Anesthesia . x-periment with ether as soon aspossible, and so, on March 30,1843, he administered ether toMr. James Venable and re-moved a small tumor from theneck. At the close of the oper-ation the patient assured Longthat he had not experiencedeven the slightest degree ofpain. This experiment was sohighly successful that Longcontinued to administer etherin surgical cases, recordingabout eight such cases between1842 and 1845. But since hiswas the narrow sphere of a lo-cal country doctor, his surgicalcases were few and his fame didnot get beyond the restrictedworld in which he lived. Hemade no
Anesthesia . x-periment with ether as soon aspossible, and so, on March 30,1843, he administered ether toMr. James Venable and re-moved a small tumor from theneck. At the close of the oper-ation the patient assured Longthat he had not experiencedeven the slightest degree ofpain. This experiment was sohighly successful that Longcontinued to administer etherin surgical cases, recordingabout eight such cases between1842 and 1845. But since hiswas the narrow sphere of a lo-cal country doctor, his surgicalcases were few and his fame didnot get beyond the restrictedworld in which he lived. Hemade no secret of his discovery,but did not advertise the fact until others had laid claim to the honor.^ the towel, and I kept up the influence by holding it still to the patients patient was entirely unconscious—no struggling—patient passive in thehands of the operator. ^ The original bill for services of Long to Mr. Venable is still in existence, andis as follows: James Venable to Dr. C. W. Long, Fig. 2.—Crawford W. Long. 1842. Jan. Mch. May June 28 Sulphuric Ether $ .25 30 Sulphuric Ether and Exsecting tumor 13 Sul. Ether 25 6 Exsecting tumor 2. 00 $ 10 ANESTHESIA Long not only used ether upon patients, but behind closed doors headministered it to a medical student, and had the student adminis-ter the anesthetic to him, in order to discover the physiological ac-tion of the drug. Owing to the prejudice and ignorance of the popu-lace, Long was prevented from using ether in as many cases as he mighthave. In a very scientific spirit he administered ether to a negro boyhaving two fingers to be amputated, removing one finger under the in-fluence of ether and the second without ether. He did this to provethat insensibility to pain was due to the agent used. Dr. Long is necessarily deprived of the larger honor which wouldhave been his due had he not delayed years after the universal acceptanceof surgical anesthesia. It is also to be regretted that his publishe
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