Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/873

 MORTON 855 craniology in existence, contained about 1,500 specimens, nearly 900 of which were human, obtained from widely separated regions of the earth. It now belongs to the Philadelphia academy of natural sciences. The result of his investigations, as bearing specially on the American aborigines or Indians, is embodied in " Crania Americana, or a Comparative View of the Skulls of various Aboriginal Nations of North and South America; to which is pre- fixed an Essay on the Varieties of the Human Species," with 78 plates and a map (folio, Philadelphia and London, 1839). His " Crania ^Egyptiaca, or Observations on Egyptian Eth- nography, derived from History and the Monu- ments," with numerous plates and illustrations (4to, 1844), was based principally on a collec- tion of 98 heads obtained by G-. R. Gliddon from the tombs and catacombs of Egypt. He also published " Observations on the Ethnology and Archeology of the American Aborigines" (Si)liman's "Journal," vol. ii., 2d series, 1846); an "Essay on Hybridity in Plants and Ani- mals, considered in reference to the question of the Unity of the Human Species" (ib., vol. iii., 1847); and "An illustrated System of Hu- man Anatomy, Special, General, and Micro- scopic" (1849). MORTON, William Thomas Green, an American dentist, born in Charlton, Mass., Aug. 9, 1819, died in New York, July 15, 1868. In 1840 he began the study of dentistry in Baltimore, and 18 months afterward settled in Boston. Among improvements introduced by him was a new kind of solder by which false teeth are fas- tened to gold plates, preventing galvanic action. In his search for means of removing the roots of old teeth without pain, he tried stimulants, even to intoxication, opium, and magnetism, but in vain. While attending lectures at the medical college in Boston in 1844, for the pur- pose of increasing his knowledge with reference to this object, he learned that sulphuric ether could be inhaled in small quantities without danger ; and after experimenting on himself, and be.corning satisfied of its safety, he admin- istered it to a man on Sept. 30, 1846, producing unconsciousness, during which a firmly rooted bicuspid tooth was painlessly extracted. After numerous other successful experiments, he com- municated their result to Dr. J. C. Warren, and at his reqiiest administered the ether on Oct. 16, 1846, in the Massachusetts general hos- rital, to a man from whose jaw was removed a vascular tumor, the patient remaining uncon- scious during the operation. From this dates the introduction into general surgery of the discovery of ethereal anesthesia. Like other great discoveries, it met with bitter profes- sional opposition. In order to protect himself against such opposition he obtained a patent for it, under the name of "letheon," in No- vember, 1846, in the United States, and in the following month in England, offering, how- ever, free rights to all charitable institutions in all parts of the country. Notwithstanding his generous offers, government appropriated his discovery to its use without compensation Several claimants for the honor of the discov- ery soon appeared, among whom was Dr. 0. T Jackson; and when the French academy ex- amined the testimony, some of the members at nrst recognized him as the discoverer: but the committee of the academy awarded the Mon- tyon prize of 5,000 francs to be equally divided between him and Dr. Morton. The latter de- clined to receive this joint award, protested against the decision of the academy, and in 1852 received the large gold medal, the Mon- tyon prize in medicine and surgery. He had to contend with many .troubles ; his business was broken up, and his house was attached by the sheriff for debt; but his indomitable will and the encouragement of friends ena- bled him to maintain his claims. He presented his first memorial for compensation to con- gress in December, 1846, but the appointed committee did not report. Strengthened by the testimonial of 'the trustees of the Massa- chusetts general hospital in 1848, which con- ceded to him the discovery of the power and safety of ether in producing anesthesia, he made a second application to congress in Jan- uary, 1849; a committee composed of physi- cians reported that he was entitled to the merit of the discovery, but they did not rec- ommend any pecuniary remuneration. In De- cember, 1851, he made a third appeal to con- gress, and his memorial was referred to a select committee ; the report of the majority award- ed the honor of the discovery to him, and in April, 1852, a bill was reported appropriating $100,000 as a national testimonial, on condi- tion that he should surrender his patent to the government. This bill was not acted upon directly, but having been brought before the senate as an amendment to the army appro- priation bill, it was defeated. In 1853 an amendment to the appropriation bill was of- fered, granting $100,000 to the discoverer of practical anaesthesia; after a warm debate it passed the senate, 26 to 23, but failed in the house. In 1854 a similar bill passed the senate by 24 to 13, but was lost in the house. In the same year Morton attempted to obtain from the president a recognition of the validity of his patent, supported by the recommenda- tion of 150 members of congress that the right to use his discovery be purchased for the pub- lic service, or that the government respect its own patent and discontinue its use ; after two years' delay the president informed him that whenever it was decided in the courts that the government had violated his patent, it 'would pay. At this defeat his creditors became im- portunate, and reduced him to utter poverty ; but in the winter of 1856-'7 a plan for a na- tional testimonial was instituted in Boston, and an appeal was published signed by many of the principal physicians and merchants, in which they asserted an almost universal con- currence of the professional and other citizens