Page:The First Anesthetic, the Story of Crawford Long - Frank Kells Boland.djvu/18

6 sometimes succeeded, after all, but the final result is rarely mentioned.

In medieval times several hypnotic sponges were in- troduced, the fumes from which were to be inhaled during operation, but as usual no cases are recorded to indicate the success or failure of the method. In the thirteenth century Hugh (Ugo) of Lucca, the leading surgeon of the day, and author of the principal book, Cyrurgia, concocted a pallia- tive sponge described as follows by Hugh's son, Theodoric, Bishop of Cervia (1205-1298): "Take of opium, of the juice of unripe mulberry, of hyoscyamus, of the juice of hemlock, of the juice of the leaves of mandragora, of the juice of the wood-ivy, of the juice of the forest mulberry, of the seeds of lettuce, of the seeds of the dock, which has large round apples, and of the water hemlock — each an ounce, mix all these in a brazen vessel, and then place in it a new sponge; let the whole boil as long as the sun lasts on the dog-days, until the sponge consumes it all, and it is boiled away in it. As often as there shall be need of it, place this sponge in hot water for an hour, and let it be applied to the nostril of him who is to be operated upon, until he has fallen asleep, and so let the surgery be performed. This being finished, in order to awaken him, apply another sponge, dipped in vinegar, frequently to the nose, or throw the juice of the root of fenugreek into the nostrils; shortly he awakes."4

His father's sponge seemed effective, but Theodoric doubted its power to produce anesthesia; so he continued to bind his surgical patients. Guy de Chauliac, whose text-book ranked first in the later Middle Ages, continued to urge the use of the inhalation of narcotics. J. Canape, physician to Francis I, wrote a book in which he speaks of the procedure of Theodoric and others, and refers to the dangers of the internal administration of narcotics. The sponge of Hugh of Lucca contained about