in the knotted brow of agony has been smoothed forever." So, too, that worldrenowned surgeon and anatomist, Dr. John C. Warren,-grave, venerable, and dispassionate, exclaimed:

"Who could have imagined, that drawing the knife over the delicate skin of the face might produce a sensation of unmixed delight!-that the turning and twisting of instruments in the most sensitive bladder might be accompanied by a beautiful dream!"

It was natural enough, certainly, that benevolence should prompt the humane surgeon to such utterances of congratulation, for it supplied to him a desideratum, long sought, for the relief of the excruciating pain they were necessarily obliged to inflict in the practice of their profession. For screaming, and struggles, and intense suffering under the surgeon's knife, etherization substituted complete exemption from pain, associated in some with the quietude, mental and corporeal, of deep sleep; in others, with pleasing dreams, imaginary busy scenes, and sweet music; and in others, with a perfect consciousness of surrounding objects and events. The obstetrician finds in it the means of alleviating that distress with which woman has always been afflicted, when in the act of becoming a mother. To the physician it affords one of the most useful, as it is one of his most prompt, remedies. He, before, had no reliable means of relieving the spasms of tetanus; he not unfrequently failed to procure sleep, in delirium tremens, when the question was one of sleep or death; his before palliative remedy, opium, for the pain of colic, too often purchased temporary relief at the expense of an aggravation of the cause of the disease, and of increased difficulties in its cure; and he occasionally witnessed the breaking up of the system of a neuralgic patient, more as a consequence of repeated large doses of opium, than of the disease itself.

Heretofore, also, the shock of all serious operations had been formidable. The patient, however resigned and courageous,

was deeply impressed in system; the pulse became feeble, the surface cold and pale, the eye dim, respiration troubled, and the whole powers of life brought low. With the use of ether, this is otherwise. Parturition may take place, thighs may be amputated, stones extracted, tumors removed, dentistry in all its branches per formed; the chief deviations from the normal characters of health being, in all these cases, such as are known to be the effects of ether—and, accordingly, both manageable and transient. In the army, it has been found of incalculable service, in cases requiring the use of the probe and and knife,

the sadly ample opportunity in this field during the war in the Crimea, in Mexico, and on the battle-grounds of the South, adding fresh triumphs to the discovery.

It will be interesting to give, at this point, an account of the first surgical operation performed under the influence of ether, the result of which so fully demonstrated this glorious truth of science. It occurred at the Massachusetts General Hospital, the operator being Dr. Hayward.

In his own narration of the circumstances of this deeply interesting and most important occasion, Dr. Hayward says: "It was my fortune to perform the first capital operation on a patient rendered insensible by the inhalation of sulphuric ether. It rarely falls to the lot of a professional man to be the witness of a scene of more intense interest. The operating-room was crowded; many were obliged to stand. Besides the class of students in attendance on the lectures, numbering more than one hundred, and many of the principal physicians and surgeons of the city and neighborhood, there were present several clergymen, lawyers, and other individuals, from the various callings of life. When I entered the theater, before the patient was brought in, I found it, to my surprise, filled in every part, except the floor on which the table stood, with persons on whose countenances was depicted the almost painful anxiety with which they awaited the result of the experiment they were about to witness. I simply told them

that I had decided, with the advice of my colleagues, to allow the patient on whom I was to operate, to inhale an article which was said to have the power of annulling pain. The patient was then brought in. She was a delicate looking girl of about twenty years of age, who had suffered for a long time from a scrofulous disease of the knee-joint. It had at length suppurated; there were extensive openings into the cavity of the joint; the cartilages were ulcerated, and partly absorbed; the bones carious, and symptoms of hectic fever had already made their appearance. As soon as she was well arranged on the table I told her that I should let her breathe something which I hoped would prevent her from suffering much from the operation, and that she need not be afraid of breathing it freely." The critical nature of this case can easily be appreciated, even by the unprofessional mind, and the result is fraught with deep and romantic interest.

It being desirable that the amputation should be performed as rapidly as possible, Dr. Hayward decided to accomplish it by means of the flap operation. One person was to compress the artery, another to withdraw the flaps, a third to hand the instruments, and a fourth to watch the pulse. Dr. Hayward grasped the patient's limb with his left hand, and held the amputating knife behind him in his right, carefully concealed from her view. The mouth-piece of the inhaling instrument was then put into her mouth, and she was directed to take long inspirations. After breathing in this way a short time, the nostrils were compressed, so that all the air that went into the lungs must first pass through the machine, and of course be mixed with the vapor of the ether. She breathed with perfect ease, and without struggling, and in about three minutes from the time the instrument was put into her mouth, Dr. Morton said, 'She is ready.' A death-like silence reigned in the room; no one moved, or hardly breathed. The doctor passed the knife directly through the limb, and brought it

out as rapidly as he could, and made the upper flap. The patient gave no sign of feeling or consciousness, but looked like one in a deep, quiet sleep. Every other person in the room took a full inspiration that was distinctly audible, and seemed to feel that they could now breathe again. The second flap was then made, the bone sawed, five arteries were tied, and as the doctor was tightening the ligature upon the sixth and last she groaned, being the first indication of sensibility that had been given. Nothing more was done than to bring the flaps together, cover the stump with cloths dipped in cold water, and apply two or three turns of a roller to keep them in place. Her consciousness soon returned; she was wholly ignorant that the operation had been done! For some time she would not believe it, and said that she had felt nothing till the doctor tied the last artery. The operation lasted a minute and three-quarters.

The phenomena, or effects, produced by the administration of ether, are extremely various, depending much, of course, upon the temperament, habits, and condition of the patient. Sometimes the dream is exquisitely charming, and the patient seems passed into another and a better world. Sometimes the opposite state obtains, the patient betraying manifest uneasiness while in the trance, by restless, staring, anguished eye-balls, by groaning, and by wrestling movements of the body. And these are not loath to emerge from the effects of the drug, while the former part with them grudgingly. One poor girl, for instance, had struggled hard during an amputation, yet felt no pain; and, on coming to herself, thankfulness was expressed in every feature, as well as by her blithe tongue, for she "thocht the deil had a grip o' her a' the time.”

off as the din of ordnance. Sometimes, in youth, the dream has been "all fun;" and the dreamer has been anxious to be back into the midst of his pleasant pastime again, even at the cost of another toothdrawing. The patient, if a wanderer, and then in a strange land, may dream pleasantly of home-" she had been home, it was beautiful, and she had been gone a month; so said one poor woman in the midst of what, without the ether, would have been agony.

Sometimes the dream passes steadily on to completion, sometimes it is abruptly closed by some critical procedure on the part of the operator-the extraction of a tooth, with a sudden wrench, for example. A soldier dreams of guns and bayonets, and strife, and clamor; a sailor, of ships, and storms, and grog; an Irishman of whiskey and shillalahs, and a "skrimmage; a boy of marbles, tops, and "lots. of fun;" a mother, of home and children; a girl, of gala-days and finery.

A tippler fancies he is in the grog-shop, and there he may enjoy himself hugely or he may dream "his wife came to fetch him." Quarrelsome men grow pugilistic, and coats may be doffed with appropriate accompaniment of word and action. Young men, having some one in their list of female acquaintance dearer than the rest, grow active lovers, and in lone walks, earnest conversations, or soft whisperings, seem to make rare progress in their suit. The swearing and dissolute may indulge in oaths and profane jests. The man of fervent piety, who is habitually looking heavenward, may not only suppose himself translated to the realms of bliss, but may take part in imagined exercises there. A patient of this class was known thus to employ himself immediately after a painful operation; four verses of a psalm were sung by him very loudly, with his eyes fixed, his body in a tremor, and intense fervor shown in every movement; he would not be interrupted, and could scarcely be prevailed upon to leave the operation-room, seeing that he found himself so wonderfully happy there-said he

had been in heaven, and had seen his Savior; on reaching his bed, he fell on his knees and was rapt in prayer.

Not always, however, is the dream consistent with the character. Among the instances showing this, is that of a young, simpering and innocent damsel, who, addressing a most amiable and excellent dentist, knitting her brow into something more than a frown, clenching her fist, and scowling defiance, vowed in the most uproarious tone and manner, that if he ventured near her with his profane touch, "big blackguard, as he was, she'd knock him down." And so, too, staid, demure, elderly persons, have, in most abandoned gayety, insisted on the operator forthwith joining them in a joyous polka!

In plain language, as in plain fact-says an English reviewer, whose interesting resumé is here quoted-the patient is drunk. Sometimes the consciousness of this condition is made apparent by the sensations which are induced in the early period of inhalation. "You'll have me drunk!" cried one; "Oh, you rascals! I know what you are;" evidently supposing that he had fallen into loose society, and that his companions had a design on him. But it is on coming out of the trance, that the intoxication shows most. The patient sways as he tries to stand; is garrulous, sprightly, and humorous; and often insists on shaking hands with all and sundry. The unsteadiness of gait, and lightness of head, sometimes have an inconvenient duration, as is illustrated in the case of a most worthy lady, who, leaving the dentist too soon, had to grope her way along the railing of the street, in noonday, and ran no slight risk of losing all reputation for sobriety.

Among the many amusing examples of the effect produced by the administration. of the anaesthetic-in addition to its primary quality of annulling pain-the following may be cited: An Irish woman, who had never heard of ether previous to calling upon the dentist for the purpose of having a large molar tooth extracted, took it on being told that she would suffer no

jected, saying that "he was not asleep, and that he trusted nothing would be done till he was asleep." For full twenty minutes more the inhalation went on, the man confused and talkative, but wide-awake, and occasionally expressing very emphatically his conviction that "it would not do." At length, however, while in this wakeful state, the operation was begun. Incisions were made on the shin, and flaps were dissected off so as to expose the bone beneath. A portion of this was sawn and clipped through, and then the dead bone was removed. Only during the clipping of the bone with strong straining pliers did any sign of feeling escape from the patient, who was busy inhaling all the while, and now and then protesting that "it wouldn't do." The operation occupied about ten minutes, and, from the highly sensitive nature of the parts involved, must have been attended with excruciating suffering under ordinary circumstances. After it was over, the operator said to the patient

"I suppose you won't let me operate to-day?"

"Certainly not," replied the patient, "it won't do; I must be asleep. The thing hasn't succeeded with me, and I am sure it can't succeed with any one else, for I did everything I could to get asleep, for my own sake, and I'd do anything to plase you."

"Then you won't even let me make a cut into the leg?"

"No; I must be asleep; we can try it another time."

This plain proof of his utter unconsciousness of the operation having been performed was acknowledged by the spectators in a hearty round of applause. The patient then sat up, and, seeing the wound, burst into an immoderate fit of laughter, saying

"No doubt there's blood, or something very like it; but I haven't felt a single thing done to my leg. That bates the globe!"

On being asked decidedly as to his having felt anything, he repeatedly answered "Not a ha' porth." He got into

amazing spirits, and refused to leave the room until he had told "all about the toldrums of the business." And then, with the manner of a tipsy man, and very happy, he kept surgeons and students in a roar of laughter for some minutes with a narrative of his condition during the inhalation, which, Irish-like, seemed to have an interminable medley of imaginary fights and "killings" going on around him.

It has already been stated, that Drs. Jackson, Morton, and Wells, respectively, claim the honor of having discovered this great fact in chemical and medical science, and the claim of each is supported by a formidable army of names and evidence. One of the most candid investigators of the character and weight of these several and conflicting claims, has presented the case in this light, namely: That to Dr. Wells unquestionably belongs the merit of having first demonstrated the happy idea of deadening sensibility in painful operations, by using both nitrous oxide and sulphuric ether; that to Dr. Jackson, the thanks of the world are due for lending that influence which his well-earned reputation qualified him to do, in establishing confidence in the public mind in the use of sulphuric ether, as a substitute for the nitrous oxide; and that, to Dr. Morton's indefatigable exertions in securing the attention of leading medical men to the subject, was due the rapid adoption of sulphuric ether in connection with the practice of surgery. But, singularly enough, though the French Academy has acknowledged, by pecuniary and honorary awards, the indebtedness of mankind to the American discoverers of this vast blessing to humanity, the American government has thus far failed to confer any reward upon any one of the distinguished claimants. A costly and superb monument, designed and executed with consummate skill by Ward, the eminent sculptor, and erected at the cost of a wealthy citizen of Boston, in honor of this great discovery, now adorns the public. garden of that city.