JACKSON, CHARLES T. 



JAPAN. 



411 



when he made geological journeys through the 

 Alpine and Apennine regions and in Sicily. 

 Being in Vienna during the cholera epidemic, 

 he dissected over two hundred bodies, and 

 made minute reports of his observations, which 

 were published in the "Boston Medical Maga- 

 zine " of 1832. While pursuing his studies in 

 Paris, his attention was roused by the recent 

 discoveries in electricity and magnetism. He 

 procured the best attainable apparatus, and 

 was absorbed in experiments to utilize this 

 power for telegraphy, when he took passage 

 for New York on the packet-ship Sully, in 

 October, 1832. On the voyage his frequent 

 theme was the possibility of an electric tele- 

 graph, and he detailed the means by which 

 it could be constructed. Among his fellow- 

 passengers was Samuel F. B. Morse, a portrait- 

 painter from New York, who was afterward 

 President of the American Academy of De- 

 sign. Dr. Jackson maintained, and supported 

 his allegation by the testimony of other pas- 

 sengers of the Sully, that Mr. Morse had no 

 previous acquaintance with the subject of elec- 

 tricity, and that the model constructed by 

 Morse in 1835, and afterward patented by him, 

 was in reality invented by Dr. Jackson. In 

 the mean time he had settled in Boston as a 

 practicing physician, though his attention was 

 chiefly bestowed on the sciences of chemistry, 

 mineralogy, and geology. In 1834 he did con- 

 struct and work a telegraph, but it was applied 

 to no practical use, nor was this possible until 

 after the discovery of Daniell's sustaining bat- 

 tery in 1837. Mr. Morse asserts only that his 

 machine was perfected in 1840. In 1844 the 

 electric telegraph between Baltimore and Wash- 

 ington, the first in the United States, was put 

 in operation. But in 1838 Sir William Cooke 

 and Sir Charles Wheatstone had successfully 

 constructed a telegraph line between Padding- 

 ton and West Drayton, in England. The de- 

 bate as to the date of their inventions between 

 Dr. Jackson and Mr. Morse was unnecessary, 

 as the merit of priority clearly rests with their 

 English rivals. What Mr. Morse can claim 

 with justice is an improvement in the method 

 of telegraphing, while Dr. Jackson seems to 

 have been the author of the theory. Dr. Jack- 

 son organized the geological survey of New 

 York, on a plan which was authorized by the 

 Legislature of that State in 1844. He made 

 two expeditions to Lake Superior, and was the 

 first to announce the mineral wealth of that 

 region. In 1847 he was appointed to survey 

 the mineral lands of the United States in Up- 

 per Michigan. In 1850 he published a valua- 

 ble report. Dr. Jackson began his experiments 

 in anaesthetics as early as 1834. In 1837 he suc- 

 ceeded in reducing himself to unconscious- 

 ness, followed by no injurious consequences, 

 by inhaling pure sulphuric ether mixed with 

 atmospheric air. He gave no special pub- 

 licity to his discoveries, and, some years later, 

 two physicians who had studied with him laid 

 claim to the discovery of anaesthesia Dr. Mor- 



ton through the use of ether, and Dr. Wells 

 by means of nitrous-oxide gas. The first prac- 

 tical use of anaesthesia produced by ether was 

 in 1846, when it was successfully administered 

 to a patient from whose jaw a vascular tumor 

 was removed. This operation was performed 

 in the Massachusetts General Hospital at the 

 instance of Dr. J. C. Warren. Dr. Jackson 

 and Dr. Morton both assisted. The beneficent 

 agency of anaesthetics was at once acknowl- 

 edged from end to end of the land. Dr. Jack- 

 son did not desire to withhold their use from 

 the faculty. Dr. Morton patented his process. 

 Dr. Wells, after several failures, not finding 

 himself a prophet in his own country, sailed 

 for Europe, where he convinced the Medical 

 Society of France that he had made a notable 

 discovery. Dr. Jackson appealed to the French 

 Academy of Sciences. After a patient hear- 

 ing of the rival scientists, that body decreed 

 that two Monthyon prizes, of the value of 

 twenty-five hundred francs, should be awarded, 

 one to Dr. Jackson for the general discovery of 

 etherization, and the other to Dr. Morton for 

 the practical application of it to surgery. In 

 this way they fully recognized the value of 

 the agent thus newly discovered and applied. 

 Another claimant has appeared, Dr. Crawford 

 W. Long, of Athens, Georgia. Congress has 

 been appealed to to decide the point, and do 

 honor to the benefactor of suffering humanity. 

 In New England, New York, and Pennsylva- 

 nia, a petition was numerously signed by the 

 medical fraternity, urging a recognition of Dr. 

 Jackson. This brought out a counter-petition, 

 showing that his opponents had divided the 

 opinions of the profession. Dr. Jackson was 

 the recipient of various foreign orders. He 

 published, in 1863, a " Manual of Etherization, 

 with a History of its Discovery." These con- 

 troversies embittered him, and irritated his 

 mind, or it may be that " great wits to mad- 

 ness sure are near allied." Dr. Jackson became 

 insane. In 1873 it was necessary to commit 

 him to the asylum, where he lingered until his 

 death, August 29th, at Somerville, Massachu- 

 setts. 



JAPAN, an empire in Eastern Asia. The 

 sovereign bears the title of " Tenno " or " Mi- 

 kado." The reigning Mikado, Muts-Hitu, was 

 born at Tokio, September 22, 1852, and suc- 

 ceeded his father, Komei-Tenno, in 1867. He 

 was married on December 28, 1868, to Prin- 

 cess Haruko, born April 17, 1850, daughter of 

 Prince Idchidgo. There is no regular law of 

 succession, and, in case of the death or abdica- 

 tion of the Mikado, the crown does not gen- 

 erally devolve upon his son, but upon either 

 the eldest or most distinguished member of the 

 Shi Shinno, the four imperial families of Japan. 

 These families are the Katzura, Arisugawa, 

 Fushimi, and Kaniu. The power of the Mika- 

 do is unlimited in temporal as well as spiritual 

 affairs. He acts through an executive minis- 

 try divided into nine departments, viz., of the 

 Imperial House, Foreign Affairs, War, Navy. 



