Show non or co 9 d fl UG 1 0 defor aa 24 L 0 SC of P I 1 7 I 1 I 1 J N 4 IN rg t 1 7 4 Y by PROEHL HALLER JAKLON DD to the galaxy galady of soldiers and statesmen honored A with places in statuary hall at the nations capital the hall of fame a country doctor he Is dr crawford williamson long of georgia declared by many authorities to have discovered the value of anesthesia in surgical operations as a preventive of pain doctor long Is the first of Geor georgias glas distinguished sons to be honored with a memorial in the hall ball of fame each state is permitted to honor two of its native sons with statues and on starch march 30 a group of georgians headed by gov clifford walker journeyed to washington to unwell unveil the statue cut from marble by 3 massey rhind and accepted by congress under a resolution introduced by senator harris ls this Is the second memorial howver ever placed in the liall hall of fame to the discoverer of anesthesia massachusetts already has put one there to the memory of william T G morton a dentist of boston who tor for ft a long time disputed with doctor long the right to be known as the first to lo tise ether in deadening pain in a sur fecal elbal operation but various authorities have acknowledged doctor longs claim to the honor and it seems to have bave been established thoroughly that the georgia physician as early as march 30 80 1842 performed a painless operation with the aid of sulphuric ether the monument therefore was un on the anniversary of that date this newest memorial Is only one of several erected to doctor long in this connection in the state capitol at atlanta there Is a life size portrait of at doctor long placed there by a friend to honor him for his great discovery As early as march 30 1912 the university of pennsylvania unveiled a bronze medallion in the georgians honor two years before that date at jefferson in jackson county georgia where doctor long had bad lived and where his first use of ether in a surgical operation took place his friends and old neighbors and admirers nad fiad erected a marble shaft in his memory on the campus of the georgia state university at athens there Is also a marble tablet telling of doctor longs discovery and the republic of france tas has paid tribute to this country doctor of the south for the part he be played in making surgery painless they tell the story too of the late king edward VII VH who when lie awakened following an operation tor for appendicitis asked who had discovered anesthesia those in attendance replied dr crawford long your majesty the kings phy recognized doctor longs claim to the honor doctor long was waa the son of james jamea and elizabeth ware long and was born in ga november 1 1815 lie ile was graduated from franklin college now the university of georgia in 1835 standing second in his class and went from there to the university of pennsylvania to study medicine lie was graduated from that university in 1839 and for a year was employed in a new york hospital this work did not appeal to him and he returned to georgia to take up the practice of medicine ile he settled in jefferson jackson county after he began the practice of medicine in jefferson as a young man doctor long became popular ile he was companionable and hla his office was made the rendezvous for the younger people of the community who frequented it for what they termed ether frolics they would inhale nitrous oxide gas and while under its influence do many ridiculous things these parties became quite a tad fad doctor long wished to encourage his young friends in their fun but lie he found it difficult to supply them with sufficient nitrous oxide to meet their demands with the inadequate laboratory equipment he possessed he found it impossible to prepare this element in quantities so he be permitted them to we use sulphuric ether and ether parties became becam the rage in the winter of 1841 42 2 the young doctor observed that ether deemed to make those who partook of it insensible to pain one night at a frolic a youth slipped and fell lie ile dislocated his ankle but suffered buffered no pain then the young practitioner concluded that it if ether inhaled in fun could make a person oblivious to pain it could be employed in a scientific way to stop pain in operations among the young men of doctor longs acquaintance was james M venable who suffered from tumors in his neck doctor long suggested ho he could put him under the influence of sulp sulphuric buric ether and remove the tumors without pain the young patient was game he consented to let long do the job doctor long administered the anesthetic and when venable awoke he would not believe that he be had bad received relief this operation was performed on march 30 1812 1842 it was waa followed by another as shown by the bill rendered for the service this bill was as follows james venable to dr 0 C IV long dr 1812 18 12 zan jan sulfuric Sulfur lc ether 25 5 march ether and ex seating tumor may sulfuric ether 25 june eth tumor it Is recorded that within a few months time doctor long performed as many as eight painless 0 operations orations erat ions through the employment of 0 the e new anesthetic it was generally accepted 3 in the neighborhood that he could do it no great stir was made over 1 it end and the practitioner exerted no elfort effort to acquaint the medical world with hla his achievement in the meantime W T 0 was experimenting in the boston office and laboratory of dr 0 T jackson ile he became interested la in dentistry and made several contributions to that science first trying ether on sail animals mals he extended the experiments alcohol laud laudanum and galvanic shocks had bad hitherto been used as anodynes ano dynes in dentistry being a dentist he could not perform surgical operations but on october 16 aw in the massachusetts general hospital in boston dr J 0 warren acting upon the idea of doctor morton did perform a public operation upon a person anesthetized with ether and the medical world of the east was advised of it this was more than four years after the venable operation there were four witnesses to the removal of the venable tumor young students in doctor longs office but they seem to have kept as quiet about it as he did eventually the dispute as to the right of discovery and the honor of having performed the first operation reached congress in 1819 1849 doctor morton asked congress to recognize his claim but senator william 0 dawson of georgia Georg lh fought so effectively for doctor long that mortons Mor tons ambition was defeated no action was wag taken it must be sold said in justice to doctor jackson that before he died he be admitted in full the justice of the claim of doctor long dr J marion sims of new york in 1877 after a complete inquiry into the controversy declared that doctor longs right to the honor was unmistakable and so reported to the virginia medical society the unveiling of the memorial in statuary hall at washington ban placed in imperishable marble the story of this great achievement it it Is curious that every rival of doctor long for this honor came to a dramatic end dr horace wells overcome by the rejection of his claim by the french academy committed sul clde cide morton died from congestion ol of the brain induced by excitement avei an article seeking to deprive him of his bl honors and jackson like wells be came insane from the contention over the disputed honors and died in an asylum doctor long himself in the fullness of service was stricken with apoplexy at the bedside of a patient the discovery alleviating mans suffering came not only from a scientist but from a man of large sympathies doctor long loved people and horses enjoyed cards and the theater in hir hi reading of which he was very fond he shared his pleasure with the famias circle doctor long died in attendance or oc an obstetrical case his last words be ing directions tor for the recovery of the patient |