do they not  prove too  much  for Dr.
 J.'s  cause ?  For,  if he  was so entirely ignorant  of the nature and
 effects of ether,—if he  inquired, as Barnes states, " Sulphuric ether,
 what is that?   Is  it  a gas?"*  or, if he did  not know, as was  cur-
 rently reported by a  distinguished doctor on the day  of the Medical
 Convention—whether " ether   was a  solid  or  fluid,"—was it  then
 not  inexcusable in  Dr.   Jackson  to  entrust so  important  a  discov-
 ery—such  a powerful  agent—to  so  great  an  ignoramus?  And if
 Dr.  M.,  after being so  long  a student of Dr.  Jackson's, knew so
 little of ether—did  not  know,  in fact,  whether  it was a " solid or
 fluid,"  does  it not prove that  Dr. J. must  have  been  a very poor
 tutor ?   But  can this be true in point of fact?  On the 1st of March
  * This statement of Barnes, if correct, only goes to prove that Dr. M. was actin- i„ that
 instance, as .n many others,-which will be alluded to hereafter,-with the intention of dis-
 guising l,,s real plans; and, for this purpose, affected such a degree  of ignorance as is
 statsd by th.s deponent.  And th,s is further -evident from the  fact that, during the sum
 rner of 1844, Dr. Jackson sent Drs. Keep, Flagg, and Morton each a bottle of highly recti-
 fied ether for them to use in preventing the toothache !  Dr. Morton used his for that pur
 pose until u was exhausted. Mr. Barnes's ears must, for once, have played him a " fantas
 tic trick" j  for tfcannot be that Dr. M.-after becoming thus familiar with ether prepared by
!; J' l"m   ' 3"d Sent b^ him t0 Dr- Morton-did not know whether it was a solid or fluid-
Th.s ether was thus sent to Dr. M. in consequence of a conversation, some time previous be-
tween hu, and  Dr. Jackson, respecting ether,-its being inhaled by the students at college
 ate. &c. j and it seems that this was a topic upon which they often conversed.          ' 
69
1847, Dr. Jackson gave  Dr. M. a certificate, in which he says:—" 1
would recommend him as a suitable  person  for admission  as a dental
surgeon."  He also  states, in  the same paper, that Dr. M. had been
his  student in medicine, &,c. ;  that  he had  "studied Bell's and other
standard works on anatomy and attended the lectures of Drs. Warren,
Hayward, and other professors;"  that  he  "  is a skilful operator in the
surgical and mechanical  departments," and has studied the " chemical
properties of the  ingredients"  required in  the manufacture of teeth.
But the absurdity and entire  incorrectness  of the statements of Dr.
Keep, Mr. Barnes, and others,  and the deductions from such premises
by Dr. Gay, are clearly shown  by the ample testimony of Dr. Hayden,
and Messrs. Leavitt, Spear, and Whitman.   " About the 1st of August,
1846,"  Dr.  Hayden testifies, " Dr.  Morton asked me where he could
get some pure ether, and asked me to go to Joseph Burnett's apothe-
cary shop, and purchase a 4-ounce  vial of  ether" ;  that,  " about the
same time, he explained to me the  nature and effects  of ether" ; and
said, " it would  cause insensibility to the pain of extracting  teeth,"  if
he  could  induce any one to inhale it.  Leavitt testifies that, about this
time, he  "bought some ether," and  " gave it  to Dr. Morton," with
which the doctor was, for some time after, making experiments. Spear
states much the same.  And Whitman corroborates the foregoing, and
says:  " Dr.  M.  asked me to get the books  on chemistry,  and find
what they said about ether.   I did so, and read it over to him."  The
very fact that Dr. Jackson's  friends  have had to  resort to so lame an
argument as this, proves  conclusively the extreme weakness of his
 (:ause.
   But if, after all these opportunities,  Dr. Morton did not know wheth-
er ether was a " solid or fluid,"—if, after being under Dr. Jackson's
 instructions during this time, boarding in his  family, spending consid-
 erable time, during many months, in his laboratory, and often conversing
 about ether, among other chemical  substances, at the table and else-
 where, he was so ignorant of its nature,—then he either must have been
 a very dull scholar, and not a fit  person to  bring out this great discov-
 ery, or Dr. J.'s character as an  instructor must stand very low in future.
 Which condition  he will accept, I know not.
   It appears, from Dr. Gay's  " Statement," that, for some years pre-
 vious, Dr. Jackson had been perfecting " his discovery;" that he had
 bestowed great attention upon  it, had  given it much thought,  and had,
 all this time, been brooding over it,  aware of its vast  importance  to
 suffering humanity, and of the amount of misery it might prevent; but that, 
70
at the same time, the agent to effect all this was a dangerous one, and
should be entrusted to none but the safest and most responsible hands.
Of Dr. Morton's qualifications to become the almoner of so much good
—so vast a blessing to the world, Dr. Jackson must have been thoroughly
informed;  and, therefore, was he not most culpable in employing Dr.
M. as his high priest to communicate  his long-cherished discovery to
afflicted man, if he knew him to  be so utterly unsuited and  unsafe to
be trusted with the agency ?   This  is  certainly an  afterthought—an
ex post facto argument,  manufactured  for  this particular emergency,
the foreshadowings of which were  known for  some time before this
" Statement" appeared.
  And, before leaving this part of the  subject, I  would state  that it
appears evident,  for several reasons, that Dr. Morton, when he went to
Dr. Jackson for the " gas-bags," did not wish to let him know his real
object.  Indeed, this  is most conclusively  proved by  the affidavit of
Dr. G. G. Hayden, who testifies that Dr. Morton, on his return from
Dr. J.'s laboratory, stated to him that he (Dr. M.) " withheld from Dr.
Jackson the fact that he  had  been experimenting on ether gas before."
Dr. M. asserted  the  same thing in my presence at an early period in
this controversy,  and had previously stated it to several others.   The
fact is, he did not wish any  one to suspect what he was doing, as is
abundantly proved  by the affidavit above, and by that  of Mr. Leavitt.
When Dr. Morton applied to  Dr. H. to join  him, the latter states in his
affidavit that he  urged Dr. M. to say what his " secret" was.   " O !"
said he, " you will know in a short time;" but, on still being urged, he
reluctantly revealed  it, and Dr.  H. adds, " He then requested me not
to mention what  he had communicated  to me."  Mr. Leavitt likewise
says, that when  Dr. Morton  wished him to go to  Brewer, Stevens &-
Co.'s to get some ether, he called him " behind the screen," and adds,
" He  told  me  to  keep every thing to myself;" and that the bill of the
same  was  made  out in some  fictitious name in the country, so careful
was he that no one should suspect what he was doing, and forestall him.
And, indeed, he always manifested  the same caution  to prevent, so far
as possible, his investigations, and the articles he used in his experi-
ments, from getting  out and becoming generally known.   That he
went to Dr. J. in the  same cautious manner is not, therefore, a matter
of doubt.  Barnes,—if he was not also mistaken in this statement,—
corroborates the  same thing, when  he  says that " Morton repeatedly
begged  the doctor  to keep the matter a secret."   And the wisdom of
all this caution is admitted in the statement subjoined to this,  in which 
71
Barnes  says that Dr. J. replied, " No ! I will have no secrets with my
professional  brethren;" and  that,  " in  point of fact, every  one who
afterwards came  to get information on the subject was at once told all
about it!"   If this be, even  in part, true, it shows how well Dr. M.
understood  Dr.  J.'s  character,  and  how  necessary  it was to observe
such precaution !*
   I cannot, however, yield my full assent to this  statement of Barnes;
for Dr.  Hayward states that, up to the  9th  of  November, neither he
nor the other surgeons  of the Hospital knew what Dr. Morton's "prep-
aration"—as they still  called it—consisted of, and that they could not
consent to have further trials made with it until informed  on this point;
to which he reports Dr. M.  to have answered,  " that he was ready to
let them know what the article was, and to give  to the surgeons of the
Hospital  the right to  use  it there when they pleased."   Now,  if Dr.
Jackson  " told"  every  one he  conversed  with on  the  subject, " all
about it," it will  appear absurd to  those  who know Dr. J., to state that
not only the surgeons,  and physicians, and even  a large majority of the
scientific men of Boston, did  not  know what this preparation was, so
late as  the 9th of November !
   But as regards this strong point in the case of Dr. Jackson's claims,
—backed up by the oath of Dr. Keep,t—that Dr. Morton was ignorant
of the  nature of ether, and, therefore, is not the  discoverer, I reply,
that, ignorant as he is sworn to be, he is the first person who ever suc-
cessfully applied ether for  the prevention of pain  in surgical  opera-
tions !   Is this not a sufficient refutation of the  charge ? or, so long as
he has  been triumphant in his systematic researches, what  matter is it
whether he was so  or not?   It seems that Dr. Keep—the learned—the
oracular—the astute Dr. Keep, with all his boasted knowledge of ether,
was never  able  to discover  this  new property of  the article; so that
even Dr. Morton's ignorance  was superior to Dr.  Keep's wisdom!%

   * On this subject, that Dr. Morton did not wish Dr. Jackson, and others, to know what his
real object was, I am  now able to produce, at least, strong circumstantial evidence, corrobo-
rating the above; for, since writing it, I have received a communication from It. H. Dana,
Jr., Esq., which shows, very clearly, that such were his real intentions. Indeed, it cannot be
doubted, after  all that  has been adduced, that Dr. Morton studiously concealed from Dr.
Jackson, and, so far as he could, from all others, the precise nature of his long-pursued and
intensely interesting researches and experiments, which have now resulted in so brilliant a
discovery!
   f See  Appendix, E.
   t The boasted wisdom of this class of men, who are always seeing the failings of others,
but can never correft  the errors in themselves, calls to mind an anecdote of a would-be 
72
  And the same argument applies with equal force to all others who have
  resorted,  in the plenitude of their spleen and envy, to this  kind of
  proof.  We are prepared, therefore,  to  admit the  whole rather than
  cause them to waste their logic.
    It is, I believe, now generally understood that Dr.  Keep, in his com-
  munications to the  Medical and Surgical Journal, the Daily Advertiser,
  &>c,  and in his voluntary affidavit, is endeavoring to call public atten-
  tion to his  experiments,   and thus  steal away another's  business.
  This trick is too apparent in this community; for Dr. Morton had been
  experimenting, had triumphed, and  had given the ether with uniform
  safety and success long before Dr. K. was aroused  from his " twenty
  years" repose by the startling  announcement of his former pupil's dis-
  covery.  Any such attempt, therefore, to pass off as his own what he
  derived solely  and exclusively from Dr.  Morton, will be exposed and
 must result in total  failure.  Dr. Morton himself, and  by his immediate
  agents, has  administered the ether to more than ten  thousand patients
 without a solitary  accident; and  yet this  learned Theban,  who, but
 yesterday, scarcely  opened  his drowsy eyes, sets up—after his " thirty
 days"  (as he terms it)( under  the  pupilage of Dr.  M. in  the  use of
 ether—to instruct,  not only Dr. M., but the surgeons,  and all the world
 beside. But I repeat, this attempt to steal away the " thunder" of another
 will not add a cubit to the doctor's  dimensions, or a  penny to his pro-
 fessional income.
   But on  this  question of ignorance, we  have it in our power to turn
 the tables upon Dr.  Jackson, and to  prove that he was the " ignorant"
 party in the  case.   About the time the discovery was  made, Mr. Fran-
 cis Whitman called  at Dr. J.'s laboratory, when the latter informed him
 that ether  could not be administered in a room with  a fire, or at nicrht
 with a lamp in the room, as the air would  become so  charged  with the
 vapor  escaping as  to take  fire, and that it would even explode in the
 patient's mouth!  On being asked how it might be safely used at night,
 he  advised Mr. Whitman to get a Davy safety-lamp.   Dr. Morton, on
 learning this, said he knew better,  for there could not  be enough ether
 in  the  atmosphere  to produce  an explosion;  and, therefore,  went on
 with his experiments.   Indeed, the  first successful application, on the
learned astronomer of antiquity, who was dissatisfied with the mechanism of the heavens
 and  who said, " que s'il avait M du conseil de Dim, il lui aurait donni de bans avis sur t'e
 mouvement des astres.'"  And yet, notwithstanding these captious philosophers were not
consulted, both these experiments were successful:—The heavens were created in beauty,
order, and harmony, without the advice of Alphonso of Castile, and the ether has  been
 found capable of alleviating untold suffering, without the aid of Dr. N. C. Keep! 
73
30th of September, was  made about nine o'clock at night, Dr. M. ad-
ministering the ether and extracting the tooth, while Dr. Hayden  held
the lamp close to the patient's mouth.
  But on  this subject of ignorance, let us  see what was the result of
Dr. Jackson's experiments of " five or six years."   At the time the so-
licitor of patents made out the specifications under Dr. Jackson's own
directions and advice, the latter stated to him that any or several of the
ethers would answer the purpose  of  preventing  the pain of  sur-
gical operations.   Accordingly, it was stated that " the vapors of some,
if not all, these chemical distillations, (ethers) have produced a pecu-
liar effect on the nervous system ; one which has been supposed to be
analogous  to what  is usually termed intoxication."   And further on,
Dr.  Jackson  says :—" We are led  to prefer  the vapors of sulphuric
ether  to those of muriatic, or other kinds of ether, but any such may
be  employed as  will  produce the state of insensibility," &c.   The
truth  is,  it  cannot  be shown, for it is not  the fact, that Dr. J.  knew,
or had ever supposed, that ether of  any kind would produce  such in-
sensibility, prior  to  Dr. Morton's having demonstrated the fact to the
world.  If he had known it, why did he  wait for Dr. M. to come to
him and drag it out of him, instead of applying to some one to prove it,
or instead of  demonstrating it himself!
   Dr. Jackson  also  told the writer, so  late as the last of November,
that the ether was  " dangerous," and would,  if repeated, or given in
more  than small  quantities, " seriously injure the brain."   And I am
sure, from long and  renewed conversations  with  him about this time,
that he knew no more  about the effects of sulphuric  ether than other
chemists, or most physicians; and that he was even then quite incredu-
lous  as to Dr. Morton's success, or as to the new property he had de-
veloped.  I certainly would not state this, did I not believe that Dr.
Jackson himself  recollects the conversation on this subject.   I cannot
be  accused often of mixing up with facts gained from others those I
have received from  Dr. J. himself, and would  not bring them forward
here, were it not an  imperious duty.  But, trusting that the public will
agree with me that Dr. J. had no peculiar information, either  as to the
nature or  effects  of sulphuric ether,  I will, for the present, rest this
matter here.
   Dr. Jackson's friends  here and  in Paris have taken some trouble to
extol his suggestion  of oxygen gas as  an antidote to ether.   Abroad,
it was stated that he had not only made the greatest discovery of the
age, but that he had also found out an agent to resuscitate those under
             10 
74
 the influence of ether vapor.   But on  this subject, Dr.  Snow of Lon-
 don says, in a late number of the Lancet:—"I was scmewhat surprised
 to find it stated that oxygen gas was an antidote to ether; and I under-
 took fresh  experiments, and found that making  animals breathe  oxy-
 gen, after they had been rendered insensible by ether, did not restore
 them any sooner; that, indeed, they were often  longer in recovering,
 and that one bird, very much under the influence of the  vapor, died in
 the oxygen, an occurrence I never found to take  place in the open  air.
 Dr. Gull has arrived  at the same result with respect  to  oxygen given
 after ether."  I regret thus to  be compelled to take  away this  credit
 also from Dr. Jackson ; but, even if oxygen gas were a sovereign anti-
 dote to ether, it is too expensive and inconvenient to be used, save by
 the affluent.
   The author of the " Statement" cites the case of Jenner and the milk-
 maid—the former, as he contends, occupying the same position relative to
 vaccination that Dr. Jackson does to the discovery in question; but wheth-
 er he sees any analogy between Dr. Morton and the latter I know not, as
 he does not inform us, although we may presume he does, having pre-
 viously stated that Dr. Morton, in regard  to this discovery, stands in
 the same relation to Dr. Jackson that the "  nurse" does to " an accom-
 plished physician."  But if so, I would state that, even from  his own
 showing,  and from all  Dr.  Jackson's  claims, the  milkmaid who made
 the suggestion to Jenner is  the true discoverer  in the hio^hest sense
 and in all respects, while the  latter was but the " nurse" to bring her
 " bold prescription"  out to the  world,  and render it  available to the
 afflicted, as the most important blessing ever conferred, even by woman
 on unhappy man!   The truth  is,  if  Jenner, who acted on  the sug-
 gestion of the simple-hearted  milkmaid, is the  true discoverer of vac-
 cination, as all mankind concede he is, then most  certainly is Dr. Mor-
 ton the true discoverer of the new property of sulphuric ether;  and
 that, too,  whether  he acted upon his own suggestions,  (as he is proved
 to have done), or received the idea from Dr. Jackson !   The  weaker
 case has been long since, by the united voice of mankind, fully settled
 in"favor of Jenner, while the  stronger one cannot  fail, it seems to me,
 to be given to Morton.  Otherwise, there must be a reversion of this
 unanimous judgment,  in favor  of the much-injured milkmaid.  But
 not till then, I apprehend, will the honor  in this  case be awarded to
 Jackson.   This argument, like  all  arguments  in a lame cause, either
proves more than is required, or otherwise weakens the " Statement."
  The following extract from Baron's Life of Dr. Jenner shows a most 
75
striking analogy between the discovery of vaccination and that of the
Letheon, even admitting all Dr. Jackson  claims, namely, that he gave
the hint to Dr. Morton : Jenner " was pursuing his professional  edu-
cation in the house of his  master at Sodbury :  a young countrywoman
came to seek advice; the  subject of small-pox  was mentioned in her
presence; she immediately observed, ' I cannot take the disease,  for I
have  had cow-pox.'  This incident  riveted the attention of Jenner.
It was the first time that the popular notion, which was not  at all un-
common in the district, had been brought home to him with  force and
influence   Most  happily, the  impression which was  then made was
never effaced."
   But I  need not  tilt long  nor furiously  at a  superstructure like this
" Statement,"  having only a foundation of sand,  if as good—with all
deference to the author, Dr. Gay, who has been cautious, in the outset,
not to become responsible for  the  facts Dr. Jackson  and others fur-
nished him.  The whole  argument of the pn-nphlet rests mainly upon
priority of discovery, as proved by the  deponent,  Dr. Bemis.  For all
hinges, more or less, upon the  doctor's affidavit, as Dr. Gay lays  great
stress upon it, and seems,  in the  end, to  think that it settles the ques-
tion.  But let us see :  Dr. Bemis deposes that, in 1842,  Dr. Jackson,
in  a conversation  relative to the profession of dentistry, said it was" his
wish to alleviate or destroy all sensation  of pain  and suffering during
operations of a surgical nature," and asserted that this could be done
by the " introduction of a new mode of practice  in such operations;"
but did not state what that "new mode"  was.  This  is  all  very well,
and,  so far, we can yield our belief to the statement; but when he adds,
" I have no drubt whatever that the plan  communicated to me at the
time was the same in regard to the substance to be used, viz., sulphu-
ric ether, and in all other respects, as he has since promulgated to the
 world,"__when he asks us to leap this wide and  difficult chasm  with
 him, we cannot consent.   The deduction does not legitimately follow
 from the premises before  given; it is not logical, and has not reason
 or common sense to authorize  it.  The mind will  not, therefore, assent
 to so much violence being done on  its domain.   But if there  was a
 " plan communicated" to the doctor " at that  time," as he asserts, why
 not give that, and not guess at one, as he has  done in this affidavit?
    But the  doctor having  vaulted the chasm,  Dr.  Gay at  first follows
 hesitatingly, saying that Dr. Jackson communicated his favorite " plan"
 to several persons,  and,  among others, to Dr. Bemis in 1842, " as is
 proved by  his statement."  Having  thus gained  firm ground again— 
76
 as he seems to believe he has—Dr. Gay, no longer in doubt, fearlessly
 asserts that Dr. Jackson had thus  " recommended the use of sulphuric
 ether tp Dr.  Bemis!"  Now let any logician examine the premises and
 the mode of reasoning thus adopted to arrive at a most  important con-
 clusion in the " Statement," and  even  though he be the author him-
 self, he will  at once  see the weakness and absurdity of  the whole pro-
 cess.
   In the  " Statement,"  it  is  boldly  and  unequivocally asserted that
 " Dr. Jackson distinctly assumed the responsibility of the application ;"
 that he  " took upon himself the  sole responsibility of the act,  and
 would alone have been  morally responsible, had the life of the patient
 been lost," and similar  passages.   Is this so?   Why, then, did he say
 that he did not  care what was done with it, " if his  name was  not
 drawn in with it," as is  proved  by Mr. Whitman, and as  he stated to
 others?   The fact is, if Dr. J. "distinctly assumed" the  responsibil-
 ity of the application of ether, he  displayed  an extraordinary  method
 pf showing it!   The paternity he manifested is much the same as that
 exhibited by the ostrich, which deposits its eggs in the sand, and then aban-
 dons them forever after to their fate; or rather, perhaps, like that of the
cuckoo, which leaves its offspring to the care of a foster-parent.*
  But if he consigned to the care of Dr. Morton his long-cherished
 method of alleviating pain, why does  he not show some stipulation or
 understanding previously entered into with  Dr. M., to bring out his dis-
 covery, so that  he should not have lost the credit of making it, while  an-
 other has,  as  he contends,  run  away with all  the honor as well as
 emoluments?  Did he ever  name  any thing of this kind  to Dr. M. ?
 If so, why not show it ?   Why has not Barnes, who quotes whole pas-
 sages spoken six or eight months before, and whose memory has brought
 up  all other facts required, also recollected something on this subject ?
  In answer to the statement that sulphuric ether is not mentioned in
the affidavits I have  introduced  in  my  pamphlet presenting Dr. Mor-
 ton's claims, I reply  that,  if the word  " sulphuric" is not  used in re-

  *  Of the cuckoo, it is said that, when she furtively deposits her egg in the nest of another
bird, it is done not that her offspring may be a sharer of the care of the foster-parent, but that
it may engross it entirely to the total destruction of its  own natural offspring. The natural
 and foster eggs being about the same size, the young birds, on coming to life" have  about an
equal start; but this does not last long, for the cuckoo soon outstrips his companions, and
exhibits his superiority in the most selfish m;tni.er by pushing his weaker brother, the right-
ful occupant, out of his own home to starve.  Upon which does the " responsibility" in this
case rest,-the cuckoo that deserts its egg, or the foster-bird that hatches  it, and ushers the
young bird into life ? 
77
gard to experiments made before going to Dr. Jackson's, neither is it
used after that time.   But, although not used, it was supposed to be
sufficiently well understood  not to require it.   If any other kind of
ether was meant,  it was designated by the deponent, as in the case
given by Dr. Gay, of " chloric  ether."   But if Dr. G.  still urges this
objection to the affidavits, I reply that, as sulphuric ether was intended,
save in the case given, that word  can be very easily supplied.  The
deponents would prefer to go  before a magistrate  and correct the omis-
sion.   Having it  in my power, however, to settle this question, and
place this matter beyond a doubt, I would here say, that  we still have
the demijohn alluded to  by the several deponents, and that  it contains
a considerable quantity—two or three pounds—of the  identical ether
which came  from Brewer, Stevens & Co.'s, in August last, and with
which Dr. Morton and others in his office made the experiments spoken
of in the affidavits.  This ether has been in the possession of one gen-
tleman ever  since  it  was  bought,  and has  been tested,  and  pro-
nounced to be sulphuric ether !   So much for this objection, or quib-
ble, or whatever it may be called, raised by Dr. Gay, and  which called
forth, in one of the weekly papers, the following:—"It turns out, how-
ever, that he  (Dr. M.) was making his experiments with chloric ether,
and that  he  probably knew  nothing  about sulphuric ether until his
attention  was directed to it by Dr. Jackson.  This  is very wrong (!)
The reader should have been told the whole truth."
   Since the above was written, I have very unexpectedly had placed in
my hands the following analyses,  by Dr. Gay and Mr. Joseph Burnett,
with  the certificate from Dr. Hayden.   I trust all will be satisfied,  after
reading  these statements, that  Dr. Morton used sulphuric ether in his
experiments,  and that such  was intended by the deponents  in their
affidavits :—
                                               Boslon, June 22d, '47.
   Examination of Mr. Leonard's Liquid :—
   It is essentially an impure sulphuric ether.  It contains more impurities than
usual  in the best  ethers  sold at the druggists.  The proportion of alcohol is
very  large, not far from a quarter part of the liquid being this  substance.  It
contains, beside the other impurities  of common ether, particularly sulphur
acids. It contains  a trace of oil of wine.
                                                  MARTIN  GAY.
   P. S.  The above general information is given, not knowing the object of
 the examination. 
78
                                              Boston, June 22rf, 1847.
   At the request of Mr. G. G. Hayden, I hereby certify that the contents of a
 demijohn, handed me by him, is unrectified sidphuric ether-
                                             JOSEPH BURNETT.

   I certify that the ether,—analyses of which are given above,—has been con-
 stantly  in my possession since August last, and is the same brought by Wm.
 P. Leavitt from Brewer, Stevens & Co.'s, as stated in his affidavit.
                                       GRENVILLE G.  HAYDEN.
   Boston, June 22, 1847.

   But there is still a sequel to this subject of sulphuric ether.  With the
 four-ounce vial of ether, spoken of in Dr. Hayden's affidavit, a very near
 approach was made to the  great discovery  which has since burst so
 brilliantly upon  the world.   But this small quantity being exhausted,
 and Dr. Morton afraid  to apply twice to the same  apothecary, lest he
 should  suspect  his  object, sent, as stated in the affidavits, to Brewer,
 Stevens & Co.'s for a larger quantity.  With this, his success was not
 so  good as  while he experimented with the first-named,—the cause of
 which he could not then understand.  But this mystery is entirely  dis-
 sipated by  the  analyses now furnished me, by which  it  appears that
 the ether procured  at Brewer, Stevens & Co.'s happened to be of an
 inferior quality.   If,  instead of this poor article, Dr. M. had  received the
 pure  washed, or even  a good  quality of unwashed ether, it  is now
 almost  certain that he  would have  succeeded early  in  August, and
 without giving  Dr.  Jackson  any  chance to set up  the unwarrantable
 claims he has now done.
   In  the  " Statement" in question, it is roundly denied that Dr. Jack-
 son has ever shown any doubts as to the safety of the new use of ether
 or that he has ever repudiated it.   And this is backed up by the asser-
 tions  of Peabody, and  others.  Peabody says, " I can most positively
 state that not at any  time has he shown the least want of confidence in
 the importance of his application, and not for a moment did he under-
 value it, nor has he ceased to assert his claims as the sole discoverer."
 To these  three  propositions, I have only to confront  the  statements
 under  oath,  of  Francis  Whitman,—known  for  his honesty  and  ve-
 racity,—and of Caleb Eddy, Esq., also under oath,  in  which  it  is
 clearly  proved that  Dr.  Jackson  did show an entire  "want of confi-
dence"  in the new  use of ether;  that he did unequivocally "under-
value it;" and that he did not only  " cease to assert his claims" as sole 
79
discoverer, but took particular pains to have it understood, so that he
should not be held responsible for the results.  Is this denied by Dr.
Jackson ?  His  answer  to Mr.  Eddy's  question  covers the whole
ground :—" Dr.  Jackson, did you know at such time, that, after a per-
son  had inhaled ether,  and was  asleep, his flesh could be cut with a
knife  without his experiencing any pain ?"  "No!  nor Morton either;
he is a reckless man for using it as he has;  and the chance is, he will
kill somebody yet."  To Whitman he said, about the same time—three
or four weeks after Dr. Morton had made the first successful experi-
ment—he  "did not know  how it would operate  in pulling  teeth."
Trusting that the public  will fix as high  an appreciation upon the state-
ment of Mr.  Eddy  as  upon that of Mr. Peabody,  I will take leave of
this  part of the subject.
  Barnes says that Dr. Jackson, on being informed by Dr. Morton of
his success,  " expressed  no surprise,"  and concludes  that this is  a
favorable  feature  in his  case.  But  others, reasoning  from Dr.  J.'s
well-known incredulity on the subject, see this fact  in quite a different
light,  recognizing in it  his entire disbelief, not only in Dr. M.'s an-
nouncement, but also in  the power of sulphuric ether to produce any
such result.
  This Mr.  Barnes—the man of the wonderful memory—states, as I
have before said, that Dr. J., on being requested by Dr. M. to keep the
matter of his discovery to himself, replied, " No ! I will have no secrets,"
&,c.; and then  says, that every one  who came to get information on
the subject " was at once told all about  it."  In answer to this, I have
to say  that, about the first day of December,  I called on Dr. J.  to learn
something respecting the discovery, but  that, although requested to in-
form me what was used, Dr. J.—who had been for years my personal
friend—declined giving-  me the information.   Others of his personal
friends, and nine tenths of the profession, did not, up to that day, know
what article was used by  Dr. Morton to  produce so  extraordinary  a re-
sult.   So much for Mr. Barnes's statements, and affidavit—an  affidavit
in which nearly fifty lines are quoted as the exact  language employed
by the speakers;  in which long and complicated sentences are perfectly
remembered for more than six months, to be produced and written down
verbatim at the moment they are wanted!  I have had something to do
with  law-books and legal  documents in my day, but  I have never seen,
and  I  am almost sure  that there is not in existence, another affidavit
like  this one  by Mr. Barnes.  It is the most extraordinary document
of the  kind to be found on record, and almost surpasses belief.   Are 
80
  the  words quoted  the  exact  ones used, or do they convey the exact
  meaning intended  by the speakers ?   If not, what were their words—
  what their meaning ?   Has Mr. Barnes given the one and the other to
  make out his case ?—for one's leanings are apt to blind his eyes, and
  sometimes to warp his understanding!  Henceforth,  "Barnes's mem-
  ory" will become  proverbial.  If he can recollect every  thing Drs.
  Jackson, Morton,  and  others, said on that  occasion, he can recollect
  what was said on others, and  would, no doubt, if desired, repeat, with
  equal precision, all  that has  been said  in his presence during the last
  six or eight months !
    But, these arguments apart, it is on all hands admitted that Dr. Mor-
  ton has acted in the matter, and demonstrated to the world the practi-
  cability of preventing much human suffering by means of the vapor of
  sulphuric ether, while  Dr. Jackson  has been content, for " five or six
  years," to let all he knew of the  matter rest in oblivion, satisfied with
  talking.  The one has exhibited action,—decisive, energetic action,—
  the other, merely the emptiness and vanity of words.  The former seizes
  an idea, and, by actual experiment, follows it out to its ultimate result,
  thereby bestowing an inestimable boon upon mankind,—while the latter,
  even on his own showing, had but a faint conception of the fact, and, at-
  taching no importance  to it, was satisfied with occasionally suggesting
  it for the demonstration of others, never making any experiments him-
  self, or superintending  those of others.  And yet this is the man who,
  when the result is attained, obtrusively thrusts  forward his bared head
  to receive the  crown  of laurels.   But  when a crown is bestowed, he
  will find that it is only  one of nettles.
    The " Statement" abounds  in errors, which we must attribute,  not
  to the author, for he, in the outset, shields himself effectually against
  blame in this respect, but to the persons who gave him his information.
  It is stated that the solicitor of patents consulted, gave it as his opinion
  that  Dr.  Morton could take  out  a patent in his own name.   Such,
  however, I am assured,  is not the  fact; for he  supposed, and so ad-
  vised, that it was necessary to success to have their names (Jackson's
  and Morton's) united.  Had he not, the former would  never have been
  urged into it against  his will.  Dr. Jackson, I am also assured, was
  never informed by the solicitor that, if Dr. M. were  to take out a pa-
*  tent  alone, it might be  used  against  the former.  Neither did he (Dr.
  J.) express any surprise, when he  saw the petition  for letters  patent,
  to find  his name and Morton's joined as co-discoverers.  He had, be-
  fore  this, agreed to such a union, as Dr. Gay admits immediately after: 
81
" he had agreed to the arrangement!"   How then could  he have been
"surprised," when he saw the petition?   This is probably an over-
sight, on the part of Dr. J. and the author.
  I would  here say  that, as the numerous  mis-statements, contained
in the  pamphlet  under  review,  and  made  through Dr.  Jackson's
" agent," Dr. Gay, are not vouched for  by the author, I will take leave
of them, merely adding that the insinuation at the close of his preface
is not in keeping with  his general  high  bearing; and that, in  my
" various publications," I have done but little more  than to collect  and
arrange certain facts which have not been denied—although Dr.  J.  has
often promised  to attempt it, but  has as soon forgotten  his pledges.
As to the changes rung by Dr. J.  and  his  agent  on my being a  clerk,
agent, or employe of Dr. Morton,  and insinuating that, therefore,  I
could not state facts as well  as others, I repeat that I have espoused
this  side because I knew, from Dr. Jackson himself, that it was the
right one, and because no one else seemed willing  to  enter the lists,
after the publication of Dr. J.'s extraordinary claims in Paris.  In  jus-
tice  to Dr. Morton and myself,  I should add, that  I have done what I
have voluntarily, freely, and without any pecuniary reward whatever,—
in the same way Dr. G. is probably employed in  Dr. Jackson's  cause.
  I have thus hastily noticed some of the statements in  the pamphlet
setting  forth Dr. Jackson's claims, and I have done so with no  inten-
tion  of being severe upon the accomplished  author, whose fairness I
can but admire and wish to imitate.  And in conclusion, I would con-
gratulate Dr. Jackson, that so able an  " agent or clerk" has espoused
his cause, and only regret that Dr. Morton  has not  been equally  fortu-
nate.
y
11 
TO  THE  AMERICAN AND BRITISH PUBLIC.
  Dr. Morton has been often censured, both in this country and in Eu-
rope, for wishing to realize any thing from his discovery, by means of
Letters  Patent.   If any  small discovery or invention is made  and
patented, however worthless it may be, not a word is said;  but when a
person has labored long, and suffered much in his business and reputa-
tion,—as  in the  present  case,—to confer a blessing upon the  world
surpassed  only by vaccination, he is at once charged with cupidity and
sordid feelings, if he desires any pecuniary reward !
  When' these Letters  Patent  were taken out, and he began  to sell
rights under them, he  inserted,  as  a standing  condition in all, this
clause : that, in case the  government of the  United States,  or that of
any individual State, " at any time during the existence of this license,
be disposed to purchase  of the said Morton, &c, the whole right to
use said Morton's  invention in the United States," or in  such indi-
vidual  State, then he should  have the privilege to cancel said license
by paying back the amount received, or  a part of it proportional  to the
unexpired time of the license.
   Every eleemosynary institution in the country where surgical  opera-
tions are performed, every  charitable hospital,  and every person in
Boston who has applied, have all received  a free license granting them
the  benefit of the discovery, and the  privilege of making  use of it
whenever they choose.  With the desire of disseminating its blessings
still further among the poor, Dr. Morton requested Dr. Warren,  on the
30th of November, to give him the names of such hospitals as Dr. W.
knew  of in this country, in order that they might be presented with
the use of this new anodyne process.  Subsequently,  Dr. M.  was  at
 considerable expense to bestow this gratuity upon such hospitals, hav-
 ing sent  sets  of  apparatus  to  some, and, in every case,  directed his
 agents  to make the donation to others throughout  the  country.   This
 was accordingly  done  in  every large city,  and, I  believe,  to  almost
 every  such institution  in the  Union.  And should our Government
 come forward and refund the trifling sums he has received for the sale
 of rights, he would then most cheerfully give the unrestricted use of 
83
his discovery to the whole American people;  and he would even do so
without,  and refund these sums himself,  had he not become already
involved  in the matter.  Or,  if any  one  of our liberal and benevolent
citizens would do the same, Dr. Morton will  not  delay  a single  hour
afterwards in making it free  as  the  air we breathe.  The  amount is
but small, and certainly not more than Dr. M. has lost in making and
bringing out this discovery;  and how can any one of our wealthy cit-
izens more endear himself to the American  people than by removing
all restrictions from this great and universal blessing ?  Dr. M. has not
sold, or attempted to sell, a right under his  Letters  Patent for  more
than two months; neither is  it his intention,  as he informs me, to send
out new  agents, or make any further efforts  to extend  his discovery,
with the expectation of gaining  any remuneration.  Sales thus being
over, the amount  is not likely to increase, and therefore conld not be
burdensome.  But this is a hint thrown out for their  consideration.
   The free  use  of the ether has  been three times offered  to our
government  for the army and navy, and as often rejected, for the rea-
son, as they say,  that it is not safe,  and its administration on board
ship, or  on the  battle-field, and  in  camp, would be  attended with too
much trouble.  Dr. M.,  in  making these three offers, only required
that  the  expenses of  an  agent,  the apparatus, &c, should be paid.
It was stated this could not amount to more than a few hundred dol-
lars ; but still the offers have been as many times refused.
   Dr. Morton has  likewise  shown the same desire with regard to
giving this great boon  unshackled to Europe, and the  world.   Some
attempts have been made in  Great  Britain to procure Letters Patent;
but, by the steamer of the first  of May, he forwarded to the English
agent a note authorizing and desiring him to grant a free use of the
discovery, for the benefit of  her majesty's  subjects.   And,  by the
steamer  of the first of June,  he remitted to the same  agent one third—
or the amount desired—of the expenses attending the procuring of the
patent;  and now, so far as he  is concerned, all obstacles are removed
 to the general  and unrestricted use of the  ether in  all  cases where it
 is desired.   If the British public, therefore, have  any  cause  of com-
plaint in future  on this score, it should be directed to others, and not
 to Dr. Morton.   The  agent residing in London has the matter entirely
 in his own hands, Dr. M. wishing  me  to take this opportunity to say
 that  he  is ready and desirous  to bestow the full blessings of his dis-
 covery,  not  only  upon Great Britain  and  all her dependencies, but
 upon Europe. 
APPENDIX.
                                  A.

  " Letheon."   Lest any one  should  object to this term, found at the begin-
ning of this pamphlet, I would observe, that it is only used to avoid circumlo-
cution.  The same idea might be conveyed differently;  as, for instance, "A
process for the prevention of pain in surgical operations ;" but the name given
to the discovery in question answers the same purpose, and has the further rec-
ommendation of brevity.   It may be objected  to, as taking the term out of its
original meaning and giving it a somewhat new signification ;  but, once accus-
tomed to the  change, it will, I apprehend, make  but  little difference.   Or, if
some think otherwise, I reply, that many words are .taken out of their former
connection, and undergo a greater or less modification, to accommodate a new
order of things.  Our language does not admit of  words for all ideas, or shades
of meaning ;  and  perfect exactness, in this respect, is wholly unattainable.
  As soon as this discovery began  to assume some importance, it was found
desirable to give it a name.  And, for this purpose, Dr. Morton called on sev-
eral  persons, among whom were Drs.  Gould, H. J. Bigelow  and  Holmes.
Dr. G. made  a list of certain words  significant  of the subject, Dr.  Bigelow
doing the  same.  Soon after, Drs. B. and M. called at Dr. Gould's office, and,
seeing his list, Dr. Morton, on catching the word "Letheon,"—the same that Dr.
B. had also put on his list—exclaimed, " That is the name the discovery shall
be christened."   Returning to his office soon after, where the writer was then
sitting, he said, " I have found  a name for the discovery, and am going to call
it Lelhion."
   About the  same time, Dr. M. received  the  following note,  which I  cannot
forbear giving in this connection.   It is from that eminent scholar, poet, and
surgeon, Dr  Holmes:
                                               Boston, Nov. 21,  1846.
   My  Dear Sir:  Every body wants to have a hand in  a great  discovery. All
I will  do  is to give you a hint or two as to name3—or  the name—to be applied
 to the state produced and the agent.
   The state  should, I think, be called "Anaesthesia." This signifies insensi-
 bility—more particularly (as used by Linnaeus and Cullen) to objects of  touch.
 (See Good—Nosology, p. 259.)
   The adjective will be "Anaesthetic."   Thus we might say the state of An-
 esthesia, or  the anesthetic state.  The means employed would be properly
 called the anti-aesthetic agent.  Perhaps it might be allowable  to say  anaes-
 thetic agent, but this admits of  question. 
85
  The words anti-neuric,  aneuric,  neuro-leptic, neuro-lepsia,  neuro-stasis,
etc., seem too anatomical; whereas the change is  a physiological one.  I
throw them out for consideration.
  I would have a name pretty soon, and consult some  accomplished scholar,
such as President Everett or Dr Bigelow, senior, before fixing upon the terms,
which will be repeated by the tongues of every civilized race of mankind.  You
could mention these words which I suggest, for their  consideration ;  but there
may be others more appropriate and agreeable.
                            Yours respectfully,
                                                    O. W. HOLMES.
  Dr. Morton.
                                   B.

  Having already given an  instance  of Dr.  Jackson's penchant for laying
claims to other  persons'  discoveries, and of  his  anxiety  to  go down to
immortality by  clinging on  to the discovery of some  one more fortunate
than  himself, and  Dr.  J. having given  an  unqualified denial to all  my
statements,  I will remark that I have before me a letter from Prof.  Morse, in
which is the  following sentence :  " I have received your pamphlet, and, so far
as Dr. Jackson and myself are concerned,  it is correct."
  But there is a sequel to this matter of the Telegraph, and  along correspon-
dence between Dr. Jackson and Prof. Morse, which  I  expect soon to lay be-
fore the public.   This will be a feast to those who are curious in such matters,
and will well repay the perusal, showing how one may become  a  discoverer.
  In the mean time, however, I will add the following, by way of appendix
to the statements above referred to :—
  Prof. Morse,  as I  am informed, having occasionally, within the last few
years, heard  that, in private companies, Dr. Jackson  was still in  the habit of
boasting that he was the  inventor of the Telegraph,  always requested his in-
formant to dare Dr. J. to publish what  he thus  iterated and  reiterated in pri-
vate.  He  was also publicly  called upon, some years since, to do the same; but
he dare not, it seems,  lest his own letters in Prof. Morse's hands should con-
demn  him.   The Professor  has  been restrained from  making  them public
heretofore, out of regard to Dr J.'s family and friends,  and from  a reluctance
to injure a man of science,  deservedly eminent in his particular  sphere.  He
has borne much and long with  the  Doctor, in the hope that his hallucination
would, in time, wear off, and  is still suffering severely  in foreign countries in
consequence of these unjust claims, while the Doctor clings to his hobby with
the same  fondness as ever; or did, until  a  new one came along, that prom-
ised him better speed !   I might  galvanize  into  momentary  life his exploded
claims to  improvements  in the mode  of producing  gun-cotton, but  will not,
merely remarking that, between the elusive nature of electricity,  the explosive
properties of the " Cotton," and the intangible qualities  of  the  " Gas," Dr.
J. is likely to miss of his grasp,  and fall to the ground, and that exeunt fumo will
have to be written over his claims ! 
86
                                   C.

   Frequent allusion has been made by  me to the erroneous impression made
 by the manner in which Dr. Jackson saw fit to make public his  address to the
 American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and to send it out to Europe.  And
 in  these allusions, the regret was expressed that the paper in question should
 carry  upon its face  the apparent sanction of the Academy,  and of the names
 of Dr. Warren and President Everett.  It is now in my  power, however, to
 give something like an authoritative disclaimer to such sanction—at least, from
 one influential quarter.   From a note of Mr. Everett,  now before me, I am
 permitted to make the following extract on this subject:
   " I need scarcely say,"  remarks President Everett,  "that my communica-
 tion to Dr. Jackson to address a paper on the subject (of the discovery) to the
 American Academy can, in no degree,  be regarded as giving the  sanction of
 that body to his statements.  It is  a standing regulation of the  Academy not
 to assume any responsibility either  for opinions  or  facts set forth in the me-
 moirs submitted to it.   Even if this were otherwise, it is hardly necessary to
 remark, that the Academy's sanction could not be conveyed in advance by an
 individual member."
                                  D.

  In a private letter from Paris, entitled to the highest credit, and from a dis-
interested person,  I find this  sentence:—"Dr.  Jackson has written to Mr.
------, (of Paris,)  abusing Dr.  Morton most roundly."  I do  not know the
 date of the letter from Dr. J. containing such abuse, whether earlier or later
than the following : nor does  it  matter which, as either may follow the other
with perfect propriety, apparently, according to his system of ethics:—

                                            "Boston, March 1st, 1847.
To the Secretary of the Executive Committee
                 of the American  Society of Dental Surgeons :—
  Mr.  W. T. G. Morton, Dentist, entered  his name with me as a student of
medicine, March 20th, 1844, and  attended to practical anatomy, in the Massa-
chusetts 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 particularly important to  the  Surgeon
Dentist.  He also  studied  Bell's and other standard works on Anatomy, and
attended  the lectures  of Drs. Warren, Hayward,  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 de-
partments, and has studied the chemical propeities of the ingredients required
for the manufacture of artificial teeth.
CHARLES T. JACKSON, M. D." 
87
                                                 Boston, Dec. 31, 1846.
To the Secretary of the Executive Committee
                  of the American Society of Dental Surgeons:—
  Dear  Sir,—Dr. W. T. G. Morton having requested my assistance in pre-
senting h:s name as a candidate for membership of the Society, I am 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.
  He has been  a student  in medicine with C.  T. Jackson, M. D., chemist; at-
tended two courses of medical lectures in Harvard University ; has received in-
structions from  me ;  and  is one of the discoverers of the " Letheon."
  I have taken  pleasure in interchanging professional thoughts with him, and
am desirous of  promoting his honorable intentions.
                  I am, respectfully,
                                 Your obedient servant,
                                                        N.  C. KEEP.
                                    E.

   I feel  constrained here to allude to several gross mis-statements contained in
Dr. Keep's communications to the Medical and Surgical Journal, and to several
newspapers, as well as in his affidavit at  the  close of  Dr. Gay's pamphlet.
Dr. K.  says," All his"  (Dr.  Moiton's)  "apparatus for  inhalation of ether
was so constructed that it was a matter, in my opinion, of absolute uncertainty,
whether the patient could receive sufficient  atmospheric air to prevent  asphyx-
ia."  In answer to this I reply, that it is well known  to every surgeon in the
hospital, and to hundreds of others, that it cannot be true.  And the fact, that
not a single serious accident has happened,  out of more than ten thousand per-
sons,  to whom  the ether has been administered in Dr. Morton's office and  by
his immediate agents, sufficiently disproves it. But even if it did not, I can in-
form  the learned  doctor  and deponent that no sort of " apparatus " whatever
has been  used in Dr. M.'s office for the last three months, he having adopted the
use of the sponge altogether !
   Dr. K. has trumpeted every where the advantages of his apparatus.   Now,
I take this opportunity to inform the public, that this famous apparatus,  which
dentists from a distance have made pilgrimages to see and examine, is  one that
he procured of Dr. Morton ;  and that the original of his fine description  of the
same  is found in Dr. Morton's specifications for letters patent.   Dr. K. is still,
or was until recently, I am informed, making use of the same apparatus, with
the addition only of the " diaper."  He also describes the ether he " prefers,"
which description is to be found almost verbatim in Drs. Jackson and Morton s
letters patent.  He has, in fact, borrowed all  he knows on the subject from oth-
ers—principally from Dr. Morton.  To this I might further add,  that a  surgeon
dentist in a neighboring town, who is writing a work on dentistry, and who had
seen  Dr. Keep's beautiful description of the apparatus he used, called, not long 
88
 Bince, on Dr.  K., to get a drawing to introduce into his book.   He stated his
 business, and desired to see the object of his search, having already seen the
 one Dr. Morton used.  Dr. K. was taken  by surprise, (as the gentleman in-
 formed the writer ;) stated that his inhaler was broken ; then, that it was out of
 order ; next,  that it was not just such a one as  he desired, and therefore de-
 clined showing it at all.  This prevarication too clearly expressed the state of
 the case, and  proved that he  was trying to pass  off, as his own, what  he had
 borrowed during his " thirty days' " tutelage under Dr. Morton.
   And hear the wisdom of this Solon in his concluding paragraph, where he
 says, while a clean apparatus is " rather  agreeable," a dirty one is "repul-
 sive" and " absolutely intolerable !"
   Dr. Keep having voluntarily brought  forward charges  affecting the  judg-
 ment and intelligence of Dr. Morton and all employed in his office,—charges
 which are absolutely groundless,—I have  been  favored with the subjoined
 affidavit:—
   I, Grenville G. Hayden, of the city of Boston, surgeon dentist, depose and
 say,—
   That I was engaged in  Dr. W.  T. G. Morton's office during the time Dr.
 N. C. Keep was in  partnership with him ; that I daily administered the vapor
 of ether to his patients ; that 1 used precisely the  same kind of apparatus (in-
 vented and patented by Dr. Morton,) employed by Dr. Keep, having the same
 valve for the free admission  of atmospheric air, the valve through which the
 vapor was inhaled, and the side valve to allow the  expired air to pass off in the
 surrounding atmosphere; and that I took  the additional precaution to  fasten
 open the valve first named, when it did not work with ease, so that the patient
 could inhale with perfect freedom.  I further say, that the apparatus described
 by Dr. Keep, in  a late article published in the Medical and Surgical Journal,
 answers precisely to that used by Dr. Morton during the partnership aforesaid ;
 and that, while Dr. Morton, and ourselves, met with almost uniform success in
 giving the vapor, Dr. Keep, on the other hand, it was generally understood in
the office, but rarely succeeded in his attempts at etherization.  I never  heard
 Dr. Keep give advice as  to  the manner of  administering the ether, and I am
 confident that he  never gave such  advice, as he was entirely ignorant on  the
subject; but, on  the contrary, often heard him  ask of those in the office  for
directions as to the mode of giving it, and frequently for assistance.

                                       GRENVILLE  G.  HAYDEN.

                 Commonwealth  of Massachusetts.
 Suffolk, ss.                                     Boston, June 21, 1847.
  Then the above-named Grenville G. Hayden personally appeared, and  made
oath that the foregoing statement, by him subscribed, is true.  Before me,

                          THOS.  S. HARLOW, Justice of the Peace. 
89
          Dr. Jacob Bigelow and the Ether Question.

  Although  the following communication,  over the initials "J. B.,"
(understood to be those of Dr. Jacob Bigelow,) appeared too late  to
find a place in the body of my " Account" of Dr. Morton's discovery,
I cannot  forbear appending it to  the pamphlet, or, at least, to so many
of the third  edition as are not distributed.  In this communication,
the matter of the discovery seems to be pressed into a nut-shell.
  As to the idea that the  " two inventors" ought " to bear their honors
meekly together," I have merely  to  say,  that Dr. Morton has in no
case departed from his  agreement  with Dr. Jackson; and it was only
after  the latter had instructed  his friend, M. Elie de  Beaumont, of
Paris, to  suppress Dr. M.'s name and all  allusion to his claims, thus,
by one bold  stroke of the pen, making  Dr.  J.  sole discoverer,  that Dr.
M. or his friends ever published  a word in defence  of his claims.  It
was then a matter of life  or death with him.  And  since, at least four
earnest attempts have been made, on the part of Dr. M. and his friends,
to have  matters  accommodated; all  of which have  been  frustrated,
however, by the duplicity of Dr. Jackson,  through his attorney, Fran-
cis B. Hayes, Esq.
   With these remarks,  I submit  the article  from the Medical and Sur-
gical Journal of 7th July :—
  Discovery of Elherism—The question settled.—The question of the legiti-
mate title  to the discovery of an  effective use of ether in obviating pain,  has
lately occupied the press with some  discussions of  much  earnestness and abil-
ity.  Various persons, not before heard of, have presented their ex post facto
claims to this  discovery;  but the public attention has settled down  upon  two
individuals, to whom the world is indebted  for all its practical benefits,  and
these are Drs.  C. T. Jackson and W. T. G. Morton. Between these two gen-
tlemen, the controversy, though  it appears to us very uselessly, is still kept up.
  We  have been told that, when this subject was first agitated before the
French Academy, a person present rose and claimed to have himself made the
discovery  several years before.   Whereupon M.  Vclpeau exclaimed,"" Sir,
you did not make this dicovery !   Else, why have you suffered thousands of the
human race to  undergo the tortures  of surgery during these years,  if it was in
your power, by a xoord, to have relieved them."
  In the case of Dr. Jackson, if he did make the discovery in 1842, as asserted,
 or even later,  he stands accountable for the mass of human misery which he has
permitted his fellow-creatures to undergo, from the time he made his discovery to
the time when  Dr. Morton made his.  In charity we prefer to believe that, up
               12 
90
 to the latter period, he had no definite notion of the real power of ether in sur-
 gery, having seen no case of its application in that science.
   Discoverers may properly be divided  into two classes, the suggesters and
 the  performers.  They may be separate,  or  identical,  but  both  are  useful.
 The latter class are sometimes indebted  to the former, but the former could do
 nothing without the  latter.  Several Portuguese navigators suggested that
 there was undoubtedly a western continent,  and Columbus discovered that
 there really was tne.  Jonathan Hull, in 1736, made a theoretical steamboat
 on paper, and seventy vears afterwards  Robert Fulton made a practical one on
 the  Hudson.  The milkers in Gloucestershire discovered that their sore fingers,
 contracted in milking cows, prevented them  from having the small pox, and
 suggested this mode of prevention to Dr. Jenner, who, at that time, knew no
 more about vaccination than  Dr. Morton did about ether.  The power of in-
 haled ether to diminish suffering and produce stupefaction, was not only sug-
 gested but made known in London many years ago ; but its useful  application
 to surgery was not made known till the experiments in Boston in 1846.
   The public  as well as the respective friends of the parties, have given them-
 selves much trouble about the claims of  these two individuals to the greatest
 medical discovery of the  present day.  There are two  witnesses, however,
 with whom lite decision of this vexed question must ultimately rest, and these
 are the  parties themselves.  They have  made their joint  deposition, in taking
 out their patent, to the effect that they are joint discoverers in  the case.  From
 the stringency of this deposition, of the propriety of which  they themselves
 were good judges, we think no court of justice could relieve either party, in
 consequence of any after thoughts.   The public,  moreover, a tribunal who are
 very apt to get right in the end, have already  had  the sagacity io find  out,
 that, had there been no Dr. Jackson,  Dr. Morton  might never have  known the
properties of ether; and,  had there  been  no Dr.  Morton, the world  would
probably have been without  the use of  ether at the present day.  The first
 made partial experiments,  and recommended  (but did not make)  decisive ones.
 The  last, look the risk and labor necessary to demonstrate or disprove the effi-
 cacy, and, above all, the safety of the process,  which, until his time, had been
believed to be dangerous to life, on various good  authorities, from Dr. Christi-
 an to Mr.  Peabody.   It appears to us that it remains for the two inventors to
bear their honors meekly  together, however much they may seem to dislike
being in each other's company.                                    j   3