From Ether Frolics to the OR
What Do You Mean '‘The Operation’s Over?
Crawford Williamson Long
(Long is a staff patient medical
ward on second floor)
Crawford Williamson Long
was born in Danielsville, Geor
gia, in 1815. lie entered Frank
lin College—now the Univer
sity of Georgia—at the age of
14 and then studied at Transyl
vania College in Kentucky. lie
received his M.U. degree from
the University of Pennsylvania
in 1839. Following graduation
he spent a year in New York
and in 1841 returned to Georgia
and began a practice in the vil
lage of Jefferson. He was then
26 years old.
The village of Jefferson was
about 140 miles from a railroad
and was in what today would
probably be called the “back
woods” of Georgia. Dr. Long’s
daughter wrote of the area in
which her father first practiced
medicine: ‘ ‘ Much of the time in
winter the dirt roads were im
passable for vehicles, swamps
were undrained and streams
were forded. A journey of twen
ty miles was often an all day
expedition full of thrills and
dangers. ’ ’
‘Laughing Gas’
Although the village was not
“on the main roads,” the news
reached its inhabitants telling
of the wandering “chemistry”
lecturers who were visiting
some of the major cities in the
South and using nitrous oxide
—more commonly called
“laughing gas”—to provoke
“exhilaration, excitement and
mirth-provoking antics,” much
to the delight of their audi
ences.
And it wasn’t long before the
Jefferson doctor was ap
proached by some of the vil
lage’s young men, who wished
very much to be in vogue and
who wanted to “borrow” some
nitrous oxide from the doctor to
try it out among themselves.
But let’s let Dr. Long tell his
own story: “I informed them
that I had no apparatus for
preparing or preserving the
gas, but that I had a medicine
(sulphuric ether) which would
produce equally exhilarating
effects; that I had inhaled it
myself, and considered it as
safe as the nitrous oxide gas....
They w'cre so much pleased with
the exhilarating effects of ether,
that they afterwards inhaled it
frequently and induced others
to do so, and its inhalation now
became fashionable in this
country, and in fact, extended
from this place through several
counties in this part of Geor
gia.”
Dr. Long’s daughter pointed
out in a biography of her father
that by regarding ether as be
ing as safe as nitrous oxide, he
was “repudiating the teaching
he had received as a student.”
Bruises But No Pain
Ether seemed to have cap
tured the doctor’s interest. He
wrote that he had inhaled ether
upon various occasions “for its
exhilarating properties” and
afterwards discovered “bruises
or painful spots” on his body,
which had evidently been re
ceived while he was under the
influence of ether. He also ob
served the same in his friends:
“I noticed my friends, while
etherized, received falls and
bangs, which I believed were
sufficient to produce pain on a
person not in a state of anes
thesia, and on questioning them,
they uniformly assured me that
they did not feel the least pain
from these accidents.” The doc
tor explained at the end of the
report from which the above
quotes were taken: “These
facts are mentioned that the
reasons may be apparent w’hy I
was induced to make an experi
ment in etherization.”
The patient to w'honi Dr.
Long administered ether in a
surgical operation had two
small tumors on the back of his
neck and consulted Dr. Long
several times about their re
moval. Fear of pain, however,
made the man put off the opera
tion.
A Tumor and a Towel
“At length,” wrote Dr.
Long, “I mentioned to him the
fact of my receiving bruises
while under the influence of the
vapour of ether, without suffer
ing, and as I knew him to be
fond of and accustomed to in
hale ether, I suggested to him
the probability that the opera
tions might be performed with
out pain, and proposed operat
ing on him while under its in
fluence. He consented to have
one tumor removed, and the op
eration was performed the same
evening. The ether was given ...
on a towel, and when fully
iinder its influence, I extirpated
the tumor. It was encysted and
about one-half inch in diameter.
The patient continued to inhale
ether during the time of opera
tion, and when informed it was
over, seemed incredulous, until
(Continued, page 9)
The above is artist Maurice Sieglor’s conception of the first anesthetic. The
operation, for removal of a tumor, was performed by Dr. Crawford Long,
who is shown anesthetizing his patient with ether. Dr. Long later wrote: “As
an inducement to Venable to allow himself to be the subject of such experi
ment, my charge for the operation was merely nominal, $2.00, Ether, 25 cents.”
The operation was performed in Jefferson, Georgia, on March 30, 1842.
Prenatal Education Workshop Held
How to structure a i>rogram
of prenatal education for nor-
nuil pregiuuicy was the sub
ject of a workshop held April
21 and April 22 at Duke Uni
versity Jledical Center.
Approximately fifty physical
therapists, nurses and physi
cians atteiuled the workshop,
which was organized by the
Duke Departments of Physical
Therapy and Obstetrics and
Gynecology.
The i)rogram featured not
only invited speakers, but also
pertinent visual aids and dem
onstrations. A film, prepared by
the X. C. State Department of
Health, on the complete care of
the pregnant woman and a
video tape concerned with
prenatal education were shown
and on both days prenatal and
postpartum labs were held in
the j)hysieal therapy gym.
Dr. Xiles Xewton, noted psy
chologist at the University of
Mississippi Medical Center, was
a featured speaker. She spoke
on “Emotional Aspects of Preg
nancy.” Dr. N^ewton’s husband
is an obstetrician, and the
couple has worked closely to
gether on their research involv
ing the pregnant woman.
Another featured speaker
was Dr. Theodore D. Seur-
letis, Chief of the Maternal and
C’hild Health Division of the
N. C. State Board of Health.
Other workshop speakers
spoke on various aspects
of prenatal educational pro
grams.
Guest sj)eakers included Ly
dia Holley, Assistant Professor
of Public Health Administra
tion at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill, and
Mrs. Jayne Wiggins, a coun
selor at the Llaternity Center
Association in N^ew York City.
INTERCOM - 3
MARCH 1966