Page:The First Anesthetic, the Story of Crawford Long - Frank Kells Boland.djvu/33



The saying of pasteur that "In the realm of observation chance only favors the mind prepared" has but few exceptions. The life of Crawford Williamson Long, the first surgical anesthetist, proved no exception. The preparation for his epochal discovery began with his ancestry and continued with his training. His paternal grandfather, Samuel Long, was born in the province of Ulster, Ireland, and there married Ann Williamson. On the same ship with his two brothers, James and Andrew, Samuel sailed for America, and settled in the Cumberland Valley, near Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where many Scotch-Irish Presbyterians had located in 1739. The date of the arrival is not given by Mrs. Frances Long Taylor18 in the sketch of her father, Dr. Long, but it was 1761. She quotes from a letter written by a descendent of Samuel Long's brother who remained in Ireland:

"It is well known that the Longs were at the defense of Londonderry. They took an active and fearless part in the