ANESTHESIA. 
311 
ANAESTHESIA. 
By F. Torrance, D. V. S., Winnipeg, Manitoba. 
A Paper read before the Manitoba Veterinary Association, Feb. i6, 1897. 
Last year the city of Boston celebrated the jubilee of the dis¬ 
covery of anaesthesia. Fifty years ago a dentist of Boston, 
named Morton, discovered that the inhalation of ether produced 
insensiblity to pain, and the first surgical operation under ether 
took place in the Massachusetts General Hospital on October 
16, 1846. A year later. Dr. James Simpson, then Prof, of Mid¬ 
wifery at Kdinborongh, gave to the world the priceless boon of 
chloroform, and for many years had to wage an unceasing war 
against ignorance, prejudice, and even religious bigotry, before 
the world accepted the gift at its true value. It is hard for ns 
to realize at the present day the storm of opposition that arose 
in many quarters against the introduction of chloroform. Hven 
in the medical profession it was not received with open arms by 
any means. “ Surgeons probably were inclined to look askance 
at a thing which came to them from an obstetrician. Moreover, 
it was a prevalent belief among them that the pain of an oper¬ 
ation was a useful stimulant to the patient. On this ground the 
chief of the army medical staff recommended the surg^eons dnrino- 
the Crimean war not to use choloroform. Fanatical clero-vmen 
denounced its use in labor as an impious attempt to evade the 
curse pronounced by the Almighty on Eve and all her daughters. 
Simpson fought these men with their own weapons, pointing 
out that the first operation under an ansesthetic had been per¬ 
formed by God himself, when he cast Adam into a deep sleep 
before removing his rib. The fight was an obstinate one, but 
Simpson was victorious, and chloroform won the place which it 
has held for many years, as the anaesthetic most widely used.” 
In the veterinary, as well as the medical and dental profes¬ 
sions, we owe a debt of gratitude to those men, who, taking their 
lives in their hands, experimented upon themselves with various 
drugs until their search was rewarded by the discoveries of ether 
and chloroform, and it is for ns to bring our modest tribute to 
