Page:The First Anesthetic, the Story of Crawford Long - Frank Kells Boland.djvu/5



Man's fight against pain, culminating in the discovery of the anesthetic properties of ether, opened a new heaven and a new earth to surgery. Human nature being what it is, it was to be expected that endless dispute regarding the discovery and the priority concerning its use would arise.

This controversy has continued for a century among proponents of Long, Morton, Jackson, and Wells. From it all has come the fact that Crawford Long admittedly performed the first operation with ether as the anesthetic agent, and made no effort to conceal the nature of the drug or to establish his priority. There is no doubt that Morton, some four years later, gave the first public demonstration of the anesthetic effects of ether, but attempted to conceal his formula.

Dr. Boland has worked tirelessly for many years to establish Long's priority, and now has added another chapter to the previously-known accounts of Long's life and times. That Jackson told Morton of the anesthetic effects of ether, there is little doubt. There is no authentic proof that he secured this information during his travels in Georgia, but Dr. Boland's hypothesis is an interesting one, and in view of Jackson's ubiquitous character, is probably correct.

Dr. Boland has produced a readable and interesting story, and has added a valuable chapter to the history of the greatest contribution to medicine.

 Daniel C. Elkin, Professor of Surgery, Emory University