4o6 THE POPULAR SCIEXCE MONTHLY, 



ton sought from him means to prevent pain when extracting teeth, it 

 is doubtful if the world would have had the advantage of the discov- 

 ery for years, if ever. The truth is, Dr. Jackson was a great genius 

 and had remarkable intuitive perceptions of scientific truths, but, 

 from some peculiarities hard to comprehend, he often contented him- 

 self with enunciating what he recognized as fact, without striving to 

 substantiate it. He himself admitted his shortcomings in this re- 

 spect. "When Dr. Gray had wi'itten his essay upon the discovery of 

 ether, claiming for Dr. Jackson all the merits of its introduction, I ob- 

 jected to his view of the matter, and took the ground that the world 

 was indebted to both Jackson and Morton for the great boon ; to one 

 as the scientific discoverer and suggester of its use in surgical oper- 

 ations, to the other for his apj^lication of it and its' practical intro- 

 duction. 



" Dr. Jackson, learning of this, ujDon meeting me remarked that I 

 was thought not to be friendly to him in the matter. I then said : 

 * Doctor, you have known for a long period what Mr. Morton is now 

 demonstrating to be true, but have allowed it to remain a dormant 

 fact in your mind. If he had not sought information from you, might 

 it not have remained so for years longer ? ' He answered that pos- 

 sibly it might. I think it may fairly be said that, without both Jack- 

 son and Morton, the world might have been none the happier for what 

 either would have done ; one supplemented the other. To them to- 

 gether belongs the great honor of having served humanity beyond 

 what language can express." 



Dr. Jackson was the first person in this country to establish a 

 chemical laboratory for students ; and many of the chemists of the 

 last half-century were indebted to him for their earlier instruction in 

 the analyses of mineral bodies. While engaged in giving instruction 

 of this kind, he invented a powerful blast-lamp for alkaline fusions, 

 which was very serviceable previous to the introduction of street-gas 

 into laboratories. 



His geological explorations of the three New England States and 

 the south shore of Lake Superior were among the earliest that were 

 made in the United States. 



Dr. Jackson's scientific papers, which appeared from time to time 

 in the public journals, were numerous ; many of them were of great 

 interest and importance. 



As early as 1834 he contributed to the "Journal of the Boston 

 Society of Natural History " an article on the " Chiastolite or Made of 

 Lancaster, Massachusetts." This was followed by other papers on 

 various minerals. The published " Proceedings " of the Society, from 

 1841 till the time when he was prostrated by illness, were illuminated 

 by his frequent contributions to the discussions and papers on matters 

 of scientific interest. To " Silliman's Journal " he contributed " Analy- 

 ses of the Mineral Waters of the Azores"; "Remarks on the Geology 



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