Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 07.djvu/519

 MORTON

MOSBY

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the office of Dr. Charles T. Jackson (q. v.) in March, 1844, and in July, 1844, first applied hydro-chloric ether to the tooth of a patient be- fore applying the instrument used in filling, and he thus discovered that ether caused insensibility

to pain. He then ap- plied hydro-chloric ether to insects, birds and small quadru- peds, but with no positive results. He mati'iculated at Har- vard medical school in 1844, where he made the acquaint- ance of Dr. Joseph C. Warren (q. v.), and attended clinical lect-' ures at the Massachu- setts General hospi- tal. On September 30, 1846, he shut himself alone in a room, breathed hydro-chloric ether, and was rendered for a time insensible, as described by himself after recovering. He next administered it to a patient with a pain- ful tooth, and he extracted the tooth and brought his patient to consciousness by dashing cold water in his face. On Oct. 14, 1846, Dr. Warren sent for Morton to administer his preparation to a pa- tient then about to undergo an operation. The operation proved painless and successful. The next trial was successfully made, Nov. 7, 1846, in amputating a leg, but the profession discouraged the use of the preparation in the hospital as against the code of medical ethics, the prepara- tion being a secret of Morton's. He soon after made a free gift of the use of his discovery to the hospital, and in 1848 the trustees presented him with a silver box containing $1,000, the inscrip- tion on the box concluding, " He has become poor in a cause which made the world his debtor." He was granted a patent for his discovery in No- vember, 1846, and in Europe in December, 1846, and when he offered the free use of his patent to the army and navy both depart- ments declined to have anything to do with it. The popular opposition to its use ruined his prac- tice in Boston, and when he applied to congress for relief in 1846, and again in 1849, his claims were opposed by both Dr. Jackson and Horace Wells. In 1852 his friends obtained the introduction of a bill in congress appropriating $100,000 as a na- tional testimonial for his discovery on condition that he should surrender his patent to the U.S. government, but it failed to pass, as it did in 185.3 and 1854. The medical profession of Boston, New York and Philadelphia gave the bill tardy support in 1856, 1858 and 1860 respectively. The Vn.— 32

bill before congress was so amended as to em- brace the names of Jackson, Wells and Long as equally entitled with Morton to credit for the discovery of the application of ether as an anaes- thesia, and as amended was never acted upon. Dr. Morton received a prize of 2,500 francs from the French Academy of Sciences for the applica- tion of the discovery to surgical operations. He was also decorated by the governments of Russia and Sweden, and the commonwealth of Massa- chusetts caused his name to be placed second in the list of fifty-three immortals that adorn the dome of the State house in Boston. Dr. Nathan P. Weyman, of New York, left a history of the part taken by Dr. Morton in the ether controversy in "Trial of a Public Benefactor" (1859). Dr. Morton engaged in farming at Wellesley, Mass., and died suddenly while in Central Park, New York city, July 15, 1868.

MOSBY, John Singleton, soldier, was born in Powhatan county, Va., Dec. 6, 1833; son of Al- fred D. and Virginia I. (McLaurine) Mosby, and grandson of Catharine (Steger) Mosby and of Jane (Ware) McLaurine. His paternal ancestors were Welsh and his maternal, Scotch. He was prepared for col- lege in Charlottes- ville and was gradu- ated at the University of Virginia with hon- ors in Greek, June 29, 1852. He then studied law and practised in Bristol, Washington county. He was mar- ried, Dec. 30, 1856, to Pauline Clarke of Kentucky, and they had six children. May, Beverley, John

Singleton, Victoria Stuart, Pauline and Ada. In 1861 he enlisted in a company recruited by William E. Jones (q. v.) which formed part of the 1st Virginia cavalry, of which he became adjutant. Later he was employed as a scout at Gen. J. E. B. Stuart's headquarters, and guided Stuart's command in its movement in the rear of McClellan's army on the Chickahominy, June 14, 1862. In January, 1863, he recruited a force of cavalry in Northern Virginia with which, aided by friendly citizens of Fauquier and Lou- doun counties, he harassed the Federal lines, cut communications and destroyed supply trains. When not in active duty his men scattered for safety, with the understanding that they were to assemble at a given time and place to carry out a proposed raid. This system of warfare exasper- ated the Federal commanders who tried to capture