ANESTHETICS.
BRIEF   OF'POINTS   AND   PROOFS
IM SUPPORT OF
Petitions,  Memorials,   Resolutions  and   Letters,
FROM A LAR&E NUMBER. OF THE
AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES, PROFESSORS AND
  SUROEONS OF THE PRINCIPAL COLLEGES AND HOSPITALS, SURGEONS,
   OFFICERS AND WOUNDED SOLDIERS OF THE FEDERAL ARMY, &c.
Laid before the Committee of Ways and Means, and to tvhom th»' subject had been referred
              by a joint resolution of the House, March, 1864,

Urging  Compensation  for tlie  Use of Anesthetics

               IN"  THE ARMY AND NAVY. -
Report of the  Committee of the Senate on  Military Affairs and the Militni. 3d Session
                     37th Congress, No. 89.
                 WASHINGTON :
H. Pdkinhorn, Printer, 375 and 377 Dctreet, between 6th and 7th.
                     1864. 
 
ANESTHETICS.
BRIEF  OF  POINTS   AND  PROOFS
IN SUPPORT OF
Petitions,   Memorials,  Resolutions  and  Letters,
FROM A LARGE NUMBER OF THE
AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES, PROFESSORS AND
  SURGEONS OF THE PRINCIPAL COLLEGES AND HOSPITALS, SURUEONS,
   OFFICERS AND WOUNDED SOLDIERS OF THE FEDERAL ARMY, &c.
Laid before the Committee of Ways and Means, and to whom the subject had been referred
             by a joint resolution of the House, March, 1864,

Urging Compensation for the  Use  of Anaesthetics

               IN THE ARMY AND NAVY.
Report of the Committee of the Senate on  Military Affairs and the Militia, 3d Session,
                    37th Congress, No. 89.

 U. ;. CarxArrs-i.  \fri~1e-  Cort'i'titf-et Ch  A?i )iT*'"/
j)-r/«ir-j   *>w  fyfm/jJi,ir'*~
                WASHINGTON :
H. Polkinhorn, Printer, 375 and 377 D street, between 6th and 7th.
                    1864. 
VSSCK 
INDEX.
Dr. William T. G. Morton, the Discoverer..................................................Page 5
Dr. Horace Wells—his claim as the discoverer of AniBsthetics examined..........  "  12
Dr. Charles T. Jackson—his claim examined..........................,...................  "  16
Is the discovery of any value ?..................................................................  "  24
Has the Government used and had the benefit of the discovery !.....................  il  27
Pretenders to inventions and discoveries......................«.............................  "  30 
 
ANAESTHETICS.
               BRIEF OF POINTS AND PROOFS

In support of Petitions, Memorials, Resolutions and Letters from a large number of the
   American Medical Association^ Scientific Societies, Professors and  Surgeons of the
   Principal  Colleges and Hospitals,  Surgeons, Officers  and  Wounded Soldiers of the
   Federal Army't #-c.  Laid before the Committee of Ways and Means,  and to whom the
   subject had been referred by a resolution of the House, March, 1864, urging com'
   pensation for the use of Anesthetics in the Army  and Navy.  Report of the Committee
   of the Senate on Military Affairs and the Militia, 3d Session, 37th Congress, No. 89.
                 DR. WILLIAM T.  G. MORTON,

                           The Discoverer.

   As  early as 1844,  Dr. Morton  commenced  experimenting  upon
 animals, in prosecuting his search after a preventive of pain.   Page 2
 of Report.
   In  1846, an  experiment  upon  himself  produced  insensibility.
 Page 2.
   In the spring and summer of 1846, Dj\ Morton was  prosecuting
 enquiries and experiments with regard to sulphuric ether, with a view
 to the discovery of some method of  producing insensibility to pain in
 his operations.   He did not, at all times, avow  his object.   He was
 anxious to  make the discovery, but  to keep his secret whilst prosecut-
 ing his researches.  Page 13.
   He held conversations with Mr. Metcalfe, a chemist of Boston, and
 with  Mr.  Wightman, .since Mayor of Boston,  both gentlemen of
 science, both of whom  were impressed  with the idea, that he was in
 search of an Anaesthetic; and, in their testimony,  have detailed the con-
 versations held with him.  Page 14.
   It is  in proof by Dr.  Francis Whitman and Dr. Wm. P. Leavitt, of
 Boston, that in the spring and early  summer of 1846, Dr. Morton was
 directing his attention to the discovery of an agent which should pro-
 duce insensibility to pain, and that he announced to  them in July that
 he had  succeeded.  Page 15.
   June 30,  1846, three months before the discovery  was made public,
 it appears by the statement of Richard H. Dana, Jr., attorney-at-law, pre-
 sent District Attorney of the United  States, that an article of agree-
 ment was entered into by Dr. Morton and G. G. Hayden, by which  the
 latter was to take charge of the practice of the former for a time ; Dr.
 Morton assigning, as the reason  therefor, that he wished to  give  his
attention to another matter of great importance, and which, if success-
ful, would revolutionize the  practice of dentistry.  Page 16. 
6
  Dr. Granville G. Hayden testifies to the same facts, and adds that Dr.
Morton told him he  had an idea in his head, connected with his pro-
fession,  which he thought  would be one of the greatest things  ever
known,  and he  wished to perfect it, and give  his  whole time and
attention to its development.  Being pressed by Hayden as to what it
was, he finally answered that it was something he had discovered which
would enable him to perform his operations without pain ; that he had
tried it upon a  dog, and described its effects, which exactly correspond
with the effects of ether on  persons.  " He urged me to inhale it, say-
ing he had done so himself.  This was in June, 1846."  Page 16.
  From that time he was continually talking to me about his discovery;
and towards the last of September intimated to me that, in some particu-
lars, his discovery  did  not  work exactly right, and,  in my presence,
was consulting his books to ascertain something  further about ether.
Page 17.
  In August or September, 1846, he said to Dr. A. A. Gould, " I will
have some way yet by  which I  will perform my  operations without
pain,"—to which Dr. Gould replied, " If he could effect that, he would
do more than  human wisdom had yet done,  or that  he expected  it
would ever do/'   Page 17.
  September 30, 1846, having perfected his discovery, he administered
the ether to Eben Frost.  Whilst under the influence of it, extracted
from him a tooth, without pain.   Page 18.
  This was the first surgical operation, of any kind, so far  as known,
ever performed  under  the  influence of sulphuric  ether, and the  first
actual demonstration of the entire success of the discovery.
  For operations performed by  Dr. Morton, at his office, in 1846, and
experiments recorded by D"r. Henry J. Bigelow, seepages 20 and 21.
  The first surgical operation, other than dental, ever performed under
the influence of an Anaesthetic, was at Massachusetts General Hospital,
Boston,  October 16, 1S46.   Dr. Morton had requested Dr Warren, of
the Hospital, to afford him an opportunity of administering his newly
discovered agent to some patient who was to be operated upon.   This
request  was complied with.   The ether was administered by Dr. Mor-
ton, unconsciousness  produced, and in the presence of  many scientific
but incredulous spectators, the operation was performed by Dr. War-
ren, with entire success, and without pain, and to the utter amazement
of all who were  present, except Dr. Morton himself. Dr. Warren says
he had been anxious to find something of  the kind proposed, and had
made repeated trial of articles without any satisfactory result.  Paqes
23, 24 and 25.
  On the first of November, 1846, Dr. Hayward took charge of the
surgical department of  the hospital, and on the next day informed Dr
Warren that he did not intend to allow the medical patients to inhale
the preparation of  Dr. Morton during his period of service, unless &ll
the surgeons of  the hospital were told what  it was, and were  satisfied of
the safety of using it.   At that time the surgeons were all ignorant of
the nature of  the fluid.  Dr. Morton was  the sole  possessor of the
secret.   Page 25.
  Dr. Hayward communicated this determination to Dr Morton, who 
7
immediately, November 6, 1846, disclosed to the surgeons the proper-
ties of the fluid, and addressed a letter to Dr. Warren authorizing its
full use in the hospitals.  Page 26.
  The nature of this disclosure will best  be understood  by referring
to the specifications which the granting  words of the patent cover.—
He  there discloses his preference for sulphuric ether to those of muri-
atic or other kinds of ethers; but adds that any such may be employed
which  will  properly produce the  state of insensibility  without any
injurious consequences to the patient. This, of course, includes chloric
ether or chloric ether  concentrated into chloroform.  The sulphuric
ether was preferred because it is equally efficient, and much more safe
than chloric ether or chloroform.
  The surgeons agreed it should be  used, and that it should  be admin-
istered to a female patient who was to undergo amputation of a leg.
  It was administered by Dr. Morton, and the amputation  performed
in the  presence of  hundreds  of  breathless spectators, including the
leading physicians  and  surgeons of Boston,  and the neighborhood,
besides distinguished clergymen, lawyers, and others, from the various
walks of life.
  This was  the  first capital operation under the influence  of the
Anaesthetic.  Pages 26 and 27.
  Dr. Bigelow says, a hundred promiscuous  cases rapidly followed.
The agent has been  adopted in our Army and  Navy; and no sum,
though told  by millions, would compensate for its loss or abandon-
ment at this day.  The value of the gift made by  Dr. Morton  to his
country is, indeed, incalculable.   But in its results it has involved the
ruin of his private fortune.  Page 28.
  The administration of it was denounced generally, and many articles
were written against it in the medical and daily journals.   Page 29.
  Dr. Gould says, physicians and surgeons closed their ears and shut
their eyes against it, and in many instances prosecutions were threat-
ened.  Page 30.
  In January,  1847, a leading New York medical journal said of it,
" The last special wonder has already arrived at the natural term of its
existence.   It has descended to the bottom of the great  abyss  which
has  already engulphed so many of its  predecessors, novelties, &c."
Page 30.
  In the same  month, the New Orleans Medical Jounal said :—" That
the leading surgeons of Boston could be captivated by such an  inven-
tion as this, excites our amazement." Page 30.
  A leading medical periodical, in Philadelphia, said:—" We should
not consider it entitled to the least  notice, but that we perceive, by a
Boston journal, that prominent members  of the profession have been
caught in its meshes."
  Many eminent men  in the  medical profession opposed it on the
ground that pain was  salutary,  and that  its  annihilation would be
hazardous to the patient.
  In Paris,  the announcement of the discovery was received with all
but  indifference.   Valpeau,  Roux, and Magendie, declined its use.
Page 30. 
8
   Dr. Morton was denounced as a quack, and his discovery as a hum-
buo\ ' For a time the tide was turned against him, and even the Massa-
chusetts General Ho-pital, where many operations had been performed
under the influence of the Anaesthetic, as administered by Dr. Morton,
and every one a brilliant success, temporarily  suspended the use of
this great alleviator of pain.  Page 30.
   But, nothing daunted, Dr. Morton stemmed the  torrent alone, and
leadino- men of Boston  testify  that he followed the matter up with
wonderful energy,  and encountered  difficulties which  would  have
crushed any less heroic man.  That he has devoted himself mainly to
this matter for  many years, encountering every  discouragement; and
that it  would  not  have  been in use at this day had he not followed
it up as he did.  They also state that  they regard him as one of the
greatest benefactors of mankind of the present age, and that the remu-
neration he has received  for his  great discovery is totally inadequate.
Page 32.
   Dr. Edward Warren, of Boston, states that Dr. Morton has devoted
the past fourteen years almost exclusively to this discovery.  That he
has spent  nearly all his time, strength and energy, in the most constant
and strenuous exertions to introduce it to the public, whereby his busi-
ness has been utterly destroyed,  his health materially impaired, and
he greatly involved in debt.  Pages 32, 33, 34.
   In 1861, the physicians and surgeons of  Boston, fully  appreciating
the great value of Dr. Morton's discovery to the human family; recog-
nizing his claim to the discovery; and aware of the time, labor and
money he had expended in developing it, and introducing it into gen-
eral use; and also aware that heretofore he had received no renumera-
tion whatever for  the invaluable  blessing he  had  bestowed  upon
mankind,  formed  an association for the purpose of raising a testimonial
expressive of their gratitude to  Dr. Morton, and  their sense of the
value of his discovery.  This association was formed in the  city where
the discovery was made, and first reduced to practice and announced
to  the world, by the elite of the profession in Boston—by men who
were familiar with the  entire  history of the pain-subduinsr agent,
from the first dawniugs of  discovery to the full  meridian of brilliant
success, and who  could not be  imposed upon by the impudent claims
of a pretender.
   In an address laid before  the  public  by this  association it is said:
"While there is not an entire unanimity of opinion as to Dr. Morton's
claims to the  priority of the discovery, all who have  investigated the
subject agree, that the pre-eminent merit of first  establishing by expe-
riment  what was before only a surmise or a  conjecture, is his; and that
without his courage, energy and perseverance, the discovery would not
have been put into pactical operation."  Page 48.
   The medical profession of Philadelphia published an address, signed
by hundreds  of the most eminent professors and practitioners in that
city, in which they say :—" We are convinced that Dr. Morton is the
one who first resorted to ethereal inhalation for the purpose of pro-
ducing insensibility to pain in a patient, while undergoing a surgical 
n
operation, and that he is the one who first succeeded in effecting this
result."  Par 52.
  The medical profession  of New York,  under the sanction  of the
names of hundreds of its most distinguished members, also published
an address,  iu which the following  testimony  is given:—"The first
great triumph of  placing in the hands of the profession an agent capa-
ble of rendering the patient, safely and at will, utterly insensible to the
stroke of the surgeon's knife, was in detecting,  and establishing by an
experiment, the Anaesthetic powers of sulphuric ether.  For  this dis-
covery, the world is indebted to Dr. William T. G. Morton, of Boston.
Whatever may have been the steps preliminary  to  this  remarkable
discovery, Dr. Morton's  claim  to it  is established  beyond all contro-
versy, and his  merit in this  respect, with those who have taken the
pains to inform themselves upon the subject, can be no longer a ques-
tion  of dispute."   Pag>j 57.
  The members  of tlie  Massachusetts Medical Society memorialized
Congress to make a just acknowledgment of, and remuneration for, Dr.
Morton's great discovery; and certified to their belief that  he "first
proved to the world that ether would produce insensibility to the pain
of surgical operations, and that it could be used with safety."   Page 62.
  The President  and Professors of Harvard University, the President
and  Professors of Amherst College, of Williams College, of Bowden
College, of Georgetown College, of the University of Michigan, Dart-
mouth College,  and  the University  of Rochester,  Hobert College,
Western Reserve College, College of New Jersey, Rutgers College,
University of Chicago, Union College, University of Vermont, the sur-
geons and the officers of the Army and Navy, and  hundreds of gentle-
men, of all the professions, and all departments of life, have addressed a
petition to the present Congress, asserting their conviction, that "Dr.
Morton was the first to discover or demonstrate the great physiological
fact  that the  human system is capable of being placed safely in a condi-
tion  in which it becomes insensible to pain ;" and praying that compen-
sation mav be made him adequate to the  benefits which have been con-
ferred, and the resources of the nation which has received them. See
printed p>'tilions.
  The Professors and Surgeons of the following Medical  Societies,
Hospitals, and Dispensatories, have given their autograph signatures in
support of the claims of Dr. Morton:—American Medical Association ;
University- of Pennsylvania; Jefferson Medical College ; Pennsylvania
College,  Medical Department; Pennsylvania Hospital;  Philadelphia
Hospital; Wills  Hospital; Episcopal Hospital of Philadelphia; Char-
ity Hospital of Philadelphia; St.  Joseph's Hospital of Philadelphia;
Children's  Hospital of Philadelphia; Pennsylvania  Hospital for the
Insane ; City Hospital of Philadelphia; Board of  Health ; Howard
Hospital; College of Physicians of Philadelphia ; Philadelphia County
Medical Society ; Northern Medical Association; Medical Society of
the State of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia Medical Society;  Pathologi-
cal Societv of Philadelphia ; Biological Department of the Academy  of
Natural Sciences  of  Philadelphia;  New York Hospital and Blooming-
dale  Asylum; Bellevue Hospital,  and  other  Institutions under the 
10
charoe of the  Board of Governors of the  Almshouse;  Nursery Hos-
pitaf Randall's Island; Quarantine Hospital.  Staten  Island;  Black-
well's Island Hospital; New York  Lunatic Asylum ; State Emigrant
Asvlum; St. Vincent's Hospital: St. Luke's Hospital ; Jew's Hospital;
New York Eve Infirmary ;  New York Ophthalmic Hospital; (Jolored
Home  Hospital;  Woman's Hospital; New York Lying-in Asylum;
Nursery and Child's Hospital: Demilt Dispensary; New York Acad-
emy of Medicine : New York Medical College ;  New York Pathologi-
caf Society : Brooklyn City Hospital: College of Physicians and Sur-
geons: University Medical College;  Members  of the  Massachusetts
Medical Societv ;  Massachusetts General Hospital; Massachusetts Eye
and Ear Infirmary ;  Commissioners of Emigration, of the State of New
York.
  The Massachusetts General  Hospital voted to contribute to a memo-
rial in acknowledgment of  the  " great service which Dr. Morton had
rendered to science and to humanity,  in connection with the discovery
of the uses of ether."   Pago 67.
  The Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary voted  a contribution to
a memorial for Dr. Morton, as a " recognition of the greatest discovery
of modern times, and an acknowledgment of the great service  which
that gentleman had  rendered to  science  and humanity,  by the dis-
covery of the uses of ether."   Page 67.
  The Commissioners of Emigration to the State of  New  York, by a
vote of their body,  recognized  Dr. Morton as  the discoverer of the
uses of sulphuric ether.  Pog-- 68.
  The Medical Board  of  Bellevue Hospital  resolved,  that "to  the
zeal, perseverence and skill of Dr. W. T. G.  Morton, of Boston, in using
sulphuric  ether to render persons insensible to pain,  the world is
indebted for the  present extended and beneficial use of Anaesthetic
agents in the practice of medicine and surgery ;  and that they are con-
vinced that but for his energy, courage and success, there is no reason
to believe that mankind would yet have received that boon from any
of the gentlemen whose names have been prominently connected with
this subject."   Page 68.
  Governor Banks, of Massachusetts, wrote to the Governor of New
York, urging an  " acknowledgment of Dr. Morton's great public ser-
vice in the discovery, and introduction to  common use, of sulphuric
ether.  Page 69.
  Dr. James Jackson, of Boston,  wrote to  George Ripley, one of the
editors of the American Cyclopedia:—"To  Dr. Morton the  world
owes,  at least,  the introduction for useful purposes of sulphuric  ether,
by employment of which, by  inhalation, he proved that insensibility
might be produced in a human subject with safety, and be  maintained
during powerful surgical operations.  * *   *  At present the benefit
of it is known  throughout the civilized portion of the world.  Every
day the persons that use the article must be counted by thousands "
Page  69.
  Dr. Jacob Bigelow, President of the Academy of Arts and Sciences,
wrote to Dr. Parker:—"I think, from the investigations I have  made,
that there is no reason to doubt  that he (Dr. Morton) is entitled  to the 
11
exclusive merit of introducing the valuable discovery which he claim
to have made; and that the efforts which have been made by others to
deprive him of his claim, have been characterized by gross injustice."
Page 12.
   Professor Willard Parker, of New York, in a  letter to Mr. Allsop,
said :—" Dr. Morton has laid the civilized world under an infinite obli-
gation, and exhausted his means by so doing."  Pngs 72.
   Dr. John Watson, of New  York Hospital,  says :—" The discovery-
is sufficient to entitle Dr. Morton, whc first demonstrated the Anaesthetic
properties and use of sulphuric ether, to the gratitude of his country-
men, and to give him rank among the benefactors of the human raci."
Page 79.
   Dr. Henry J. Bowditoh, of  Massachusetts General Hospital, says : —
" I am convinced that had it not been for the  boldness of Dr. Morton,
the world, to the present hour, would have been ignorant of the pecu-
liar adaptation of ether to alleviate human suffering.  I say boldness
now.  In former times, however, I said rashness  ; for I  believe 1 inav say,
without  fear of contradiction, that the  medical profession, as a body,
would have feared death as the result of experiments such as are now
made daily without the least fear.   Dr.  Morton has convinced us from
error."   Page 86.
   Dr. Thomas P. Jackson, of Boston, considers this  second to no dis-
covery in medical  science, not even to  vaccination; and that we are
solely indebted for its  introduction to Dr. Morton.  Page 87.
   Professor Simpson, of Edinburg. in a  letter addressed to Dr. Morton,
November  10, 1847,  says:—"In the  Monthly  Journal of  Medical
Science, for September, I have a long article on etherization,  vindica-
ting your claims over  those of Jackson.  Of course,  the great thought
is that of producing insensibility ; and  for that the  world is, I think,
indebted to you."  Page 91.
   Dr. John Jeffries, Physician to the  Massachusetts  General  Hospital,
says:—" The  world is indebted entirely to Dr. Morton tor the intro-
duction of this agent to produce insensibility  to pain, and it  is a phsi-
cal blessing not second to any that has been conferred upon  suffering
humanity."  Page 93.
   Dr. Oliver W. Holmes, the distinguished poet and physician, says:—
" It is a notorious and wholly undisputed fact, that Dr. Morton in per-
son instituted  the first decisive experiment at the risk of his reputa-
tion, and with a courage  and perseverance, without which, even had
the idea of the possibility of such effects been entertained, the world
might  have waited centuries, or  indefinitely, before the  result  was
reached."   Pages 93-94.
   Dr. George  B. Loring, of Salem,  Massachusetts,  in  charge of  the
Marine  Hospital, at Chelsea, Massachusetts,  says :—" Its  credit has
been, from the earliest date, almost universally accorded to Dr. Morton,
by those of the profession who have given it their careful investigation."
  During its development, the surgeons and officers  of the Massachu-
setts General Hospital  examined its merits  under the special guidance
of Dr. Morton, and  with a full recognition of  his  sole agency in  the
practical experiments which  were  leading to its establishment.  And 
12
now that these events have  passed  into  history, the historian  of the
hospital records, as a fact  fixed  by all  reliable testimony, that Dr.
Morton is the discoverer.  It should be borne in mind that this is the
verdict of the immediate locality  in which  the discovery was  made;
and any recognition from abroad  of Dr.  Jackson's claims  to it, is no
more than should be expected from the scientific world, towards any
pertinacious and untiring claimant  holding his high  position,  be the
claims true or false."  Page 94.
  Dr. Francis Booth, of London:—"I was  much interested in the dis-
cussion of the ether question, and entirely agree with you in your con-
clusion.  *  *   *  Morton  is first and Jackson  nowhere."  Page 94.
  Proofs upon this subject  might be multiplied  almost indefinitely,
but it cannot be  necessar}'.   It is  not probable that in the histoiy of
inventions a case can be found where claims of a discoverer have been
better sustained.
                     DR. HORACE WELLS,
         His Claim as the Discoverer of Ansesthetics Examined.
  It has been truly said, that "hardly an invention of importance was
ever made known that it was not at once claimed, often simultaneously,
from a variety of sources."
  Dr. Morton's  discovery  constitutes  no exception  to  this general
rule.  No sooner had he established the success of his discovery, and
secured its acceptance by the world as a great and valuable  one, than
he was  beset by two claimants to the  honors of the discovery, who
have ever since pursued  him with an  energy  that might have  made
them discoverers and benefactors, had their exertions been directed in
a proper channel.
  The first of these is Dr. Horace Wells.  To dispose of his claim, it
is only necessary to present a summary of the evidence bearing upon it.
  His first appearance in connection with the discovery, is by the pro-
curement of Dr. Morton himself.  He  had once been  Dr." Morton's
partner in business.  He regarded him as his friend;  and immediately
upon satisfying himself, by actual experiment, that his discovery was
a reality, and destined to become as popular as he knew it was valua-
ble, the thought was suggested of giving his friend and former partner
an interest in it.
  With  this view, on the  19th of October, 1846, he wrote  to  Dr.
Wells, then  residing at  Hartford, Connecticut, informing him  of the
djscovery, and  proposing to him to accept an agency—to visit New
York, and other cities, and  dispose of  rights to use the Anajsthetic—
sharing the profits  of all  he should so dispose of.  Page 97.
  On the next day, October 20, Dr. Welles replied to this letter, say-
ing he would visit Boston at an early day;  urging upon Dr. Morton
to make no arrangement for disposing  of rights till he should arrive;
and adding,  "If the operation of administering the gas is not attended
with too much  trouble, and will produce the effect you state, it will,
undoubtedly, be a fortune to you,  provided it is rightly managed."
Page 97. 
13
   R. H. Eddy states, that upon Dr. Wells  visiting Boston, a few days
 after, he met him at  the office of Dr. Morton, where Wells witnessed
 experiments with sulphuric ether, and  advised Dr. Morton  to  apply
 for a patent.  In this interview and conversation Dr. Wells recognized
 Dr. Morton as the discoverer, and made not the slightest pretension of
 claim for himself.  Pages 98, 99.
   But subsequently the idea occurred to Dr. Wells of  setting up as a
 great discoverer  himself, and, in furtherance  of his purpose, he ad-
 dressed a letter to the Boston Post, dated April  19th,  1847, in expla-
 nation of his letter to Dr. Morton, of  October 20th.   The  awkward
 and bungling explanation which he gives is, of itself; proof conclusive
 that his own claim to the discovery was altogether  an after thought.
 To enable him to explain at all, he  found it  necessary  very grossly to
 misrepresent the correspondence between Dr. Morton  and himself, of
 19th  and 20th October.
   He represents Dr.  Morton as stating, in  his  letter of October 19th,
 that "he had discovered a compound, the effects of which, as described
 by him, entirely eclipsed those produced by nitrous oxide gas, or sul-
 phurate ether."
   There is no allusion in Dr. Morton's letter to gas or ether, nor com-
 parison of the effects produced by them and  his discovery.
   Dr. Wells continues :—" He also stated that he had obtained a patent
 for this compound.   I accordingly  started  for  Boston  to learn more
 of this  improvement on my discovery, with  which I  had made him
 acquainted long before."  Page 99.
   Dr. Morton had made no allusion to a patent—did not intimate that
 he either had obtained, or  intended to apply for one.  Dr. Wells had
 made no allusion to improvement on his discovery—did not intimate
 that he had made, or ever thought of making a discovery.   Dr. Mor-
 ton's  letter announced a discovery which he  claimed as his own.  Dr.
 Wells' letter,  in reply, recognized whatever  there was  as  Morton's—
 cautioned him to be circumspect in  disposing  of  it, and advised him
 that if its effects were what he stated them to be,  he ought to  realize
 a fortune out of it.
  It is incredible that such  a correspondence should have occurred, if
 Dr. Wells then believed himself to be the discoverer—if Morton's dis-
 covery was only an improvement upon his, and if he (Wells) then in-
 tended to assert a claim as the discoverer.
  The history of Dr.  Wells' discovery, if it can  be called such, is given
 by his  witness, S. A. Cooley, and  constitutes  a  somewhat ludicrous
 chapter in the history of scientific researches and discoveries.
  In December, 1844, in Hartford, Conn., Cooley inhaled the nitrous
 oxide or laughing gas.  It produced the usual and well-known effect.
 He became turbulent—overturned some benches, and bruised his knees
without present consciousness of pain.
  Dr. Wells was present, and remarked that "he  believed that a per-
son could have a tooth extracted while  under its influence, and not ex-
perience pain."  Several persons present then went to Wells' office :
 Wells inhaled the gas, and whilst under its  influence  Dr. Riggs ex-
tracted a wisdom tooth from his mouth, and, when the effect of the 
14
gas  had subsided, Wells  exclaimed,  " a new  era in  tooth-pulling."
Pane 100.
   This is the entire history of the  discov-ry.   It disclosed  nothing
new.  It had long been well known that a person in a state  of high
mental exaltation, or when fully under the influence of stimulants  or
narcotics, might be wounded  or  surgically  operated  upon  without
sense of pain.   What was wanted  was  a  convenient and reliable agent,
which could at all times be trusted:  which would produce certain and
uniform results;  inducing, with entire  safety to the patient, at the will
of the operator, a physical condition favorable to surgical operations,
continuing the requisite length of time, and then passing off without
injurious effects.   This Dr. Wells did  not accomplish.    He  made a
few  experiments in the extraction of teeth, and  then abandoned the
pursuit of what he concluded to be an  unattainable object.
   Coolev's statement is corroborated by Drs. Olmstead and Ellsworth
of Hartford.   Page 101.
   About this time,  1844. Dr. Wells alleges that he extracted thirteen
teeth, without pain, from persons under the influence of the gas.  He
then went  to Boston to test his  discovery in the medical college, in
presence of its professors, and failed.   The  witnesses  of his experi-
ment discouraged him.   He abandoned the pursuit as impracticable;
and  there is no evidence, and no assertion on his part, that he ever used
the gas from the time of his visit to Boston until Dr. Morton's discov-
ery  was promulgated, and had attracted the  attention of the world.
Pwrs 102, 103.
   Hon. James Dixon,  United States  Senator from Connecticut,  in
relating a conversation he had with Edward Warren, makes this state-
ment :—"As near as I can  recollect, that, about  two years before,  he
heard  that Dr. Wells was making some experiments  with nitrous
oxide gas, to prevent pain in  extracting teeth ;  that having a severe
tooth-ache, he called on him ; proposing to take his gas ;  but Dr. Wells
informed him that, after giving it to thirteen or fourteen patients with
only partial success, he had abandoned its use as dangerous, and dis-
suaded  him from  resorting to it."   Paije 102.
   Dr. Ellsworth, speaking  of the failure  in Uoston, in the winter of
1844-5, says:—" He presented  it to Dr.  Warren, who laid it before
his class, but the experiment first attempted partially failing, and no
one  seeming willing to lend him a helping hand, he ceased  making
any  further personal efforts."  Page 103.
  Dr. Wells himself afterwards said  to George Brinley, of Hartford :
" He was stupid, or a jackass, that he had not pursued it."  Page 103.
  Howell Olmstead, Jr., of Hartford, says :—" 1 considered that he had
abandoned  the thing entirely, as he expressed himself to me ;  that the
operation in some cases proved a perfect failure, and spoke of his un-
successful trial  in Boston, in 1845.  He expressed himself  as  being
very sorry  that he had not prosecuted  his experiments to a successful
termination."  Page 104.
  Dr. Cooley, of Hartford, says that he administered  the  gas for sur-
geons and dentisis in Hartford,  but that  it was after the discovery of
the ether, in la46; being an attempt by them all to renew the experi- 
15
 ments, as the public had lost confidence, and doubted the practicability
 of the thing until after the successful introduction of ether.   That the
 last time he exhibited it, it  in  a great measure proved a failure, and
 then ether and chloroform assumed the place of gas.   He further says,
 that he had a conversation with Dr.  Wells, after  his visit to  Dr. Mor-
 ton,  in Boston, in  1846, and that Wells  then made  no claim of the
 discovery being  his; but, on the contrary, expressed regrets that  he
 had not continued his experiments to  a successful termination.  Page

   Dr. Cooley further says, in detailing a conversation with Dr. Wells,
 after the failure of his  experiments at  Boston :—"He then said to me
 that  he  was disappointed in the effects of the gas, and that it  would
 not operate  as we had hoped  and  thought it would, as there was no
 certainty to  be placed  upon it, and, consequently, he should abandon
 it, as he had so much other business to attend to,  and as the gas would
 not operate in all cases alike, and therefore could not ue trusted."
 Page 105.
   Dr. Wells' experiments were all with nitrous oxide gas.   Sulphuric
 ether and chloroform  were neither of them in his theory nor pratice.
 The gas is totally  abandoned, and ether and  chloroform are now  the
 universal agents.
   If all be conceded which is claimed  for Dr. Wells, it  will not in the
 least militate against I )r. Morton's claim as the discoverer of the Anaes-
 thetic properties of sulphuric ether, for Dr. Wells has  never asserted
 for himself  any such claim ;  as before  remarked, all his experiments
 were with the  nitrous oxide gas.
   J.  Gaylord  Wells, one of Dr. Wells'  principal witnesses, says:—
 " I inhaled the exhilarating gas, and, under its influence, had six teeth
 extracted without the least pain."   Page 105.
   F.  C. Goodrich says:—" He has  no knowledge of Dr. Wells ever
 using any other Anaesthetic agent than gas, and that he  never knew
 or heard of  his extracting teeth under the  influence of any Anaesthetic
 after his return from Boston, in January, 1845, and berbre  October, 1846.
 Page 106.
   Dr. Wells himself, in  a pamphlet  published by him, says :—" I have
 confined myself to  the use of nitrous oxide gas, because I became fully
 satisfied,  from the first, that it  was  less injurious  to the system than
 ether."   Page  106.
   Dr. Beresford. of Hartford, in his examinations, says :—" Dr. Wells
 never perfected, and brought into general use, the nitrous oxide gas as
 an Anesthetic  agent in surgical operations, and that he prefers other
 Anaesthetics to this."  Page 111.
   Dr. Crane, of Hartford, says,  it is not a valuable and efficient Anaes-
 thetic.  Page 111.
  Dr. Greenleaf, of Hartford, witnessed its administration  on one  oc-
casion.  Produced vomiting, and was a total feilure.   Page 112.
  Dr. Bullock, of Hartford, had it administered once, but it  was a
failure, making the patient wild and restless, and he could not operate.
Page  112. 
16
   Dr. J. Mason Warren:—" My belief is that it is not to be compared in
 ts effects, with sulphuric ether."  Page 112.
   Dr. Hayward:—" In my opinion,  the use of nitrous oxide 03s isnot
 altogether safe, and is by no means efficient, or convenient.  * *  *
 The  effects  produced by its inhalation are  very uncertain, and very
 different in different subjects, and, therefore, it cannot be relied on for
 the purposes of surgeons."   Page 112.
   Dr. Henry J. Bigelow :—"Nitrous oxide is not of much value as an
 Anaesthetic agent.  *  *   *  It  is not anywhere used, at  the hos-
 pitals, or elsewhere, in surgical operations, nor  in obstetric  cases, to
 my knowledge."  Page 113.
   See also, upon  the  same subject, the statements of Drs. Marcy and
 Van  Buren,  and Dr. James R. Chilton, an eminent chemist of the city
 of New York.  Page US.
   The  French Academy of Sciences rejected the claim of Dr. Wells,
 remarking that the nitrous oxide was dangerous and improper, and
 did not produce the effects alleged by Horace Wells.  Page 113.
   Influenced  by ex parte statements, and  by the representations and
 solicitations of Hon. Truman Smith, Drs.  Mott,  Francis and  Parker,
 eminent surgeons of the city of New York, made an affidavit, in De-
 cember, 1852, asserting their belief that Horace Wells, of Hartford,
 was the original discoverer of the Anaesthetic principle, as applied to
 the removal of pain in surgical operations.
   They were  afterwards  induced to investigate  the matter;  and, in
 December, 1858, published  a  card, in which they say, in reference to
 their  former affidavit:—" We  feel it to be our  duty to state, that  a
 subsequent and  careful examination  of the facts in the  history of the
 discovery of Anaesthesia,  have led us to a different conclusion.  The
 undersigned  coincide in the  belief, that the first great triumph of
 placing in the hands of the profession an agent capable of rendering
 the patient, safely, and at will, utterly insensible to the stroke of the
 surgeon's knife,  was in detecting and establishing, by experiment, the
 Anaesthetic powers of sulphuric ether.  For this discovery the world
 is  indebted to Dr.  Wm. T. G. Morton, of Boston."  Page 114.
   Surely, it cannot be necessary to enlarge upon this subject.
   Dr. Wells can hardly be considered any longer a competitor for the
 honors of the discovery.
   An impartial consideration of the foregoing testimony must satisfy
even  bis warmest  partizans, that his  claim is without  the  slightest
foundation in truth.
                  DR. CHARLES T. JACKSON.

                       His Claim Examined.

  Dr. Jackson seems to be laboring under as unaccountable a halluci-
nation upon the subject of Anaesthetics as he did in regard to the dis-
covery of the magnetic telegraph.  His claim as a  discoverer in this
ease is,  if possible, less  substantial  and plausible than that of  Dr.
Wells; yet the vigor with which it has  been pushed has heretofore 
17
 occassioned some embarrassment to Dr. Morton, and subjected him to
 no little labor and expense in repelling it.
   On the 29th January,  lb-A'.t, L)r. Jackson  addressed  a memorial to
 Congress, in which he states:—" That the said  discoverv  was made
 by the  undersigned, without the  knowledge  of  the said Morton, and
 without the co-operation or assistance of any person whomsoever;  and
 was communicated  by him to various persons from  the spring and
 autumn of 1842, to the 30th  September, 1^16,  inclusive,  and  on the
 said 30th September, was also communicated by him to Dr. Morton—
 he (Morton) previously being  wholly ignorant of the Anaesthetic pro-
 perties  and effects of sulphuric ether;  and that on the said 30th Sep-
 tember, he caused  an experiment  to be made by  Morton,  in the
 extraction of a  tooth, and that he  afterwards caused  the discovery
 to be further verified by  the  surgeons of the  Massachusetts General
 Hospital, in the first painless capital operation  ever performed  under
 the influence of the ether vapor."  Page 116.
   This  is an extraordinary statement, and requires to be well sustained
 by evidence before being made the basis of a decision which shall
 settle so important a controversy as is  here  involved.  If true, it is
 easily susceptible of proof.   If untrue, it might and probably would
 be very difficult to disprove any part of it, and impossible to contra-
 dict some of its material  statements.
   There were two witnesses present at the interview between Morton
 and Jackson, on the 30th September, 1846, when, Jackson  says, he
 communicated his discovery to Morton, and caused him to verify it
 by an experiment.
   They  have both been  examined.  One of  them,  Barnes, corrobor-
 ates Jackson's statement  that when he advised the administration of
 sulphuric etuer,  he avered that it would render the operation painless,
 and that it was safe, and  he would be responsible for its consequences.
 PageUp.
   The other, Mclntire, a student of Dr. Jackson, and  testifying with
 a strong prepossession for him, does not support him in either of these
 importants points.   He says Dr. Jackson advised the use of sulphuric
ether, aaid it was safe, that it would make the patients insensible, and
that the operator could do what he had a mind  to with them.   But he
states no assumption of responsibility,  and no opinion or assurance of
 Dr. Jackson, that the vapor of sulphuric  ether  would render the pa-
tient insensible to pain.   Yet the statement of a fact, so  novel and in-
teresting in surgery, made by his preceptor, could  hardly have failed
to attract his attention, and fix itself strongly in his memory.   But it
could not have been so, and  Dr. Jackson and  his witness, Barnes, are
manifestly both mistaken.  Page 119.
  On the 23d of October, 1846, Dr. Jackson  related to  Mr. Eddy the
conversation he had had with Morton on the 30th September.  Eddy in
giving an account of it, says:—"After  Dr. Jackson had. related  the
above, 1 said to him, 'Dr. Jackson, did you know-  at such time that
after a person had inhaled ether, and was asleep, his flesh could  be cut
with a knife without experiencing any pain ? '   He replied, ' No, nor 
18
 Morton either;  he is a reckless man for using it as he has;  the chance
 is, he will kill somebody yet.'"  Pdge 119.
   Hon. E. Warren, in narrating a conversation between him and Dr.
 Jackson upon the same  subject, says—"Dr..Jackson told me, in  sub-
 stance, that the so-called  discovery was  not his, but that Dr. Morton
 was responsible for it; that the use of ether was dangerous, and would,
 he feared, be attended with fatal  consequences; that he was  not an-
 swerable for the results, and that, therefore, he would refer me to Dr.
 Morton for further information."  Page 119.
  But Dr. Jackson says  he  caused  a further verification of his dis-
 covery by the surgeons of the Massachusetts General Hospital, in the
 first painless capital operation  ever  performed under the influence  of
 ether.
  If this be so, nothing can be  easier  than to prove it. It is hardly
 possible that the  officers and surgeons of the hospital  should either
 forget, or mis-state the facts connected  with so interesting and remark-
 able an event in the history of the institution.
  Hear, then, what they have to say upon the subject.
  Dr. Townsend, one of the surgeons, says:
  " Dr. Jackson presented himself, for  the first time, on  the 2d of Jan-
 uary, 1847, and brought with him a bag of oxygen gas  as an antidote
 to asphyxia."
  " On that day I amputated  the  leg  of a female.  Dr. Jackson then
 appeared in the operating room with a bag containing oxygen gas un-
 der his arm.  He stated to me there, that we should always have oxy-
 gen gas prepared and ready, in case of accident in the employment  of
 the ether, and he feared  that  some accident would take place in the
 use of it."  Page 120.
  In a long letter addressed  by Dr. Jackson to Baron von Humboldt,
 dated November 22, 1851, he makes some curious statements.  Among
 others—"That  I did first discover that the nerves of sensation could
 be and were paralyzed to all sensation, temporarily and  safely, by the
 inhalation of ether  vapor, is admitted  by all scientific men who have
 examined the evidence.   That 1 did first prescribe the administration
 for the purpose of preventing all sensation of pain in surgical opera-
 tions, with the  guarantee, on  my medical and scientific responsibility,
 of its entire safety,  if my directions were  strictly obeyed, and did thus
 introduce the use of pure  sulphuric ether, mixed with air,  into surgi-
 cal  practice, is fully proved by abundant testimony; and this is admit-
ted by all persons who have examined the evidence that  I have caused
to be printed.  The only point contested by my opponents is, that, in
their  opinion, I had  not  sufficient reason for drawing  the inference
that I did, as they admit, draw from  my data;  and that I could not
have  known the  full  extent of the insensibility to pain of a surgical
operation, and  that this  remained to be  verified by  actual  trial."
Pay 122.
  Now, what Dr. Jackson calls the only point contested by his oppo-
nents is a point that  has  never been raised at all; whilst the points
 which he says  are admitted by all, are  not only not  admitted,  and
 never have been admitted, nor have they been proved by him, although 
19
it  was perfectly easy to prove them, if true; but  have always been
denied, and over and over  again disproved by Dr. Morton.  So far
from either of these two points being conceded to him, as he claims.
they were both adjudged against him, long before the date of  his 'letter
from which the above quotation is made, by the Massachusetts General
Hospital, in their  report of  January, 1848, and most distinctly and
emphatically so by the rep jrt of the Committee of the House of Repre-
sentatives, of February 24,  1849.
  The Hospital  report notices this subject as follows:—"Down  to
September 30, 1846, Dr. Jackson had discovered nothing that had not
been known and in print in  London for some years.   It  was known
that ether would  produce insensibility ;  that such  an insensibility,
though sometimes fatal, was sometimes safe; and that one of the pro-
perties of ether was its power to obviate the ill effects  of an inhalation
of chlorine gas.  The discovery of the safety and efficiency of the in-
halation of ether in surgical  operations had not yet  been made;  the
only experiments which Dr. Jackson had tried, or  caused to be tried,
being those already prescribed by  the text books.  Page  123.
  *   *   *  Dr. Morton administered it to a patient, and,  by  so doing,
he made this discovery.  On learning this result,  Dr. Jackson very
naturally suggested  to Dr. Morton, that  he had  better get  the ether
tried by the surgeons of the  hospital, which a witness  of Dr.  Morton's,
however, alleges that he had previously determined  to do.   But all
the subsequent steps were taken by Dr.  Morton himself,  without the
slightest sympathy  or co-operation  on  the  part ot Dr.  Jackson,
who, from  the alleged fear of his  recklessness, withheld from him all
countenance and encouragement.     *     *     *
   Dr. Morton, by consenting to permit Dr. Jackson's name to be united
with his in the patent, with  the  right to receive one-tenth part of its
profits, has shown  himself disposed, fairly and honorably, to  recognize
the amount of his indebtedness to Dr. Jackson's advice."  Page 124.
   In the report of the committee of the House of  Representatives, in
1849, where these questions are carefully examined, the conclusion is
against the claim of Dr. Jackson on both these points.  The  following
passages from  the report  are worthy  of attention :—" Had  Dr. Jack-
son made the  discovery,  and felt that it was  his,  he could  not have
failed to be at  once aware of its vast  importance, and the world-wide
reputation  it would give  him; and he would not have trusted it, for a
moment, in the  hands  of  a man less  skillful  and  scientific  than
himself.  Indeed, would  he have  entrusted it with  any one ?   But
would he not himself have seen that it was administered in a proper
manner, and under  proper  conditions to make it  safe and  effectual:
Would he not have stood by and watched the sinking pulse of his first
subject, until  insensibility  was  complete,  and  have been careful to
withdraw it when he saw it  was likely to endanger life, and have done
all that science and skill  could do to avoid a failure or a catastrophe?
But there was  nothing of this.  Having  given the information  which
he did give in  the conversation with Dr.  Morton, he  turned  neither to
the right nor left, nor troubled himself farther on the subject, until he
was advised by Dr. Morton that the experiment had been buooos&iuL
He expressed no surprise, no emotion.  Page  125. 
20
  *  *   *  He advises Dr.  Morton to get permission to try it in the
hospital,  and does not propose to be  present, and, in  fact, is not pre-
sent when the trial is  made,  though the hospital was but  i\ve minutes
walk from his door.   That operation  was successfully performed, and
another was noticed to take place the next day, about which Dr. Ja.-k-
son gave  himself no concern, and at which he was not  present.  The
committee feel that his conduct during this time was wholly inconsist-
ent with  the fact that he recognized the discovery as his own, and that
these were his experiments."  Page 126.
  " The  evidence of  Francis Whitman,  Mr. Caleb Eddy, and Hon.
Edward Warren, shows that, prior to and up to the 23d  October, Dr.
Jackson  spoke doubtingly of the effect of ether, and condemned  its
use; and  there is no proof whatever, that, within that time, he lent the
slightest  countenance  to Dr. Morton to sustain the discovery, and all
his remarks, except those stated by Mr. Hitchcock to have been made
to him on the 2nd and 3rd of October, tend to create distrust, and de-
stroy confidence  both  in the operator and the agent used."   Page 128.
  Mr. Peley W. Chandler says:—" Dr. Jackson regarded this affair not
as a settled thing, or not as a discovery that was to be anything remark-
able in itself, or one that was likely to be applied beneficially, in itself
considered.  *  *  *   There was an obvious desire not to connect him-
self, as a  man of science, with it to  any great extent; and  he made use
of some  expressions  of this  sort with  regard to Dr. Morton, that  he
was a reckless dare-devil fellow, and that he would kill somebody yet.
I think that was  his very expression."   Page  128.
  Dr. Morton demonstrated the value of his discovery by  actual expe-
riment, and  unaided and  alone, against the organized and  persistent
opposition of the entire dental profession, and the great  body of the
medical profession, and without  countenance,  encouragement, or sym-
pathy from any quarter, fought its way to public favor and confidence,
and literally forced it into general acceptance.  The  only  aid Jackson
gave him, during this gloomy period, and through this unequal and dis-
couraging struggle, was to indulge, continually, in a course of deprecia-
ting  remarks, calculated  to  bring Dr. Morton into  contempt, and his
new agent into ridicule.  Nothing  could have been more ungenerous
than this, except the attempt subsequently made by Dr. Jackson to seize
upon, and appropriate to himself, all the honor and all the  glory of the
great  discovery,  the  moment it  was  recognized as a great scientific
triumph,   which  was certainly to bring fame,  and, perhaps, fortune to
somebody.
  Dr. Jackson now claims to have made the discovery in the winter
of 1841-42; but it was never heard of until it was brought forward
by Dr. Morton, in 1846, and even then not  claimed by Jackson till it
had become an acknowledged  success in  Morton's  hands, and  when
reputation was no longer jeopardized  by being connected  with it.
  Since then he has devoted time, talent and money, and written much,
and caused  much to be written,  to establish bis claim and secure to
himself the fame of the discovery.  In 1841-42, he had no competitor.
He had only to announce  his discovery, and  present  it to the world,
to secure, without question or controversy, what  he has  now  wasted 
21
 years and expended thousands in a vain attempt to filch from another.
 If he did discover it, as he now  says, in 1841-42, he had  not  the
 courage to make it known; but left the world to groan  on in pain and
 misery, till Dr. Morton's  energy and research re-discovered it  and  his
 heroism promulgated it, and secured its acceptance by the worll.
   But, it is incredible that, in the winter of 1841-42, Dr. Jackson did,
 in fact, make the discovery,  and  in earnestness, and in  faith, and
 enthusiasm, was possessed  with it, and with an animating desire to
 give it, and to give his name with it, to mankind; and that no cotem-
 porary written paper or pen mark, by himself, or any one of his nume-
 rous friends or pupils, can be found to attest it.  Tlie thing is  too pre-
 posterous to be believed,  and is only a pretext and a subterfuge with
 those who are unwilling to reward  a great benefactor of their race.
   Dr. Jackson's first claim to the discovery, which appears on paper,
 is in a letter  addressed by him to  M. Elie Beaumont, dated  Boston,
 November 13, 1«46, and opened and read to the Academy of Arts and
 Sciences at Paris, at their meeting,  January 18,  1847.  Page 130.
   This paper was written ftfter the discovery had been,  in fact, made;
 after the  first capital operation had been successfully performed under
 the superintendence of Dr.  Morton; and after Dr. Jackson had nearly,
 but not quite, made up his  mind to claim  the discovery as his  own;
 was enclosed  to Beaumont with directions  to file it in the Academy of
 Arts and  Sciences of  Paris;  but  not to break the seal until  thereto
 directed.   He wanted further verification of the safety and efficacy of
 the Anaesthetic agent, before taking the decisive step of announcing it
 as his own.  He, therefore, directed the letter making the claim to the
 discovery to be deposited, sealed, in  the Academy of Arts and Sciences,
 at Paris, not to be opened till he should direct.
   The success of the pain-subduing agent between that day and  the
 first of December, 1846, removed all doubt.  The discovery was estab-
 lished ; it already stood first in rank of the discoveries of the century ;
 and fame, and honors, and rewards, awa.ted the discoverer.   On that
 day,  and  under these circumstances, Dr. Jackson wrote another letter
 to Beaumont,  directing him to open the sealed packet, and publish him
 to Europe as the discoverer.  Page 134.
   On the  30th of September, 1846,  the day on which Dr. Morton  made
 his first experiment of an  operation under  the influence of the Anaes-
 thetic, he  called on Dr. Jackson to consult  with  him as to the proper
 preparation and purification of sulphuric ether, and Dr. Jackson gave
 him his advice.  This is, in fact, the only connection Dr. Jackson ever
 had with the discovery, and so  he, himself, for some time regarded it.
   After Dr. Morton's experiments had  proved successful, he (Jackson)
 called on Morton and informed him  he should charge him $500 for the
 information he had given him respecting sulphuric ether, on the 30th
 Septen ber; and accordingly, on returning to his office, he entered  the
 charge in  his books.  He  afterwards united with  Dr. Morton in procur-
 ing a patent, but only for  the purpose of  securing the payment of  the
$500 he had charged for his advice, and stipulated for 10 per cent, on
the proceeds of the patent, if it should amount to so much as $500. 
22
  Dr  Jackson now pretends that the discovery was his. and  the ex-
nerirm'nN to verify  it his, and that  when Morton administered it at
his own office, and extracted a tooth, and  that when he subsequently
administered  it  at the  hospital, and the  surgeons amputated, he was
actm" bv his  (Jackson's) direction and procurement,  and under his
advice, and as his agent, and  for his benefit.   This being the relation
of the parties to  each other, Morton would have been the one to claim
compensation, and Jackson the one to pay it; but instead of this, the
singular  and unprecedented spectacle is exhibited of Morton perform-
in^ an operation for Jackson,  at his  request, and  in accordance with
his directions, and Jackson charging him $500 for  the directions by
which he required him to govern  himself  in the execution of  his
(JacksonV) business.  The story won't bear telling.  Page 140.
  But a«-ain, if, at that time, the thought had occurred to him of claim-
in°- the discovery, and  all its  honors and emoluments as his own, he
would hardlv have consented that another should  become the patentee,
with  the right to appropriate nine-tenths of the profits.
   Dr. Henry J.  Bigelow. Professor  in Harvard  University and Sur-
geon in the*Massachusetts General Hospital, says :—" He (Dr. Jackson)
not only  exercised no  superintendence at the hospital,  assumed no
responsibility, but actually did not come there  for  more than two
months after ether was  regularly in  use in that  institution.  *  *  *
He never saw a  single  surgical or dental operation with ether, until
long afier it was a confirmed  discovery.  *  *   *  It is well known
that he kept aloof, for a long  time, from  any public  connection with
Dr. Morton, or with ether, while physiological papers  were written by
the dozen by  other  people.   *  *  *  Dr. Morton instituted the ex-
periments ; he had the  sole  control;  he took the responsibility  of
them, while Dr. Jackson kept out of the way."  J'ages 152, 153.
   In an article published in the Medical and Surgical  Journal of July
 7, 1847, Dr.  Jacob Bigelow,  President of the Academy of Arts and
Sciences, Professor in Harvard University, &c, says:—" In the case of
Dr. Jackson,  if  he did make the discovery in 1842, as asserted, or even
later, he stands  accountable for the mass of human misery  which he
 has permitted his fellow creatures to undergo, from the time when he
 made his discovery to the time when Dr.  Morton  made his.  In charity
 we prefer to believe that up to the latter period, he had no definite notion
 of the real power of ether in surgery, having seen no  case of its appli-
 cation in that science."  Page 91.
   But Dr. Jackson appeals to the Academy of Arts  and Sciences, at
 Paris, and claims  that  that learned body has decided the question of
 discovery in his favor by awarding  him the  " Monthyon Prize for the
 greatest medical discovery," and that their decision ought to be taken
 as final  and  conclusive.
   If it were true that they made such a decision, and  made it with full
 knowledge of  all the  facts,  it would  certainly  be  entitled to great
 weight.  It is enough to say that Dr. Jackson is mistaken in his assump-
 tion.  The award to him was  " one  of the prizes  of medicine and sur-
 gery of the Monthyon foundation," and this was expressly made in 
23
 consideration of " a fact observed" by him, which aided Dr. Morton
 developing his own idea into discovery.  Page 157.
   The award by the  French Academy was  made in January, 1849,
 as  appears by Minority Report, No. 114, 30th Congress, l»48-'9, Feb-
 ruary 28.
   At that time Dr. Morton's evidence in support of his exclusive right
 had not reached the Academy.   They had, in  part, been suppressed by
 one who had been  prejudiced  against him, and  was in the interest of
 Jackson.
   The following evidences are submitted in support of this statement:
   " The  Cornpt'' Rentlus of the Academy (a  copy of which is in . he
 Smithsonian Institution) contains, under date of March 24, 1848, the
 following :
   ' M. Morton announced the sending of documents destined to estab-
 lish in his favor the priority relative to the discovery of the effect of
 the inhalation of the vapor of ether.  The Documents announced are
 not yet before the Academy.   The letter of M. Morton was sent to
 be examined by the Commission upon ether and chloroform.'
   LittelVs Living Age, No. 201, contains the following :
   "Now, at that time  even the evidence which had been forwarded by
 Dr. Morton  had  not reached them.   Dr. Morton also  met with another
 misfortune.   All his pamphlets consigned  for distribution to the prin-
 cipal journals and the  chief surgeons and men of  science in  Great
 Britain, got into the  possession  of  a person who had become com-
 mitted and prejudiced against Dr. Morton, and they were suppressed."
  These  evidences had been forwarded to the Academy through Harn-
 den  & Co., of Boston, who, in March, 1849, two months after the award
 had been made by the Academy, addressed Dr. Morton the following
 letter upon the subject:
                                      ' Boston, March 14, 1849.
  'Dear Sir :  By a  letter received from our Paris agent while you
 were  in Wasington, we learn  that  your pamphlets, addressed to  the
 French Academy and others, owing to a wrong  impression, have not
 as yet been received.   They remained at the French custom-house from
 Mav 6th  to December 16th.  The duties on them  have now been paid,
 and they are in the hands of an agent at Paris awaiting your further
 instructions.  Please give us your orders in season for transmitting per
 next steamer from Boston.
                 ' We remain your obedient servants,
                                           ' HARNDEN & Co.
  'W. T. G. Morton, M. D.'
  Thus, this report, so vaunted by Dr. Jackson,  was made on his ex
parte showing.  The Academy had Dr. Morton's memoir, with a frag-
 ment of his  testimony, but the bulk of his evidence  had not reached
 them.  Dr. Morton, himself, was wholly unknown to them, and was
 depreciated  before them by Dr.  Jackson's representations, whilst he
 and  his pretensions were supported by his  friend,  M. Elie de Beau-
 mont. 
                                24

  In this state of things all that Dr. Jackson could procure was such
a report as we have seen.  S'-e Mr.  Poor's letter,pan 469 of Sioi,mPn(A
support'd by evidence of  William  T. G M >r(nn, SI. I)., o-t  his efaini to
the diseovry of the Aw esthetic properties of ether; submitted. In the lioi-
orahle the Select Committee a p) minted by the Senate of the  Unit-d Slates,
437  Congress, 2d  Session,  January 21.  1*53.   /'resented by A/r. Paris,
of Jf's-oe/,/^, Us, and  referred to the Select Committee to whom had been
referred the jietition of  sundry Physieiam of Boston and vicinity, in sup-
port of the claim of W. T. O. Morion, M. D., for the discovery of Ether-
ization.
  Under these circumstances, Dr. Morton declined to  receive the joint
award; protested against the decision of the Academy ;  and, in 1852,
received the large gold medal—Monthyon Prize of Medicine and Sur-
gery.—American Cycloj,edia. See also page 157 of Report.
           IS THE DISCOVERY OF  ANY VALUE?

  It seems almost needless to make or answer this enquiry.
  It is not believed that there has ever been a discovery or improve-
ment in medical science which secured a  more unanimous approval of
the profession, or was  more  universally accepted by all  classes and
conditions of societv.
  It may  not, however, be improper to call attention to some portions
of the testimony upon the question of value.'
  Dr. A. A. Gould, of Boston, says:—" It is invaluable.  I am unable
to fix a money  value upon it."   Page 28.
  Dr. Jacob  Bigelow, Boston:—"If it was  only to be purchased with
money,  millions of dollars would readily  and properly be paid by per-
sons who  are subjects of the pain it is competent to avert or relieve."
J'age 28.
  Dr. J. Mason Warren, Boston:—"Its value is beyond all money; it
is beyond  computation."   Page 28.
  Dr. II. Q. Brigham, Boston, says:—"Five hundred  thousand dol-
lars."   /V-^28.
  Dr. E. B. Warren, Northern Dispensary, New  York; Dr. John H.
Grisson, New York; Dr. Robert F. Weis, Surgeon New York Hospi-
tal;  Dr. Godfrey Aignes, New York Dispensary;  Dr. J. Henry Watts,
New York Dispensary;  all  concur in  saying its value is incalcula-
ble, and cannot be estimated in dollars and cents.  Page 29.
  John  Torrey, Chief Assayer at the United  States Assay Office, and
Consulting Chemist, says :—"It  is  extremely difficult to"estimate its
value in money.  I have said that Dr. Morton ought to have a  monu-
ment of gold  as high as Trinity Church steeple, and I see no cause  to
alter my opinion."  Page 29.
  Dr. Jonas P. Loines,  House Physician to  the Eastern  Dispensary,
New York City:—" The discovery of its  use, as Anaesthesia, worth  in
the  neighborhood of one million  and a half of dollars, so far as can be
known,  in thisc ountry."   Page 29. 
25
  Surgeon Wheelan, Chief of the Bureau  of Medicine and Surgery
in the Navy  Department, said, in a report to  the Secretary of the
Navy:—" I regard the discovery  as one of  more importance, in many
senses, than any  of those triumphs  of genius which have conferred
immortality and fortune on their authors; for it alone interests every
condition and  calling of humanity, and is as wide spread  in its appli-
cation as  the  primal cause of pain, which  it so  effectually destroys."
  "I believe  there is  scarce  an  intelligent physician or surgeon,  in
either hemisphere, who has not had occasion to use these agents, and
whose judgment does not indorse  their value."
  " To estimate the pecuniary value of such a discovery, if I am called
upon to do so, is not so easy a matter."  Page 44.
  In a publication made by the most learned and eminent men of the
medical profession  in  New York,  it  is   said :—" The  introduction
of this agent  *  *  *  has done more for the  mitigation of human
suffering than any other discovery, with the exception, perhaps,  of
vaccination, for which the world is indebted to  medical science in
either ancient  or modern times."  Page 57.
  Dr. James Jackson,  of Boston:—"If the knowledge of it could be
lost, millions and millions of dollars could be raised for  the recovery
of it." Page 69.
  Dr. Wheelan, again speaking of it in a letter addressed by him to the
ehairman of a committee in Congress, says:—"Anaesthetics have come
into such general use that a surgical  operation performed without such
agents may be regarded as the  exception to an almost  universal rule
in this as in other countries."  Page 76.
  Dr. Lawson, who, at the time,  was Surgeon General of the United
States Army,  in a letter addressed to Dr. Morton, said :—" I regard it
as one of the  most important  and valuable contributions to medical
science, and to the relief of suffering humanity, which has  ever  been
made—the only discovery to be compared therewith being that of vac-
cination, which has rendered the name of Jenner immortal.  *  *  *
Operations can now be performed with much more safety than hereto-
fore.   *  * *  Permit  me to congratulate you upon the flattering
testimonial you have received from  the National  Institute of  France
for  this discovery, and  to  express  the hope that, inasmuch as it is
impossible for you to derive any pecuniary benefit therefrom in ordi-
nary course, by letters  patent,  you may receive from your  country that
acknowledgment of your merit, which is due to one who has conferred
so great a boon upon mankind."  Page 77.
  Dr. George Hayward, Professor in Harvard University, says :—
 "I  certainly regard this discovery as  one  of  the greatest of the age,
 and think that Dr. Morton is entitled to a liberal grant from our coun-
try for the benefit that he has conferred on the human race."  Page 87.
  Dr. John F.  May, Professor  of Surgery,  National  Medical College,
 Washington, D. C:—"  I believe that the medical faculty throughout
the civilized' world, where Anaesthesia has  been  introduced, consider-
 it to be one of the greatest boons  that has ever been given to suffering
 man; and  believing  Dr. Morton to  be its  discoverer, I trust he will 
26
receive from government a compensation commensurate with the im-
mense benefit it has conferred upon the human race."  /'age 89.
   Dr. A. H. Steevens, of New York :—" 1 consider it the greatest dis-
covery in medicine since that of Jenner."  /'age 90.
   Dr.'Hugh II.  McGuire:—"I  regard the  discovery of Anesthetic
agents the most important discovery made in surgery for the last cen-
turv.  It is also entirely American; for although attempts have  been
made, for a long time, to  destroy sensibility to surgical operation, no
approxination was made to it until it was discovered, in Boston, that
sulphuric ether would produce total insensibility.   *  *  *  It would
be just and proper to  make him a liberal pension for it."  Page 90.
   Dr. Parkman, of Boston,—"In private  practice, in this  city, Anaes-
thetic  agents are in universal use in all surgical  operations, and also
in all operations of midwifery.  They are in quite general use in  all
diseases requiring an  antidote to pain and spasm, as one of the means to
allay them, and some practitioners use them in all  cases of child-birth."
Page 91.
   Dr. Townsend, of Boston, says the same thing,  adding:—" I believe
it  diminishes mortality.  *   *  *   In cases of midwifery, it prevents
the sensation of pain,  without retarding delivery."  Page 91.
   Dr. S. Mason  Warren, Dr. John  Ware, Dr. J. S. Jones, and Dr. Z.
B. Adams, all of  Boston, bear the same testimony to the value and
efficacy of the agent.   Pages  92, 93.
   Drs. Paris and Anderson, of Alabama; Dr. Blanding, of South Caro-
lina;  Dr.  Ellis, of Georgia;  Drs. Ayer,  Crane,  Dix,  and Morse, of
Boston; and Dr.  Appleton, of Massachusetts; all bear  testimony, in
the most emphatic terms, to its great value  and very general use.—
Pages 94, 95, 96.
HAS THE GOVERNMENT USED  AND  HAD THE BENEFIT
                    OF THE DISCOVERY/

  Dr. Wheelan, Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery in the
Navy  Department, states that " Sulphuric  ether was  adopted in the
Navy soon after the discovery of  its peculiar properties;  it still con-
tinues to be largely used, and for  some years has formed an  item in
tk« allowance table of medicine."  l*age 44.
  Dr. Lawson, then Surgeon General of the United States, reported to
tk« Secretary of War that the Anaesthetic agent is regularly supplied to
and used by the medical officers of the army ; that he considers it one of
th« greatst boons  ever given to suffering man, and that the government
is bound to pay Dr. Morton for its use, or desist from its further em-
ployment.  Page  45.
  The Surgeon-in-Chief, Dr. Calvin  Cutter,  of Sturgis  Field  Hospital,
and his operative  staff, Drs. Leonard, Hossack and Webster, in a com-
munication to Dr.  Morton, immediately after the battle at  Fredericks-
burg, state—" That they could not  have performed so many needful
operations, and so well, without Anaesthetics.  Their use not only en-
tirely prevented or greatly  mitigated  the  sufferings of patients, but
rery materially lessened the  embarrassment of the operating surgeon. 
27
*  *   *   Permit us to return thanks for the administration of Anaes-
thetics to the patients by yourself.  It was essential aid to  our sur-
geons."  Page 73.
  Surgeon General Hammond, in a letter addressed to the  Chairman
of the Committee on  Military Affairs in the Senate, dated  February
24.  1863, states that in ninety-nine out of every hundred cases o! am-
putation in the military hospitals and  on the battle-field, Anaesthetics
are  used,   /'age 76.
  As long ago as 1852, Dr. Lawson said:—"At the present moment
it is believed that no surgical operation of importance  is performed
by the medical officers of the army, without the aid of some Anaesthetic
agent.'  /'age 76.
  Letter of like import from Dr. Harris, Chief of Bureau of  Medicine
and Surges in Navy Department, 1852.   Page 78.
  In  1#.">2, sixty army and navy surgeons testified that Anaesthetics
were  used in surgical operations in the army and navy—several of
them adding that its use tended greatly to diminish mortality.   Pa.ge.-i
80,  81, 82, 83, 84, 85.
  A petition  signed by several  hundred surgeons and officers of the
Army, and laid before Congress at its  present session, attests the uni-
versality  of the use of Anaesthetics  in  the Army.   The petitioners
say  that, "in their  opinion, the introduction  of Anaesthetics would
have been worth millions of money to the country during the present
war, could they have been no otherwise obtained; and that it is due to
the  character of a great people, whose soldiers have been so signally
benefitted  by this discovery, that their representatives should express
to Dr. Morton their  gratitude for the benefit he has conferred upon his
fellow countrymen,  as well as upon all mankind, by some testimonial of
a value adequate to  the benefits which have been conferred, and the re-
sources of the nation which has received them.
  HAS DR. MORTON BEEN COMPENSATED  FOR HIS DIS-
                           COVERY ?
  It is shown by testimony of the most satisfactory character, that Dr.
Morton has expended, in money and time, and sacrifice of professional
business,  more than two  hundred  thousand  dollars in discovering,
defending the discovery, and his right thereto, and in perfecting, intro-
ducing into use, and giving to the nation this great alleviator  of suf-
fering.  Pages  5. 39, 40.
  In a publication made by an association of  gentlemen of Boston, it
is said:—"So far from being a gainer, he has been a loser  to  a very
large amount, by the sacrifices and expenses incurred by him in intro-
ducing his discovery and vindicating his claims.   1'age 50.
  The poet and physician, Dr. Oliver W. Holmes, states that:—"It is
well known that Dr. Morton, instead of profiting by his discovery, has
Buffered in mind, body and estate, in consequence of the time and toil
he has consecrated to it."   Pages 93-94.
  He had hoped, and had a right to expect a generous pecuniary'com-
pensation for the sacrifices  he had made, and the inestimable blessing 
28
 he had bestowed upon mankind; but thus far disappointment has met
 him at every turn.  The fortune predicted for  him by Dr. Wells lias
 not been realized, and he is still struggling with the embarrassment of
 del ts incurred in making and  perlecting his great discovery, and in
 pursuading the world to accept it.
   In 1846, he procured from  the Government a patent of the exclusive
 right to use,  and send to others for use, his Anaesthetic; but this
 resulted  in no pecuniary  advantage to him, for  the Government has
 habitually and systematically infringed its own  patent by  introducing
 etherization into the  surgery of the  Army and Navy, on shipboard,
 upon the battle field, and in the hospitals, and by its example  encour-
 aging all others to disregard his patented rights.
   In the very nature of the discovery it was impossible for a patent
 to secure to him, as to other  discoverers, the benefit of pecuniary re-
 sults.  He, therefore,  applied to Congress for  compensation.
   This claim  was investigated by committees of both  houses, and
 favorable reports made; but no bill was ever passed  to carry out the
 recommendation, though a bill has twice passed through one house of
 Congress for that purpose.  Pages 3, 40, 41.
   In 1854, he petitioned the  President  to purchase his patent, or to
 restrain its further violation by the government.  Page 42.
   One hundred and fifty members of the Senate and House of Represen-
 tatives united  in advising the acceptance of his proposition.  Page 43.
   At this stage of the case, the President  advised  him to bring suit
 against some one of the medical officers of the government, for an in-
 fringement of  his patent; get  a judicial determination of his right,
 and  that then  compensation should be made.  The suit was brought.
 After much delay and  expense, judgment was  recovered; but, in the
 mean time, a new administration had come in which refused to carry
 out the promises of its predecessor, and  he was as far from obtaining
justice as ever.  Page 46.
   Dr. Thomas P. Jackson, of Boston,  says:—" My opinion is  that no
 compensation  Congress can confer on Dr. Morton  will equal  his de-
 serts ;  and I really hope that  for once a deserving man may  receive
 his recompense during his life, instead of having a monument  erected
 over his grave."  /'aye 87.
   See  also letters from  Dr.  Gould, Dr. Dudley, and Dr. Pierson, of
 Boston, testifying to the value of the  discovery; to Dr. Morton's un-
 doubted claim to the discovery, and his  right to compensation.   Page
 88.
   Numerous letters written by  surgeons  of  the Army, establish the
 fact  that mortality from  surgical operations during the present war,
 has been diminished one  half by the use  of Anaesthetics—that they
 contribute to the more rapid recovery  of the patient—that one surgeon
 can do more with Anaesthetics than four without  them__that they in-
 crease  the daring of the soldier  on the field, diminish objections in the
 minds  of many to enlistment; and finally, all  agree that if the knowl-
edge of the discovery had to be purchased now, for the use of the Army
and Navy alone, the people would  demand of their representatives to
do so though it should cost millions. 
29
  Is it not wonderful, and as unjuat as wonderful, that whilst the gov-
ernment is  daily and hourly  availing itself of the vast benefits of the
Anaesthetic in its military and naval  service, in its camps and hospit-
als, and saving thousands of  lives, and millions of dollars by its use,
that it should refuse to make  adequate, or even any compensation to
the man to whom it is exclusively indebted for the priceless boon, and
who is made and kept poor by this very infringement of his patented
rights  and  use of his discovery ?  For what sum  would the govern-
ment now consent to forego its use in the hospitals in sight of the Cap-
itol, for a single year, or even after a single battle ?
  What the compensation shall be must be determined by Congress.
The case of Jenner, the discoverer of vaccination, is one  of the closest
analogy.   The British government appropriated to him one hundred
and fifty thousand  dollars, and as much  more was raised by a national
subscription.  The  one discovery is  the  glory of English, and  the
other of American medicine.
  The inventor of the screw was paid a  hundred thousand dollars by
the  British Parliament.   Daguerre,  for  his discovery, seventy-five
thousand dollars by the French government.
  Alike honorable to themselves and to our countryman, Prof. Morse,
several of the principal governments of Europe joined in presenting to
him an honorary testimonial of eighty thousand dollars for the tele-
graph discovery   Several European governments  have also sent Dr.
Morton signal recognitions.
  There are many  precedents in our own legislation of  compensation
to inventors, a few only of which can be cited.
  Boulton,  Wright, and Fisher, were paid five thousand dollars each
for  their machines for making and charging percussion caps.
  Capt. Ottinger  ten thousand dollars for the use  of  life  and surf
cap, &c.
  For the right for elevating  and pointing heavy cannon, twenty thou-
sand dollars; and for the right to use  patent anti-attrition metal twen-
ty thousand dollars.  We  paid  to the  heirs of Rob't Fulton for the
benefits conferred by his improvements in steam navigation, seventy-
six  thousand three hundred dollars.  We paid to McCullough k Boothe
for  the right to use the improved method of refining our argentiferous
goll bullion, twenty-five thousand dollars.
  We paid to E. N. Kent for                twenty thousand dollars.
  We paid to D. Myerle for                 twenty thousand dollars.
  The government has also purchased the Coston  night signals, at a
cost of $30,000 ; the patent right to manufacture and use Cross's brush
ferrules; the patent right to use Buckley's patent dry kiln for season-
ing lumber;  the right of making and  using Sickles'  improved patent
cut off; the  right to use Allen  & Noyes'  patent metallic packing for
engines; the right to use Crawford's steam water gauge; the  right to
make and use  Blanchard's  patent  lathes; the right to make and use
patent self-acting blow-off valves ;  the right to make and  use improve-
ment in boilers; the  right to  use Pierson's patent condensers;  the
right to make and use Blunt's improvement  for detaching boats from
their tackle ; the right to use Martin's boilers; the right .to use Mont- 
30
gomerv's patent propeller band ; and many other inventions quite too
numerous to be mentioned.
  Since the commencement of the  present war, millions  have been
paid to test discoveries, for the privilege of making patented articles,
and for secret  inventions.
  The estimate of the medical profession, several years ago, as to what
would be just compensation to be paid by the  government for  the use
of the Anaesthetic, ringed from one hundred thousand to a million and
a half of dollars.  With the experience we have since had of its value,
and the great benefits resulting to the country from its use, all will
no doubt agree, that two  hundred thousand dollars would be not one
tithe of what  has been saved to the  government, and only a meagre
remuneration to the discoverer.
  In  almost  all other cases,  inventors and  discoverers aggrandize
themselves by means of monopolies under patents.
  The inventor of the telegraph realizes thousands of dollars  by his
inventions, and sees his  patent extended, by which  he will  realize
hundreds of thousands more.  The introductor of the sewing machine
receives half a million, and his patent is extended, that he may secure
still more.  The invention  of the Vulcanized India Rubber fabrics,
has put millions in the pockets of those who have enjoyed  the  bene-
fits of the monopoly, and a renewal of the patent was given, by which
their  gains would be duplicated.
  So with the inventor of the reaping machine, and so in hundreds of
other cases which might  be mentioned.
  But in this case such monopoly is neither practicable nor desirable;
hence the discoverer has  thus far been without pecuniary reward.
  Yet this discovery is as much more valuable, than any and all others
which have been made in this country, than the relief of human suf-
fering and the preservation of human life, is more  valuable than any
mere product  of man's hands.
  These considerations  cannot, surely, be overlooked  by a just and
magnanimous government.
   PRETENDERS TO INVENTIONS AND DISCOVERIES.

  That  Dr. Morton's claim to this discovery should be contested is
neither new nor suprising.
  It always has been thus, and always will be, whilst men are emulous
of the fame of inventors and discoverers, without the ability to become
such.  " And the witness, before  the  House of Commons, probably
did not overstate the matter when he gave it  as his opinion that if a
man were to show that he had found a road to the moon, his neigh-
bors would testify that, if +hey had not  been there themselves, they
knew several individuals who  were familiar  with the road in ques-
tion."
  Wm. Harvey's  discovery of the circulation  of the blood was dis-
puted by several old writers, and  more recently by Wm. Hunter and
J. R. Cox.—American Cyclopedia. 
81
   Several of his medical brethren endeavored to  rob Edward Jenner
 of the merit of the discovery of vaccination.—American Cyclopedia.
   Very many other instances of the same sort have occurred, which it
 is not deemed necessary to cite.
   One, however, at no very remote period,  occurred in this country so
 strikingly analagous to the present case, that attention is called to it.
   After Professor Morse had invented and  perfected the Electric Tele-
 graph, a pretender attempted to  rob him of the honor.
   The same Dr. Jackson, who now claims  to be the  discoverer of the
 Anaesthetic, imagined  himself  the  inventor of the telegraph,  and
 brought forward and urged his claim  to it precisely as he has done to
 etherization.
   He  wrote a  letter, as in this case, to  a  member of the French
 Academy of Sciences, in which he said :—" I regret to see in the public
 paper, that Professor Samuel F.  B. Morse has appropriated to himself
 my Telegraph Electro Magnetic.  /  explained to  him this instrument
 long ago, on board the packet ship Salley, when I returned to America,
 in the month  of October,  1832. I  am pained  at  the  undeserved
 patronage which the French philosophers have awarded to Mr. Morse.
   The invention which he  has shown them, belongs exclusively to me.
 Since I  have  known what were his pretensions on the subject, I
 addressed him my protest, but I see that he perseveres.  I  pray you to
 inform the  Academy, that Mr.  Morse has not  invented the  New
 Telegraph, and that I gave him the description in 1832."
  It will thus be seen that Dr. Morton, in having his claim contested,
has only  shared  the fate of all the great discoverers of the world, and
that that fact should not stand in the way of his recognition by a most
liberal reward from the Government.