'
        TESTIMONIAL








                 OF









THE MEDICAL  PROFESSION








                 OF









   PHILADELPHIA, NEW YORK, AND BOSTON. 
« 
TESTIMONIAL
' « t

      OF
MEMBERS
THE  MEDICAL  PROFESSION
PHILADELPHIA, NEW YOM, AND BOSTON,
IN BEHALF OF
WM. T. G. MORTON, M.D.
        PHILADELPHIA:
COLLINS, PRINTER, 705 JAYNE STREET.
           1860. 
 
PKOCEEDINGS
Of the Medical Profession of Philadelphia, in behalf of
              W. T. G. Morton, M. D.
  A meeting of the members  of the medical profession
who had  endorsed the testimonial in behalf of Dr. W.
T. G. Morton, was held at the Hospital Buildings, Spruce
Street, on  Monday, March 26, 1860 ; when, on motion, Dr.
Wilson Jewell was called  to the chair, and Dr. T.  H.
Bache was chosen Secretary.
  The following preamble and  resolutions  were then
offered, and having been read by the Secretary, were una-
nimously adopted:—
  " Whereas, after innumerable trials, made  during the
last fourteen years, it  has  been established to the satis-
faction of the world, that the inhalation of ether may be
safely employed for producing insensibility to pain;
  "And whereas, the attention  of the medical profession,
and  through it of the public generally, was  directed  to
this fact by  Dr. Wm. T. G. Morton, of Boston, who first
practically demonstrated that  ether may be  safely used
by inhalation for  annulling  pain, in the  Massachusetts
General Hospital, where, on the 16th of October, 1846, a
severe surgical operation was  successfully performed by
the late Dr. John C. Warren, without pain to the patient, 
6
whilst  under the influence of ether, administered by Dr.
Morton;
  " And whereas, our National Government, whilst admit-
ting the claims of Dr. Morton, has failed to reward him
for this great service to his country and to humanity:
  "Resolved, that in the  opinion of this meeting, the
world  is  indebted to Dr. Morton for having  practically
proved the value and safety of ether as an  anaesthetic
agent,  and that  he is, therefore, entitled to the lasting
gratitude of mankind.
  " Resolved, That we cordially recommend to our fellow-
citizens the' National Testimonial Fund,' lately commenced
in Boston  and  New York in behalf of  Dr. Morton, and
that we will do  all in our power to influence them to sub-
scribe to the same.
  "Resolved, That, for  the purpose of facilitating the
subscriptions, a  copy  of  these  resolutions duly authenti-
cated by the officers of  this meeting, be  furnished  to
Messrs. Brown,  Brothers & Co., the receivers for this city,
together with such other  documents in explanation of the
Testimonial as  may be approved  by the officers of this
meeting."
  On  motion, the Secretary was directed to  transmit  a
copy of these Resolutions to Dr. Morton.
  On motion, adjourned.
                          WILSON JEWELL,  Chairman.
T. H. BACHE, Secretary. 
7
              TESTIMONIAL

OF MEMBERS OF THE  MEDICAL PROFESSION OF
                   PHILADELPHIA,
                WM. T. G. MORTON, M. D.

To their Fellow Citizens:
                                        February 15, 1860.
  The vast importance of the effect of the inhalation of ether in
preventing and suspending pain has long ceased to be a matter
of doubt among the members of the medical  profession, and is
too well known to the intelligent  citizens  of Philadelphia  to
need  any further  exposition.  Etherization has been tested  in
countless instances,  under a  great variety of  circumstances,
during  more  than twelve years of constant  employment by
thousands  of operators; and  the result of this unsurpassed ex-
perience is decisive  in confirmation of its safety and efficiency
as a  suppressor of physical suffering,  and a powerful assistant
of the healing art.
  Believing,  therefore, that anaesthetic inhalation  is the  most
available and potent means of alleviating pain yet employed in
the practice of surgery;  and, consequently, that it is one of the
greatest gifts to humanity of  the  present  age, we cannot but
regard the original and successful introducer  of this invaluable
boon as entitled to the warm gratitude of mankind.
  We believe the practical originator of anaesthetic inhalation to
be  Dr.  William T. G. Morton, of Boston, Mass., in whose behalf
we are  happy to bear witness in this testimonial. 
8
  We  are  convinced that he is the one who  first  resorted to
ethereal inhalation for the purpose of producing insensibility to
pain in a patient  while  undergoing a  surgical operation;  and
that he is  the one who  first succeeded in effecting this result.
He was, indisputably, the first to urge the anaesthetic properties
of the vapor of ether upon the attention of the medical profession;
and thus succeeded  in  establishing the practice  of anaesthetic
inhalation.
  We  therefore take great pleasure, and at the same  time  per-
form an act of duty, in recommending the claims of Dr. Morton
to the favorable  consideration of our fellow citizens; and would
cordially urge upon them the propriety of showing their estimate
of  his services  by a substantial  acknowledgment, such as  is
manifestly  due from an  enlightened community to one who has
conferred upon its members so inestimable a benefit.
  We  may refer to the annals of medicine in the Old World for
many instances  in which analogous discoveries of less moment
have been  recognized and  paid for by European governments,
sometimes even before their true value had been ascertained.  The
length of time which has elapsed since the adoption of etheriza-
tion has  only the  more firmly established its position by demon-
strating its safety and developing its usefulness.
   Our National Government  has  admitted  the justice and im-
portance of Dr.  Morton's claims in the introduction of ethereal
anaesthesia, but has neglected to provide the proper reward.
   Under these circumstances the plan of individual contribution
has been successfully resorted to  by the citizens of Boston and
New York as the best  suited  to the temper of our people, and
the most likely to reach  a satisfactory conclusion.
   An opportunity is now offered to the citizens of Philadelphia
to unite with their neighbors in the same work of benevolence and
justice; and it is in this that we earnestly desire to interest them.
   We sincerely hope that our townsmen, in whose liberality and 
9
sense of right we have great confidence, may join us  in rendering
the  tribute to  his merits  and necessities which  has  elsewhere

been accorded to him, and which  we believe him to  deserve.

                      University of Pennsylvania.
    GEORGE B. WOOD, M. D , Professor of Theory and Practice of Medicine.
    HUGH L. HODGE, M. D., Professor of Obstetrics and the Diseases of Women and
      Children.
    JOSEPH CARSON, M. D., Professor of Materia Mediea and Pharmacy.
    ROBERT E. ROGERS, M. D., Professor of Chemistry.
    JOSEPH LEIDY, M. D., Professor of Anatomy.

                        Jefferson Medical College.
     JOSEPH PANCOAST, M. D,, Professor of General, Descriptive, and Surg. Anat.
     CHAS. D. MEIGS, M. D., Professor of Obstetrics and Dis. of Women and Children.
     FRANKLIN BACHE,  M. D., Professor of Chemistry.
     SAMUEL D. GROSS, M. D., Professor of Institutes and Practice of Surgery.
     T. D. MITCHELL, M. D., Professor of Materia Mediea and General Therapeutics.
     SAMUEL H. DICKSON, M. D., Professor of Practice of Medicine.

              Pennsylvania College.—Medical Deportment.
     B. HOWARD  RAND, M. D., Professor of Chemistry.
     HENRY HARTSHORNE, M. D., Professor of Practice of Medicine.
     LEAVIS  D. HARLOW, M. D., Professor of Obstetrics, &c.
     WILLIAM S.  HALSEY, M. D., Professor of Surgery.
     WILLIAM HEMBEL  TAGGART, M.  D., Professor of Materia Mediea.
    •JAMES  AITKEN MEIGS, M.D., Professor of Institutes of Medicine.
     WILLIAM H. GOBRECHT, M. D., Professor of Anatomy.

                         Pennsylvania Hospital.
 WM. W. GERHARD, M. D., Physician.   JOSEPH PANCOAST, M. D.,  Surgeon.
 JAMES J. LEVICK, M. D.,     "      EDWARD  PEACE, M. D.,
 JOHN FORSYTH  MEIGS, M. D., "       EDWARD  HARTSHORNE, M. D., "
 FRANCIS G. SMITH, M. D.,

                         Philadelphia Hospital.
S.  D. GROSS, M. D., Surgeon.
D. H. AGNEW, M. D.,    "
R. J. LEVIS, M. D.,
R. S. KENDERDINE, M.D., Surgeon.
WM. MAYBURRY, M. D., Physician.
J. L. LUDLOW, M.D.,
C. PENDLETON TUTT, M. D., Physician.
JOHN WILTBANK, M. D.,
R. A. F.. PENROSE, M. D.,
LEWIS  D. HARLOW, M. D.,
WM. D. STROUD, M. D.,
J. DA COSTA, M. D., 
10
                             Wills Hospital.

tj.  LITTELL, M.D., Surgeon.           S. L.  HOLLINGSWORTH, M.D., Phys.
ADDINELL HEWSON, M. D., Surgeon.   JOHN J. REESE, M. D.,
T.  G.  MORTON, M. D., Surgeon.         JAMES J. LEVICK, M. D.,
WILLIAM HUNT, M.D.,  "           A. DOUGLASS HALL,

                  Episcopal Hospital of Philadelphia.

J.  C.  MORRIS, M. D., Physician.        WILLIAM HUNT, M. D., Surgeon.
H. HARTSHORNE, M. D., .  "          H. E.  DRAYTON, M.  D.,
J.  DA COSTA, M. D.,      "          R. S. KENDERDINE, M. D.,  "
WM. MAYBURRY, M. D.,  "

                    Charity Hospital of Philadelphia.

P.  B.  GODDARD, M. D., Surgery.
WM.  H. PANCOAST, M. D., "
Z.  RING JONES, M. D., Eye, Ear, and Urinary Organs.
H. ST. CLAIR ASH, M. D., Diseases of Children.
BURROUGHS PRICE, M. D., Diseases of Digestive Organs, Brain,  and Nervous System.
A. W. GRIFFITHS,  M. D.,  Obstetrics.
ALEX. C. HART, M. D., Diseases of Women.
W. E. WEATHERLY, M. D., Diseases of Respiratory Organs.
S.  UPDEGROVE, M. D., Diseases of  the Skin.
J.  L.  LUDLOW, M. D., Fevers and General Diseases.

                 St. JoseplOs Hospital of Philadelphia.

WILLIAM V. KEATING, M.D., Phys.  J. H.  B. M'CLELLAN, M. D.rSurgeon.
S.  AVEIR MITCHELL, M. D.,      "    WM. BYRD PAGE, M. D.,
WILLIAM KELLER, M. D.,       "    JOHN H. BRINTON, M. D.,
A. BOURNONVILLE, M.D.,Obstetrician  JOSEPH LEIDY,  M. D., Pathologist.

                  Children's  Hospital of Philadelphia.

WM.  PEPPER, M.D., Consulting Phys.   WM. R.  DUNTON, M. D., Attending phys.
JOHN F. MEIGS, M. D..      "      R. A.  F. PENROSE,  M. D.,
F.  W. LEWIS, M. D., Attending Phys.   T. H.  BACHE, M. D.,

                 Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane.

             THOMAS S.  KIRKBRIDE, M. D., Physician in Chief.
             EDWARD A. SMITH, M.  D., Resident Physician.

                     City Hospital of Philadelphia.

                           JOHN BELL,  M. D.

                         Moyamensing Prison.
                       HENRY YALE SMITH, M. D.

                           Board of Health.

                     P. B. GODDARD, M. D., President. 
11
                  Howard Hospitcd.

S. D. GROSS, M. D., >
D D CLARK  M D  \   General an<* Special Surgery.
J. A. MEIGS, M. D., Diseases of the Chest.
J. KLAPP, M. D., Diseases of Digestive Organs.
0. A. JUDSON, M. D., Diseases of the Skin.
G. R. MOREHOUSE, M. D., Diseases of Brain and Nervous System.
W. DARRACH, M. D., Fevers.
E. McCLELLAN, M.  D., Diseases of Females.
CHAS. NEFF,  M. D., Diseases of the Urinary Organs.

         College of Physicians of Philadelphia.

           GEORGE B. WOOD, M. D., President.
 FRANKLIN BACHE, M. D., Vice-Prest.
 EDWARD HARTSHORNE, M. D., Sec.
 J. RODMAN PAUL, M. D., Treasurer.
 JOHN BELL, M. D.
 HUGH L. HODGE, M. D.
 CHARLES D. MEIGS, M. D.
 R. LA ROCHE, M. D.
 BENJAMIN HORNOR COATES, M. D.
 LEWIS P. GEBHARD, M. D.
 WILLIAM DARRACH, M. D.
 THEOPHILUS E. BEESLEY, M. D.
 WILLIAM W.  GERHARD, M. D.
 JOSEPH PANCOAST, M. D.
 D. FRANCIS CONDIE, M. D.
 SQUIRE LITTELL, M. D.
 ANTHONY BOURNONVILLE, M. D.
 JOSEPH CARSON, M. D.
 THOMAS S. KIRKBRIDE, M. D.
 FRANCIS WEST, M. D.
 EDWARD PEACE, M. D.
 WILLIAM PEPPER, M. D.
 DAVID C. SKERRETT, M. D.
 JOHN D.  GRISCOM, M. D.
 PAUL BECK GODDARD, M. D.
 ALFRED STILLE, M. D.
 JOHN J. REESE, M. D.
 JOHN FORSYTH MEIGS, M. D.
LEWIS RODMAN,  M. D.
FRANCIS G. SMITH, M. D.
 WASHINGTON L.  ATLEE, M. D.
JOHN NEILL, M. D.
 SAMUEL D. GROSS, M. D.
ANTHONY E. STOCKER, M. D.
GOUVERNEUR EMERSON, M. D.
JAMES E. RHOADS, M. D.
 T. STEWARDSON, M. D.
 E. W ALL ACE, M. D.
JOSEPH KLAPP, M. D.
SAMUEL L. HOLLINGSWORTH, M. D
JOHN L. LUDLOW, M. D.
JOHN H. B. M'CLELLAN, M. D.
WILLIAM  V. KEATING, M. D.
D. PAUL LAJUS, M. D.
THOMAS S. REED, M. D.
RICHARD  H. TOWNSEND, M. D.
ISAAC REMINGTON, M. D.
JOHN B. BIDDLE, M. D.
HENRY E. DRAYTON, M. D.
CASPAR MORRIS, M. D.
JAMES J.  LEVICK, M. D.
JOSEPH LEIDY, M. D.
WILSON JEWELL, M. D.
HENRY HARTSHORNE, M. D.
WILLIAM  KELLER, M. D.
WILLIAM  MAYBURRY, M. D.
THOMAS HEWSON  BACHE, M. D.
JAMES V.  EMLEN, M. D.
JOSEPH HOPKINSON, M. D.
WILLIAM  H. HOOPER, M. D.
ADDINELL HEWSON, M. D.
DAVID GILBERT, M. D.
B. HOWARD RAND, M. D.
WILLIAM  HUNT, M. D.
R. A.  F. PENROSE, M. D.
WILLIAM  H. GOBRECHT, M. D.
WILLIAM  D. STROUD, M. D.
NATHAN L. HATFIELD, M. D.
S. WEIR MITCHELL, M. D.
JOHN H. BRINTON, M. D.
FRANCIS W. LEWIS, M. D.
SAMUEL LEWIS, M. D.
T. DILLARD, M. D.
G. H. ROBINETT, M. D.
S. C. BRINCKLE, M. D. 
12
Philadelphia County Medical Society.
                 ISAAC REMINGTON, M. D., President.
DAVID GILBERT, M.D., Vice-President. HENRY HARTSHORNE, M. D.
JOSEPH CARSON, M. D.,    do.
W. B. ATKINSON, M. D., Secretary.
S. D. GROSS, M. D.
D. FRANCIS CONDIE, M. D.
WILSON JEWELL, M. D.
JOSEPH PANCOAST, M. D.
CH. D.  MEIGS, M. D.
R.  E. ROGERS, M. D.
EDWARD PEACE, M. D.
JOHN BELL, M. D.
S. LITTELL, M. D.
W. W.  GERHARD, M. D.
D.  PAUL LAJUS,  M. D.
ADDINELL HEWSON, M. D.
J. H. B. M'CLELLAN, M. D.
A.  NEBINGER, M. D.
D.  D. CLARK, M. D.
E.  WARD, M. D.
S. WEIR MITCHELL, M. D.
J.  CHESTON MORRIS, M. D.
R.  H. TOWNSEND, M. D.
T.  M. DRYSDALE, M. D.
WM. D. STROUD, M. D.
ANTH'Y BOURNONVILLE, M. D.
W. K. GILBERT, M. D.
THEOPH'S E. BEESLEY, M. D.
R.  S. KENDERDINE, M. D.
C. F. WITTIG, M. D.
J. H. HASKELL, M.  D.
ROBT. Q. SHELMERDINE, M.  D.
ROBT. C. SHELMERDINE, M. D.
J. HENRY SMALTZ, M. D.
LEVI CURTIS, M. D.
SAM'L  B. WYLIE MITCHELL, M. D.
EDW'D MARIS, M. D.
AUG. C. BOURNONVILLE, M. D.
J. G. HUNT, M. D.
JAMES V. EMLEN, M. D.
GEO. B. WOOD, M. D.
FRANKLIN  BACHE, M. D.
N.  L. HATFIELD, M. D.
ALFRED STILLE,  M. D.
WILLIAM V. KEATING, M. D.
HUGH L. HODGE, M. D.
JOSEPH LEIDY, M. D.
JNO. WM. JONES, M. D.
WILLIAM PEPPER, M. D.
PAUL B. GODDARD, M. D.
B. H.  COATES, M. D.
M. M. LEVIS, M. D.
FRANCIS WEST, M. D.
LEWIS D. HARLOW, M. D.
LEWIS RODMAN, M. D.
JAS. AITKEN MEIGS, M. D.
JOHN RODMAN PAUL, M. D.
WILLIAM HUNT, M. D.
D. HAYES AGNEW, M. D.
R. J. LEVIS, M. D.
E. B.  SHAPLEIGH, M. D.
JNO. KNORR, M. D,
WM. HARRIS, M. D.
JNO. WILTBANK, M. D.
W. H. GOBRECHT, M. D.
SAMUEL JACKSON, M. D.
A. OWEN STILLE, M. D.
WM. D. HOYT, M. D.
GEO. J. ZIEGLER, M. D.
WASHINGTON L. ATLEE, M. D.
WM. CURRAN, M. D.
W. DARRACH, M. D.
JAMES J. LEVICK. M. D.
J. FORSYTH MEIGS, M. D.
WM. H. HOOPER, M. D.
THOS. HEWSON  BACHE, M. D.
JOHN D. GRISCOM, M. D.
E. BOYLSTON JACKSON, M. D.
A. W. GRIFFITHS, M. D.
JOSEPH KLAPP, M. D.
OWEN OSLER, M. D.
PHILIP DE  YOUNG, M. D.
J. F. BIRD, M. D.
R. H.  LEE, M. D.
COLIN ARROTT,  M. D.
W. KELLER, M. D.
H. EVANS, M. D.
PRESTON W. RUSSELL, M. D.
JOHN  S. ROHRER, M. D.
G. EMERSON, M. D.
CHARLES NEFF, M. D.
D. C. SKERRETT, M. D.
WM. NOTSON, M. D.
WM. BYRD  PAGE, M. D. 
13
F. SCOFFIN, M. D.
A. S. M'MURRAY, M. D.
W. H. GILLINGHAM, M. D.
HENRY YALE SMITH, M. D.
T. STANTON CROWLY, M. D.
A. H. FISH, M. D.
B. H. DEACON, M. D.
WM. J. FLEMING, M. D.
E. M'CLELLAN, M. D.
L. P. GEBHARD,  M. D.
WM. F. PATTERSON, M. D.
WM. CLENDANIEL, M. D.
ANDREW CHEESEMAN, M. D.
JAMES N. PATTERSON, M. D.
JOSEPH HERITAGE, M. D.
J. HERSHEY, M.  D.
0. J. WISTER, M. D.
W. N. JOHNSON, M. D.
E. F. LEAKE, M. D.
A. L. KENNEDY, M. D.
J. M. CORSE, M. D.
ABRAHAM HELFFENSTEIN, M. D.
R. W. RICHIE, M. D.
A. FRICKE, M. D.
WM. ASHMEAD, M. D.
JOHN F. LAMB, M. D.
H. D. BENNER,  M. D.
W. S. FORBES, M. D.
WINTHROP SERGEANT, M. D.
S. C. HUSTON, M. D.
J. HUGHES, M. D.
E. SCHOLFIELD, M. D.
Northern Medical Association.
                   JOS. R.  BRYAN
L. P. GEBHARD, M. D., Vice-Pres.
WM. B. ATKINSON, M. D., Secretary.
WM. MAYBURRY, M. D., Corr. Sec.
J. HENRY SMALTZ, M. D., Treas.
N. L. HATFIELD, M. D.
R. H. TOWNSEND, M. D.
J. J. WOODWARD, M. D.
A. M. SLOCUM, M. D.
JOHN RHEIN, M. D.
A. C. BOURNONVILLE, M.  D.
J. M. EAGLETON, M. D.
L. CURTIS, M. D.
OWEN OSLER, M. D.
T. W. CRAIGE, M. D.
 M. D., President.
THEO. A. DEMME, M. D.
J.  S. HILL, M. D.
S.  N.  TROTH, M. D.
L.  S. SOMERS, M. D.
D.  GILBERT, M. D.
R.  S. KENDERDINE, M. D.
R.  Q. SHELMERDINE, M. D.
M. M. LEVIS, M. D.
L.  D.  HARLOW,  M. D.
R.  J. LEVIS, M. D.
W. L. ATLEE, M. D.
C.  WITTIG, M. D.
S.  UPDEGROVE, M. D.
B.  PRICE, M. D.
         Medical Society of the State of Pennsylvania.
                 D. F. CONDIE, M. D., President.

                Philadelphia Medical Society.

R. LA ROCHE, M. D., President.        JOHN NEILL, M. D., Vice-President.
                A. E. STOCKER, M. D., Secretary.
             Pathological Society of Philadelphia.
A. STILLE, M. D., President.          E. HARTSHORNE, M. D., Vice-Pres.
R. LA ROCHE, M. D., Vice-President.   J. DA COSTA, M.D., Secretary.
               JOHN K. KANE, Assistant Secretary. 
14
Biological Department of the Acad, of Nat. Sciences of Philadelphia.
  JOSEPH LEIDY, M.D., President.      W. F. ATLEE, M. D., Recorder.
Profession at Large.
C. P. TURNER, M. D.
0. A. JUDSON, M. D.
L. D. BODDER, M. D.
JOHN GEGAN, M. D.
SAM. TUCKER, M. D.
AND. J. SMILEY, M. D.
C. S. WURTS, M. D.
JAS. W. BACON, M. D.
J R. McCLURG,  M. D.
E. SHIPPEN, M. D.
W. S. SHIPPEN,  M. D.
C. S. BISHOP, M. D.
ALEX. C. HART, M. D.
G. J. CHAMBERLAIN, M. D.
JAS. DARRACH,  M. D.
A. C. DEAKYNE, M. D.
MORRIS J. ASCH, M. D.
W. N. HANDY, M. D.
N. C. REID, M. D.
WM. GRAHAM, M. D.
JOHN H. BRINTON, M. D.
ROBT. BOLLING, M. D.
WM. M. BREED, M. D.
E.  L. CARTER, M. D.
EDW. A. SPOONER, M. D.
GEO. B. MOREHOUSE, M. D.
SAMUEL H. ASHTON, M. D.
JAS. D. MUNDY, M. D.
C.  P. LA ROCHE, M. D.
W. MOSS, M. D.
J.  K. T.  VAN PELT, M. D.
J.  M. BOISNOT, M. D.
J.  C. COOPER, M. D.
S.  H. HORNER, M. D.
DAVID BURPEE, M. D.
A.  PENNEBAKER, M. D.
E.  S. SHARP, M. D.
GEO. SPACEMAN, M. D.
ROBT. FOSTER, M. D.
EDWIN FUSSELL, M. D.
WM. GREGG, M. D.
SAM. P.  BROWN, M. D. 
lo
                   PROCEEDINGS

At a Meeting  of the Medical Profession  of New York.
   On the 24th of June, a meeting of medical  gentlemen, interested in raising a
 national testimonial for the benefit of the discoverer of Anaesthesia, was held at
 the residence of Dr. Willard Parker.
   The hour for organization having arrived, Dr. Parker addressed the meeting,
 explained its objects, and proposed for President Dr. Joseph M. Smith ;  which
 nomination, having been seconded, was voted upon, and carried.  Dr. Gurdon
 Buck was then  elected  Corresponding Secretary, and Drs. Bibbins and Thomas,
 Recording Secretaries.
  The meeting being now duly organized, the business of the evening was called
 for, and proceeded in this wise:—
  1st. Dr. John  Watson read a list of the names of some of the most prominent,
 benevolent, and wealthy of the citizens of New York, and proposed  that each
 gentleman present should charge himself with visiting such of them as he had
 most influence with, and raising as large subscriptions as possible to head the
 list.  This was  acted upon; a list of one hundred names  was read, and  the
 duty of canvassing them assumed by various gentlemen composing the meeting.
  2d. Dr. Buck  moved that a committee of medical men be appointed to confer
 with gentlemen  out of the profession as to the most efficient means  for accom-
plishing the  end in view.   This was seconded by Dr. Parker, and carried.  On
the Committee, the President then appointed
    Drs. John W. Francis,       Valentine Mott,       James R. Wood,
         Willard Parker,      James Minor,          Gurdon Buck,
         John Watson,          J. Marion Sims,        Jos. M. Smith ;
and upon motion of Dr. Sayre, the President was added to it.  This committee,
it was agreed, should meet at the house of Dr. Earker at an early date.
  3d. It was then moved by Dr. Parker, that a committee of  one selected from
the Medical Board of each public charity of the city and its vicinity should be
 appointed to wait upon the Boards  directing the various institutions,  and solicit 
16
donations in behalf of the object which has called  us  together this  evening.
This motion was seconded by Dr. Watson, and carried.   The following appoint-
ments were then made by the Chair :—
    New York Hospital,
    Bellevue      "
    Emigrants'1    "
    St. Vincent's  "
    St. Luke's    "
    Jews'         "
    Women's     "
    Child's       "
    Quarantine   "
    New York Lying-in Asylum,
    Brooklyn City Hospital,
    Long Island College Hospital,
    Colored Home Hospital,
    New York Eye Infirmary,
    New York Ophthalmic Hospital,
    ».   *      ********
  4th.  It was moved by Dr. Watson, that the minutes of this meeting be trans
mitted to Dr. Wm. T. G. Morton, by the Secretary, which was carried.
  No farther business appearing, the meeting then adjourned.
                                     JOSEPH M.  SMITH, M.D., President.
  Gurdon Buck, M.D., Corresponding Secretary.
  T. Gaillard Thomas, M. D., Recording Secretary.
Dr. Gurdon Buck.
 "  Jas. R. Wood.
 "  J. M. Carnochan.
 "  Wm. H. Van Buren.
 "  Benj. Ogden.
 "  J. Moses.
 "  J. M. Sims.
 "  G. T. Elliott, Jr.
 "  Elisha Harris,
 "  T. F. Cock.
 "  Hutchinson.
 "  Ayres.
 "  FlTCH.
 "  Dubois.
 "  Garrish. 
17
SUBSCRIPTIONS
THAT HEAD  THE BOSTON AND  NEW YORK  CONTRIBUTIONS.
Board of Ten Governors for the City of New York,
Massachusetts General Hospital,  .
Amos A. Lawrence,
John P. Cushing,  .
The Society of the New York Hospital,
The Commissioners of Emigration of the State of New York,
James Brown,
John David Wolf,  '.
Peter Lorillard,
James Lenox,
Benjamin L. Swan,
George T. Trimble,
Robert B. Minturn,
John C. Green,
Joseph Sampson,
James Donaldson,  .
Henry Chauncey
Charles A. Davis,  .
James Boorman,
George Griswold,
Morris Ketchum,  .
Robert Ray,
E. D. Morgan &  Co.,
Josiah Macy & Sons,
Jonathan Thorn,
John Gardner,
Massachusetts Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary
Thomas B. Curtis, .
Nathaniel I. Bowditch,
Charles H. Mills,  .
John J.  May,
David Sears,
Edward  Wigglesworth,
James Bowden Bradlee,
Josiah Bradlee,
James Lawrence
John A. Lowell,
Thomas Lee,
J. M. Forbes,
Benj. H. Field,
Charles C. Goodhue, 
18
S. L. Snarez,				$100
William E. Wilmarding,	. 100			
Lorillard Spencer, .				100
Catharine L. Spencer, Augustus Belmont, Armstrong <fc Son, . John Bridge, B. M. Whitlock, .				100 100 100 100 100
Wm. B. Astor,				100
Charles H. Marshall,				100
H. B. Claflin,				. 100
J. B. & W. W. Connel,				100
 
19
                      APPENDIX  A.

               THE  NEW YORK APPEAL.

   The Medical Profession have, from  the  earliest ages, felt the need of
 some safe and efficient agent for annulling pain.
   The  ordinary anodynes, long in use,  have never supplied this defi-
 ciency, and the various new agents which, within the past sixty or eighty
 years, have been substituted for these, have, until recently, proved either
 too dangerous or too unreliable to be employed in  general practice.
   Wine and strong alcoholic drinks, given in such quantity as to induce
 intoxication, were  occasionally employed, even before the commence-
 ment of the present century, for rendering  persons insensible to the pain
 of surgical operations.  With the same end in view, some  surgeons,
 addressing the intellect, were in the habit of exciting sudden fear, alarm,
 or astonishment, to divert the attention of their patients.  Others, again,
 resorted to the uncertain and inexplicable influence of mesmerism.
 Still  more recently, the  nitrous oxide gas, administered by inhalation,
 has, as  originally suggested by Sir Humphrey Davy, been employed for
 producing temporary loss of consciousness.  But this, too, after a fair
 trial, has failed, and the  hopes founded  upon it have  proved nugatory
 and delusive.   So that, up to this point,  the want of a reliable agent  for
 rendering the human body insensible to  pain—a want so long felt, and
 to obviate which so many fruitless efforts had been  made—was still to
 be supplied.  That want, however, has since been fully met.
   The  first great triumph of placing in  the hands of the profession  an
 agent capable of rendering the patient safely, and at will,  utterly insen-
 sible to the stroke of the  surgeon's knife, was in detecting and estab-
 lishing  by experiment the anaesthetic powers of sulphuric  ether.  For
 this discovery  the world  is indebted to  Dr. Wm. T. Gr. 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 trou-
ble to inform themselves on the subject, can be no longer a question of
dispute.
   Nor can  the importance of  his  early  investigations and experiments 
20
under the guidance of Providence, in reference to  the  properties and
uses of ether, be, at the present day, too highly estimated.   The intro-
duction of this agent as an anaesthetic, and of the various other agents
of the same class—as chloroform, amyline, and the  like—to which this
directly led, 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.
  The benefit derived from these newly discovered agents is not confined
to the hardier procedures of operative surgery.   They are now in hourly
requisition  in every  quarter of the civilized world for  suspending all
sense of suffering during the severest throes  of childbirth, for arresting
convulsions, for relaxing spasms, for suspending volition and overcoming
muscular resistance during the reduction of  fractures and dislocations,
for allaying  restlessness, wakefulness, and morbid excitability;  even for
assuaging the pangs of  approaching dissolution, not to speak of the
almost innumerable minor uses to which they are applied, as well in the
investigation as in the treatment of disease.
  In view of these advantages from the use of  anaesthetics,  we feel that
Dr. Morton—the first to  demonstrate their safety and efficiency, and to
establish them in general practice, has conferred a boon  upon humanity
as imperishable as it is important, and one of such a character  as to
entitle him to rank among the benefactors of mankind.
  As members  of  the medical  profession in  the city of New York, and
as physicians and surgeons to the  various hospitals  and infirmaries in
this  city and its vicinity,  we therefore rejoice to learn that a movement
has been commenced by our professional brethren and other gentlemen
of Boston, to establish a national testimonial, by voluntary subscriptions,
for the benefit of Dr. Morton.   In this movement,  after full delibera-
tion and consultation among ourselves, we  are ready to participate in
accordance with the plan of those who originated it, which  plan  is  set
forth by the gentlemen of Boston in the following terms:—
  We propose that a national  subscription  be  instituted, the  avails of
which shall be paid into the hands of Thomas B. Curtis and Charles
H. Mills, Esquires, as Trustees—to be held, appropriated, and invested
upon such trusts, and for such uses, for the  benefit  of Dr.  Morton, as
the Trustees may determine.
  The following gentlemen, as  bankers, have agreed to receive for the
Trustees any sums paid to them for the purpose above mentioned:__
  James Brown, New York.   Brown, Brothers & Co., Philadelphia.
  W. H. Graham, Baltimore.   James Adger, Charleston.
              Samuel Nicholson & Co., New Orleans. 
21
  Under governments more arbitrary and restrictive than our own, but
more capable of meeting the claims of science, the awards of merit are
not usually left, as with us, to the bounty of private individuals.   Dis-
coveries and improvements of infinitely less importance  to science or
humanity, than that for which we are indebted to Dr. Morton, are at the
courts of Europe promptly met by national honors and emoluments.
  In our own country, it is true,  the National  Government, after care-
fully investigating Dr. Morton's  claims, has  acknowledged  the benefit
he has  conferred upon  it, but  has nevertheless failed, as yet, to  supply
the recompense.
  With these remarks, we have the honor of recommending Dr. Mor-
ton's claims for remuneration to the consideration of our fellow-citizens,
and of  soliciting their subscriptions  in behalf of the fund  which it is
proposed to raise for  his benefit.
  What the Government in this  respect has failed to  do,  it is  to  be
hoped,  for  the credit of the American  name, and from the  noble indi-
vidual examples already set, that the discerning and liberal people of the
United  States will not leave entirely unaccomplished.
         PHYSICIANS  AND SURGEONS

Of the New York Hospital and Bloominydale Asylum.
THOS. COCK, M. D., Consulting Phys.
JOS. M. SMITH, M. D., Attending Phys.
JOHN H. GRISCOLM, M. D.,
HENRY D. BULKLEY, M. D.,
THOS. F. COCK, M.D.,
VALENTINE MOTT, M. D., Conslt'g Sur.
ALEX. H. STEVENS, M. D.,
RICH'D K. HOFFMAN, M. D.,   "
ALFRED C. POST, M. D., Conslt'g Sur.
GURDON BUCK, M. D., Attending Sur.
JOHN WALSON, M.D.,
THADDEUS M. HALSTED,
  M.D.,
THOS. M. MARKOE, M. D.,
WM. H. VAN  BUREN, M. D.,
WILLARD PARKER, M.D.,
                 PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS

Of Bellevue  Hospital, and of the other Institutions under the charye of

             the Board of Governors of the Aims-House.

JOHN W. FRANCIS, M. D., Conslt'g Phy.
ISAAC WOOD, M.D.,
R. W. McCREADY, M. D., Attn'g Phys.
JOHN T. METCALFE, M. D.,
ISAAC E. TAYLOR, M. D.,
B. FORDYCE BARKER, M. D.,   "
GEO. T. ELLIOTT, M. D.,       "
VALENTINE MOTT, M. D., Cons'g Sur.
ALEX. H. STEVENS, M.D., Cons'g Sur.
JAMES R. WOOD, M. D., Attending Sur.
CHAS. D. SMITH, M.D.,
LEWIS A. LAYRE, M. D.,
J. J. CRANE, M. D.,
W. PARKER, M. D.,
STEPHEN SMITH, M.D.,
     Nursery Hospital, RandalPs Island.

HENRY N. WHITTLESEY, M. D., Resident Physician. 
22
           Quarantine Hospital, Staten Island.
    R. N. THOMPSON, M. D., Health Officer Port of New York.
    THEO. WATSON, M. D., Ass't Physician, Quar. Hospital.

              BlachwelVs Island Hospitals.

(Penitentiary Hospital, Small-pox Hospital, and Alms-House.)
         WM. H. SANGER, M. D., Resident Physician.


           PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS

               New York Lunatic Asylum.

             M. H. RANNEY, Resident Physician.

             Of the State Emiyrant Asylum.
J. M. CARNOCHAN, M. D., Sur.-in-Chief.
T. C. SELDEN, M. D.,  Surgeon.
H. GULEKE, M. D.,
HENRY B. FAY, M. D., Phys.-in-Chief.
FRANCIS  SIMROCK, M. D., Physician.
G. FORD, M. D.,
St.  Vincent's Hospital.
THOS. E. BURTSELL, M. D., Att'gPhys.
JAMES O'RORKE, M.D.,
WM. H. VAN BUREN, M. D., Att'g Sur.
ALEX'R B. MOTT, M. D., Attend'g Sur.
THOS. C. FINNELL, M. D.,
          St. Luke's Hospital.

D. E. EIGINBRODT, M. D., Resident Physician.

             Jews'1 Hospital.
V. MOTT, M. D.,    Consulting Surgeon.
W. PARKER, M. P.,
T. M. MARKOE, M. D., Attending Surg.
ALEX'R B. MOTT, M. D.,
J. MOSES, M. D., Attending Surgeon.
C. R. GILMAN, M. D., Attending Phys.
W. H. MAXWELL, M. D.,
New  York Eye Infirmary.
A. DUBOIS, M. D.,           Surgeon.
GURDON BUCK, M. D.,
T. M. HALSTED, M. D.,
C. R. AGNEW, M. D.,         Surgeon.
F.  J. BUMSTEAD, M. D., Assisting Sur.
J. H. HINTON,  M. D.,
                    New York Ophthalmic Hospital.

MARK STEPHENSON, M. D.,  Surgeon.  | JOHN P. GARRISH, M. D., Surgeon.

                        Colored Home Hospital.

G. A. SABINE, M. D., Consulting Surg'n. I J. S. THEBAUD, M.D., Consulting Sur.
W. PARKER, M. D.,             "    | J. D. FITCH, M. D., Resident Physician.

                           Women's Hospital.

                     J. MARION SIMS,  M. D., Surgeon.

                     New  York Lyiny-in  Asylum.

T. F. COCK, M. D., Consulting Physician. I G. T. ELLIOTT, M. D., Consulting  Phys.
J. T. METCALFE, M. D.,        "    | 
23
Nursery and Child's Hospital.
G. T. ELLIOTT, M. D., Attending
H. C. COX, M. D.,
Phys.
GEO. A. PETERS, M. D., Attending Phy.
F. U. JOHNSTON, M. D.,
                          Demilt Dispensary.

JNO. 0. BRONSON, M. D., House Phys'n.  I. CUMMINGS, M. D., Ass't Visit'g Phys.
WM. B.  BIBBINS, M. D., Visiting Phys.  W. R. DONAGHE, M. D., Attending Sur.
D. L. CONANT, M.D., Attending Surg'n.  ELISHA HARRIS, M. D., Attend'g Phy.
T. G. THOMAS, M. D., Attending Phys'n.  JNO. A. BARTHOLF,  M. D.,      "
GOUV. M. SMITH, M.D.,
New York Academy of Medicine.

 J. F. BATCHELDER, M. D. President.
 JOHN WATSON, M. D., Vice-President.
 W. H. VAN BUREN, M. D.,
 S. CONANT FOSTER, M. D.,
 C. E. ISAACS, M.D.,
 C. T. HEYWOOD, M. D., Recording Sec'y.
 S. T. HUBBARD, M. D., Doin. Cor. Sec'y.
 JAS. 0. POND, M. D., Treasurer.
 SAMUEL ROTTEN. M. D., Librarian.
 W. W. BLAKEMAN, M. D.,    Trustee.
 ED. L. BEADLE, M. D.,
 BENJ. OGDEN, M. D.,
 F. U. JOHNSTON, M. D., Assistant Sec'y.
 B. F. BARKER, M. D., Resident Fellow.
 GURDON BUCK, M. D.,
 II. D. BULKLEY, M. D.,
 F. J. BUMSTEAD, M. D.,
 THOS. COCK, M. D.,
 THOS. F. COCK, M. D.,
 J. J. CRANE, M. D.,
 GEO. T. ELLIOTT, M.D.,
 T. C. FINNELL, M. D.,
 J. W. FRANCIS, M.D.,
 J. P. GARRISH, M. D.,
 C. R. GILMAN, M.D.,
 J. H. GRISCOM, M, D.,
 T. M. HALSTED, M. D.,
 E. HARRIS, M. D.,
 J. H. HINTON, M. D.,
 E. LEE JONES, M. D.
 B. W. McCREADY, M. D.,
 W. PARKER, M. D.,
 G. A. SABINE, M.D.,
 L. A. SAYRE. M. D.,
 J. M. SIMS, M. D.,
 C. D. SMITH, M.D.,
M. SMITH, M.D.,
 MARK STEPHENSON, M. D.,
J. E. TAYLOR, M.D.,
T. G. THOMAS, M.D.,
W. II. VAN BUREN, M. D.,
 ISAAC  WOOD,  M. D., Resident Fellow.
 J. R. WOOD, M. D.,
 JAS. ANDERSON, M. D.,
 E. ACOSTA, M. D.,
 E. H. DAVIS, M.D.,
 A. K. GARDNER, M.D.,
 ED. DELAFIELD, M. D.,
 JOEL FOSTER,  M. D.,
 J. C. BEALES. M. D.,
 R. W. BARRY, M. D.,
 II. W. BROWN. M. D.,
 J. C. FORRESTER, M. D.,
 H. S. DOWNS, M.D..
 F. S. EDWARDS, M. D.,
 F. ELLIOTT, M.D.,
 R. PENNELL, M. D.,
 T. W. RICHARDS, M. D.,
 A. UNDERHILL, M. D.,
 JOS. WOOSTER, M. D.,
 J. W. S. GOULEY, M. D.,
 E. H. JANES, M.D.,
 C. HENSCHEL, M. D.,
 A. GESCHEIDT, M. D.,
 A. N. GUNN, M. D.,
 WM. H. MAXWELL, M. D.,
 E. HALL, M. D.,
 jared linsley, m. d.,
 john McClelland, m.d.,
 wm. minor, m. d.,
 jos. martin, m.d.,
 j. w. ranney, m.d.,
 john priestley, m.d.,
 alex. h. stevens, m. d.,
 w. c. livingston, m. d.,
 stephen smith, m. d.,
 geo. lewis, m. d.,
jas. d. fitch,  m. d.,
charles a.  budd, m. d.,
n. c. husted, m.d.,           "
th's w. horsfield, m. d.,
Neio York Medical Colleye.
HORACE GREEN, M. D.,
                 President of Faculty.
E. H. DAVIS, M. D., Prof, of Mat. Med.
B. F. BARKER, M. D., Prof, of Obstetrics.
R. OGDEN DOREMUS, M. D.,
                Professor of Chemistry.
J. M. CARNOCHAN, M. D., Prof, of Sur.
II. G. COX, M. D., Prof, of The. and Prac.
E. R. PEASELEE, M. D., Prof, of Physiol.
CHAS. A. BUDD, M.D.,
                Lecturer on Obstetrics. 
24
New  York Patholoyical Society.
E. R. PEASELEE, M. D., President.
E. HARRIS, M.D., Vice President.
E. LEE JONES, M. D., Secretary.
W. B. BIBBINS, M. D., Treasurer.
T. C. FINNELL, M. D., Curator.
Brooklyn  City Hospital.
JAMES CRANE, M. D., Attending Phys.
H. S. SMITH, M. D.,             "
GEORGE COCHRAN, M. D.,
C. E. ISAACS, M. D., Attending Surgeon.
DANIEL E. KISSAM, Attending Surg'n
J. C. HUTCHINSON,
JOS. M. MINOR, M. D.,
       Colleye of Physicians and Suryeons.

THOMAS COCK, M. D., President.
ED. DELAFIELD. M. D., Emeritus Professor of Obstetrics.
WILLARD PARKER, M. D., Professor of Surgery.
JOSEPH M. SMITH, M. D., Professor of Materia Mediea.
C. R. GILMAN, M. D.,  Professor of Obstetrics.


           University Medical College.

    WM. H. VAN BUREN, Professor of Anatomy.
    ALFRED  C. POST, M, D., Professor of Surgery.
    J  T. METCALFE, M. D., Professor of Practice. 
25
                     APPENDIX  B.

                 THE  BOSTON APPEAL.

                          To the Public.
  The power of etheric vapors to produce a safe insensibility to pain
during surgical operations, and on other occasions of great physical suf-
fering, is one of the most beneficent discoveries that has been conferred
upon  the  human  race.  It is  generally conceded  that Dr.  W.  T. G.
Morton, of Boston, was instrumental in presenting this fact to the world.
Nearly the whole  of the Medical Profession [see page 21 et seq.~\ of this
city, in the midst  of whom the discovery was made, together with other
bodies of competent  persons,  who  have  investigated  its  origin, have,
after careful scrutiny,  concurred in assigning this merit to Dr. Morton
—and public opinion has long since affirmed their verdict.
  It is not necessary to enter in detail into the circumstances which have
prevented Dr. Morton from receiving any pecuniary benefit from  this
discovery.
  The fact is certain, that Dr. Morton has been  an instrument, under
Divine Providence, of introducing to the world one of the most remark-
able discoveries of this or any other age, and that he has received no
reward for it but  the  consciousness of having done so.
  We are sure that we interpret the feelings of thousands, when we say
that a substantial  national memorial should be presented to Dr. Morton.
  How oftdn  has the poor  sufferer risen from beneath the surgeon's
knife, with nerves untouched by the slightest sensation of the torture
that would otherwise have been his!  How often has the mother passed
in unconscious, slumber, through "the perils of  childbirth," to wake to
her new happiness, without one  memory of its agonies, and breathed,
with the prayer of thanksgiving to God, a thought of him—to her,  per
haps,  the  unknown discoverer—whose happy conception, perseverance
and courage, first established the astonishing fact, that the human frame
may suffer all the conditions,  and not one of the sensations of pain !
What has already occurred throughout  the whole  world, since this dis-
covery was made—in  hospitals, in private chambers of the sick, on fields
of battle,  on the ocean, and on the land—wherever humanity undergoes 
                                 26

 the  "ills  that  flesh  is heir to"—is to occur through  countless ages,
 while the  race is left upon earth!   And  yet, year rolls after year, and
 the  spontaneous gratitude that is felt  and uttered,  whenever and
 wherever  this great discovery is used or contemplated, finds  no per-
 manent voice, because no efforts are made to concentrate and direct it
 to its object.
   We propose that such efforts be now made.  We think  that the people
 of the United States, acting individually, should do what their  govern-
 ment has  neglected, or been able to do.   National  testimonials, esta-
 blished by the voluntary contributions of individuals, have been adopted
 in all countries, to mark the public sense of services to the human family,
 especially  when such services have reflected honor and distinction upon
 the country where they have been performed.
   We propose that a national subscription be instituted, the avails of
which shall be paid into the hands of Thomas B.  Curtis and Charles
 H. Mills, Esquires, as Trustees—to be held, appropriated, and invested
upon such trusts, and for such uses, for the benefit of Dr. Morton, as
the Trustees may determine.
  The following gentlemen, as bankers, have  agreed to receive  for the
Trustees any sums paid to them for  the purpose above mentioned :—
  James Brown, New York.  Brown, Brothers & Co., Philadelphia.
  W. H. Graham, Baltimore.  James  Adger, Charleston.
             Samuel Nicholson & Co., New Orleans.
JAMES JACKSON, M. D.
JACOB BIGELOW, M. D.
S. D. TOWNSEND, M. D.
JOHN JEFFRIES, M. D.
EDWARD REYNOLDS, M. D.
JOHN HOMANS, M. D.
M. S. PERRY, M D.
0. W. HOLMES, M. D.
JOHN WARE, M. D.
GEORGE HAYWARD, M. D.
J. MASON WARREN, M. D.
HENRY J. BIGELOW, M. D.
CHARLES G. PUTNAM, M. D.
RICHARD H. DANA, Jn., Esq.
ALEXANDER H. VINTON, D. D.
S. K. LOTHROP, D. D.
JOHN B. FITZPATRICK,
              Bishop of Boston.
WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT, Historian.
N. ADAMS, D. D.
Hon. RUFUS CHOATE. .
CHARLES P. CURTIS, Esq.
F. C. LORING, Esq.
Hon. G. S. HILLARD.
WILLIAM DEHON, Esq.
BENJAMIN PEIRCE,
       Professor Harvard University.
F. D. HUNTINGTON, D. D.
HENRY W. LONGFELLOW,
       Professor Harvard University.
JARED SPARKS,
       President Harvard University.
R. B. FORBES, Esq.
P. W. CHANDLER, Esq.
ALEXANDER H. RICE, Mayor of Boston.
Hon. ROBERT C. WINTHROP. 
27
                        MEMORIAL


                                 OF THE


MEMBERS OF THE MASSACHUSETTS MEDICAL SOCB3TY.



 To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the  United

   States, in Congress assembled:

   The undersigned hereby testify to your honorable body, that in their

opinion  Dr. William T. G. Morton first proved  to the world that ether

would produce insensibility to the pain of surgical operations,  and that

it could  be used with  safety.  In  their  opinion, his  fellow-men  owe  a

debt  to  him for this knowledge.   Wherefore, they  respectfully ask  a

recognition by Congress of his services to his country and mankind :—

JOHN C.  WARREN, M D., Senior Surgeon Massachusetts General Hospital, and late
      President  American Medical Society, and  Emeritus Professor of Anatomy  of
      Harvard University.
GEORGE  HAY WARD, M.D., President Massachusetts Medical Society, and Surgeon
      Massachusetts General Hospital.
J. MASON WARREN, M. D., Surgeon Massachusetts General Hospital.
S. D. TOWNSEND, M.D.,
S. PARKMAN, M. D.,
HENRY G. BIGELOW, M. D., Surgeon Massachusetts General Hospital, and Professor
      of Surgery Harvard University.
HENRY G. CLARK, M. D., Surgeon Massachusetts General  Hospital,  and  City Phy-
      sician.
JACOB BIGELOW, M. D., Professor Materia Mediea Harvard University, and Presi-
      dent of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Physician to Massachu-
      setts General Hospital.
OLIVER W. HOLMES, M. D.,  Professor of Anatomy Harvard University.
HENRY I. BOWDITCH, M. D.. Physician Massachusetts General Hospital.
D. HUMPHREYS STORER, M. D.,
M. S. PERRY, M.D.,
JAMES JACKSON, M. D.,       )
GEORGE  C. SHATTUCK, M. D., [ Consulting Physicians and Surgeons Massachusetts
JOHN JEFFRIES, M. D.,       {   General Hospital.
EDWARD REYNOLDS, M. D.,  )
EDWARD REYNOLDS, M.D., )
W. HOOPER, M. D.,           V Massachusetts Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary
GEORGE  A. BETHUNE, M. D., )
JOHN L.  FOX, M. D., Surgeon United States Navy. Chelsea Naval Hospital. 
28
                Members

Walter Channing,
John  Homans,  President
  Suffolk District Medical
  Society.
Z. B. Adams,
John C. Hay den,
John Ware,
Ephraim Buck,
George Bartlett,
Jonas H. Lane,
Anson Hooker,
Henry Dyer,
Augustus A. Gould,
Charles  Gordon,
Joseph S. Jones,
Samuel Kneeland, Jr.,
T. Fletcher Oakes,
George Hubbard,
Charles W. Moore,
Richard H. Salter,
Fytche Edward Oliver,
William J. Dale,
William Edward Coale,
James W. Stone,
B. W. Newell,
Francis A. Willard,
William Hawes,
Charles Mifflin,
J. Wippasne,
Abraham A. Watson,
Aaron P. Richardson,
Henry A. Ward,
William Bowen Morris,
James B.  Gregorson,
William W. Morland,
M. C. Greene,
Horace Stacey,
Franklin F. Patch,
Samuel L. Abbott,
John H. Dix,
James Ayer,
Joseph J. Fales,
P. Wilbrand,
Ezra Bartlett,
S. F. Parcher,
James Hyndman,
Henry S.  Lee,
E. D. Cleveland,
John Stevens,
Ira W.  Tobie,
J. Everett Herrick,
N. C. Stevens,
Enock C.  Rolfe,
Henry Willard,
A. Alexander,
D. McGowan,
Thomas R. Owens,
Luther Clark,
Charles T. Hoffenvane,
Samuel Morrill,
 Silas Durkee,
George Stevens Jones,
 Jesse Chickering,
 J. A. Tarbell,
of Massachusetts Med

 George H. Lyman,
 Henry W. Williams,
 J. Randolph Lincoln,
 George Derby,
 Warren J. Whitney,
 Francis Minot,
 D. D. Slade,
 W. E. Townsend,
 John B. Alley,
 George H. Gay,
 Luther Parks, jr.,
 William G. Wheeler,
 F. H. Gray,
 James F. Harlow,
 George Russell,
 Charles E. Ware,
 E. W. Blake,
 Edward H. Clark,
 Samuel Gregg,
 E. D. Miller,
 C. G. Putnam,
 Charles A. Phelps,
 John Odin, jr.,
 Joseph Reynolds,
 George Hayward, jr.,
 Henry Osgood Stone.
 G. Newton Thomson,
 J. M. Phipps,
 Abner Phelps,
 Josiah Curtis,
 E. D. G. Palmer,
 Daniel V. Folts,
 R. L. Hinckley,
 J. W. Hinckley,
 M. B. Leonard,
 P. E. Molloy,
 Henry Bryant,
 Charles E. Buckingham,
 J. W. Warren, jr.,
 D. D. Smith,
 George Tower,
 William Read,
 J. F. W. Lane,
 Const. B. O'Donnell, M. R
   C. S. E.,
 John S. H. Fogg,
 Edmund T. Eastman,
 William S.  Coffin,
 John C. Sharp,
 Alexander S. Butler,
 Benjamin B. Appleton,
 M. Mattson,
 David Thayer,
 J. C. Sanborn,
 E. A. Kittredge.

       CHARLESTOWN.
 E. E. Braun,
 A. J. Bellows,
 Benjamin Seabury,
 George W. Otis, jr.,
 Charles H. Allen,
 A. C. Webber,
 I I. P. Alden,
' Society.

W. W. Wellington
H. L. Chase,
Charles F. Foster,
A. J. Cummings,
Thomas J. Stevens,
Hutchinson Germaine,
Alexander Poole,
James B. Forsyth,
John Toomy.

         CHELSEA.
William Ingalls, Thysician
  and Surgeon U. S. Ma-
  rine Hospital.

         SALEM.
A. L Peirson,
William Mack,
George Choate,
William Henry Prince,
J. G. Wood,
James Stone, jr.,
E. B. Pierson,
George C. S. Choate,
George A. Perkins,
H. Wheatland,
Samuel Johnson,
Edward A. Holyoke.

         TAUNTON.
Alfred Baylies,
H. B. Hubbard,
Horace Bowen,
Ebenezer Dawes,
William Dickinson,
Daniel  King,
 George Leonard.

      NEWBURYPORT.
 E. Cross,
 S. M. Gale.

           LYNN.
 A. S. Adams,
 J. T. Galloupe,
 Daniel Perley,
 D. A. Johnson,
 E. Porter Eastman,
 James M. Nye,
 John Renton,
 Nathaniel Ruggles,
 Charles M. Weeks,
 Edward Newhall.

        WORCESTER.
 Henry  Clarke,
 Samuel Flagg,
 George A. Bates,
 Charles W. Whitcomb,
 Joseph Sargent,
 Oramel Martin,
 William Workman, 
                             29

Members of Massachusetts Medical Society—Continued.
Rufus Woodward,
Henry Sargent,
A. Goulet,
P. B.  Mignoult,
Benjamin Hey wood,
John E. Hathaway.

      SPRINGFIELD.
James M. Smith,
Edwin Seeger,
N. Adams,
A. S.  McClean,
Alfred Lambert,
C. C.  Chaffee,
H. A. Hamilton,
Henry B. Vaille,
D. C. Perkins.

       PITTSF1KLD.
      NEW BEDFORD.
 T. S. Mayhew,
 Johnson Clark,
 John H. Jennings,
 William A. Gordon,
 Elijah Colby,
 C. D. Stickney,
 John Howell Mackie,
 Paul Spooner.

       FALL RIVER.
James W.  Hartly,
P. A. Smith,
Jerome Dwelly,
Foster Hooper,
E. T. Learned.
         LOWELL.
John 0. Green,
Henry Whiting,
J. P. Jewett,
J. D. Pillsbury,
Elisha Huntington,
John W. Graves,
Charles A. Savory,
Joel Spalding,
David Wells,
Benjamin Skelon,
H. Pillsbury,
P. P. Campbell,
L. B.  Morse,
Charles A. Davis,
Ployer G. Kittredge,
Daniel Holt,
Daniel Mowe,
J. W. Scribner.

       LAWRENCE.
George W. Sanborn,
William D. Lamb,
David Dana,
J. H  Morse.

     SOUTH ANDOVER.
James Howarth,
W. H. Kimball.

        DEDHAM.
Jeremy  Stimson,
D. P.  Wight,
H. F. Spear.

       FITCHBURG.
Thos. R. Boutelle,
Levi Pillsbury,
T. W. Wadsworth,
W. M. Barrett,
Henry M. Linrad.

        PLYMOUTH.
James L Hunt,
Winslow Warren,
Benjamin Hubbard,
Timothy Gordon.
        HINGHAM.
Ezra Stephenson,
Robert T. P. Fiske.

         QUINCY.
Ebenezer Woodward,
William G.  Pattee,
W. Goddard.

        DANVERS.
Andrew Nicholls,
Joseph Osgood,
David A. Grosvenor,
George Osgood.

      MARBLEHEAD.
James C. Briggs,
Chandler Flagg,
Daniel Gill.

        BEVERLY.
W. C. Boyden,
Charles Haddock,
Ingalls Kittredge.

       GLOUCESTER.
Isaac P. Smith,
C. H.  Hildreth,
George W. Smith.

        R0CKP0RT.
Benjamin Haskell,
Lemuel Gott,
Oscar D. Abbott.

        NEWTON.
Henry  Bigelow,
Cyrus K. Bartlet.

       FRAMINGHAM.
Simon Whitney,
Allston W.  Whitney.

        MILFORD.
Francis Leland,
Theodore 0. Cornish.
H. H.  Childs, President of
  Berkshire Medical Insti-
  tution.
N. S. Barnes,
0. S. Root,
Frank A. Cady,
0. E. Brewster,
Nathaniel Foote,
Avery Williams,
A. N. Allen,
L. F. Humeston,
Willard Clough,
Clark F. Hall,
N. J. Wilson. 
30
                       APPENDIX  C.

                HISTORICAL  STATEMENT.
   The foregoing pages set forth in outline the fact that there is a very
 general movement among the American people, inaugurated by leading
 members of the profession in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, in
 behalf of one of the most praiseworthy objects which can appeal to pa-
 trons of science or the friends of humanity.   They show that the noble
 work  is at last undertaken, which for more than twelve years has been
 neglected by Congress, to preserve the shelter of  a home for the family
 of a nation's benefactor, still living, from the  clamorous creditors to
 whom it  was pledged for  debts incurred in making and  promulgating
 a discovery  which, though leaving  the discoverer poor,  has  made the
 whole  world bis debtor, and to place their future life beyond the chances
 and vicissitudes of fortune, by the purchase of an annuity.
   The discovery made by  Dr. Wm. T. G. Morton,  of Boston,  of  the
 anaesthetic properties of sulphuric ether, and  the  safety, certainty, and
 reliability of its  effects in making the severest surgical operations, child-
 birth  and  other scenes and conditions of physical suffering, perfectly
 painless, is a discovery already ranked by the  medical profession above
 that of vaccination by Jenner, to whom the English Parliament voted
 large  sums of money, and for whom national testimonials were  raised
 and medals struck in  other nations;  a discovery whose benefits are not
 confined to the subjugation of pain, but which are  continually unfolding
 in new departments of the healing art.
  This national movement was with great propriety inaugurated in
 Boston, the city where the discoverer lived and practised his profession,
 and where  the first successful painless surgical  operation was performed.
 An organization to raise a national testimonial fund in his behalf, with
 trustees residing in Boston, and treasurers in  the principal cities  in the
 United States, is already  established.  Though it has hardly  passed
 beyond its inchoate period, it has enlisted the  energetic co-operation of
 some of the most eminent and patriotic persons in  the Union.   All will
 learn with surprise that two hundred thousand dollars will not more than
 reimburse  the discoverer of this anaesthetic  agent for his outlays in
 making experiments which led to the discovery, in establishing its value,
in compelling its acceptance by the world in spite of incredulity and
indifference, in establishing the  priority of his  claims  over post facto 
31
 discoverers, and in applications to Congress to induce them to reimburse
 him for his actual expenditures.*
   A handsome beginning for the collection of this sum has already been
 made, though much remains to be done.   The fund has received, as was
 most fitting, from the medical institutions of Boston  and vicinity, and
 from eminent and wealthy persons residing in that seat of literature and
 science, munificent subscriptions.  New York,  too, represented  in the
 same way by her medical  institutions,  and  her  wealthy citizens, has
 shown an equal promptitude in discharging this debt of honor, too long
 owing to  a nation's benefactor.
   Such is a brief and general statement of the  objects to be accom-
 plished, and the present state of  the enterprise.
   It is not necessary to argue at any great length for the character or
 success of this undertaking.  That would be almost an insult to the long
 list of men distinguished in  all the professions, and honorably known in
 commerce or in the more secluded walks of private life, who now appeal
 to the public at large to do justice in this matter.  To doubt its success
 would be  to challenge the  sincerity of the  great bulk  of the medical
 profession in Massachusetts,  New York, and  Philadelphia, who ask
 subscriptions to this fund;  would be  to say, that the world had gone
 back in the present  century, and that the justice  given  to Jenner who
 conquered smallpox in the last  century, would be  denied to  Morton,
 who may  be said to have conquered pain in this.
   It may not be  out of place, however, to recall here the universal thrill
 of joy that was felt when it was  first announced to the  world, how the
 subtle spirit of  ether would  almost everywhere  subdue  pain, in the
 severest surgical  operations, in the pangs of parturition,  in the number-
 less cases at the hospitals, on battle-fields in time of War, in cottages, " in
 piping times of peace," removing, as has been well said, "half the primal
 curse," and more than justifying the  unstinted  praise of the foregoing
 appeal of the medical  profession in New York, which says:—
  "In view of these advantages from the use of anaesthetics, we feel that
 Dr. Morton—the first  to demonstrate  their safety  and efficiency, and to
 establish them in general practice—has conferred a boon  upon humanity
as unperishable as it  is important, and one of such a character as to
entitle him to rank among the benefactors of mankind."
  Neither is this  the place or time to set forth as they deserve the labors
and the sufferings which Dr. Morton has undergone  in the twelve years
which have succeeded his great discovery.   The story of his wrongs, his
patience, his  perseverance, his unconquerable energy, his poverty, his

  * Vide p. 449, "Trials of a Public Benefactor,"  by N. P. Rice.   J. B. Lippincott
& Co., Philadelphia. 
32
enthusiasm, his  success  in achieving  an imperishable  honor, and his
failure in obtaining the slightest emolument for an invaluable discovery,
which the world now freely and daily uses, has more than the interest of
a romance.*   They constitute a record which, except it is ended by the
success of the movement whose inauguration has been  set forth in the
foregoing pages, will stand a  burning disgrace and scandal to the pro-
fession and the world which have appropriated and used  a discovery, and
left the discoverer to starve.   Shall it be said that, through his connec-
tion with so great a benefaction to the human race, Dr.  Morton is to be
left  unable to preserve to his children the paternal acres pledged in
securing it, unable to educate his children, without any  adequate means
of support; and worse than all, unable to secure for himself that quiet
mode of life demanded by the ruined health consequent upon his hazard-
ous experiments and upon living in an atmosphere of ether for so many
months, and upon  the  labors and sufferings which  he underwent  in
detecting  and establishing the anaesthetic properties of the  sulphuric
ether ?  These appellants, therefore, now appeal directly to the heart
of the country, which rarely fails to disprove the heartless  maxim that
"republics are ungrateful," and which  will never suffer a state of things
so discreditable as that which we have briefly depicted, long to last.
   It is true that this mode of raising funds to consummate a simple act
of justice is laborious and tedious.  The present success of the move-
ment shows, however, that that is the only great objection, and that
individuals and  institutions, and the  country at large, are ready and
anxious to discharge their obligations.   The "ether  controversy" has
had the one good effect of waking up the  public to the existence of those
obligations.  The sum required to accomplish the reimbursement and
effect the designs of the appellants, is, as we have said, a large one, and
its collection by individual contributions over an extent of country so
vast as ours, is  one of time;  but it will derive an additional value as
coming directly from the people, and the zeal and energy with which it
has been entered upon by the profession in this city and elsewhere, is
the best augury of success.  May it soon be impossible for one of the
greatest benefactors of the human race who has appeared in this cen-
tury, to say,  "It were better  for  me, infinitely better for me and my
wife and children, better for me and them in all respects, if I had buried
the  secret of the victory over pain in my breast  forever, and suffered
centuries to elapse before it came forth to the knowledge of the world
by some other hand, than to do as I did—hasten  to  make it known by
all  forms  and modes of  speech, and  at every risk of health, property,
and even life!"
                  * See " Trials of a Public Benefaotor.'' 
33
                 [From the American Cyclapa-dia, Vol. xi.]

    MORTON, William: Thomas Green, M.D., an American dentist,
 one of the claimants of the discovery of anaesthetics, born in Charlton,
 Mass., Aug. 9, lsl'j.  His youth  was passed upon his father's farm.
 Going to Boston  at the  age of 17, he spent some months in a large
 publishing house,  and  from  this time  to his majority  he alternated
 between the counter and  the school-room.   "With no taste and little
 talent for trade, his  mercantile career  was short and disastrous.   In
 184D he  commenced the  study of dentistry in  Baltimore, and  18
 months afterward established himself as a dentist in Boston.  Among
 other  improvements  introduced by him was a new kind of solder by
 which false teeth are fastened to gold plates, preventing  galvanic
 action.   In order  to render his work complete, it was  desirable that
 the roots of old  teetli should be removed; as this was a tedious and
 very painful operation, i'aw would submit to it, and there seemed little
 prospect of the success of the invention unless he could  devise means
 to lessen the pain.   He tried stimulants, even to  intoxication, opium,
 and magnetism,  but in vain ;  still the  idea possessed his  mind that
 there must be  something  to produce the  desired effect, and he gave
 himself up seriously to its realization.   His limited amount of medi-
 cal knowledge interfering with the prosecution of his investigations?
 he entered his name  as a medical student in Boston in 1844.  About
 this time the idea was suggested to  him in a lecture  at the college
 that sulphuric  ether might be used to alleviate pain in his operations ;
 he read such  books on chemistry as lie could  procure, and experi-
 mented on animals, but as yet with little success.  During his attend-
 ance  at the medical college and  hospital  he was obliged to devote all
 his spare time  to his operating rooms  and dental laboratory, where
 he displayed great  ingenuity  in the  mechanical  details of his profes-
 sion, and especially in the  manufacture of artificial  teeth, which he
 prosecuted .successfully on a large scale.  From books and  from lec-
 tures he learned that sulphuric ether could be inhaled in small quan-
 tities with some discomfort, but that in large amount it was dangerous.
 After experiments  on himself, and satisfied of its safety, he adminis-
 tered it to a man on Sept.  30,  1846, producing unconsciousness, during
 which a firmly  rooted bicuspid tooth was painlessly extracted.  After
 numerous other successful  experiments, he communicated their result
 to  Dr. J. C. "Warren, and  at his request  administered the ether, at the
 Massachusetts  General  Hospital,  to  a man from whose jaw was
removed a  vascular tumor on Oct. 1G, 184l'>, the pat:'.-iu remaining 
34
unconscious during the operation;  from this  dates the introduction
into general surgery of the discovery of ethereal anaesthesia.  Like
all  other  great  discoveries,  however, it  met  with  the  bitterest
professional opposition ; the jealousy of dentists,  the fears of physi-
cians, and the  scruples of theologians  were in many cases arrayed
against  it,  and various persons  claimed  to  have suggested it.  In
order to protect himself against such opposition, to secure a fair com-
pensation for his expenditure of time and money, and to keep his dis-
covery within  the hands of competent persons, Dr. Morton  obtained
for  it a patent, under  the  name  of " letheon," in Nov. 184G, in the
United States, and in the following  month in  England, offering, how-
ever,  free  rights to all charitable institutions in  all parts  of the
country.   Notwithstanding his generous offers, government appropri-
ated his discovery to its use without compensation.   Upon their first
examination of the testimony, some of the Paris academicians at first
recognized  Dr. Jackson as the  discoverer;  but the committee of the
academy awarded the  Monthyon prize of o,00(J francs to be equally
divided between him and Dr. Tlorton.   The latter declined to receive
this joint award, protested against the decision of the  academy, and
in 1852  received the large gold medal, the Monthyon prize in med-
icine and surgery.   He underwent an amount of persecution  almost
unparalleled in the annals of personal enmity, in private and before
congress, his business was broken up, and his very house attached by
the  sheriff" for  debts; but his indomitable will and the encouragement
of firm and powerful friends enabled him ever to maintain his claims
to the discovery.  Relying upon  the impartiality and generosity of con-
gress for remuneration of his labors, he had presented his first memorial
in Dec.  184G,  upon  which the  appointed committee did not  report.
Strengthened by the testimonial  inaugurated  by the trustees of the
Massachusetts General Hospital in 1848, which conceded to him the
discovery of the power and safety of ether in producing anaesthesia,
he made a  second application to  congress in  January 1840 ;  a com-
mittee, composed entirely of physicians, heard the evidence  on  both
sides, and reported that he was entitled to the merit of the discovery ;
but on account of the press of business toward the close of the ses-
sion and on the eve of  a change  in the administration, they deemed
it unadvisable to  recommend any pecuniary remuneration.   Return-
ing from AVashington,  he  made a brief stay at Baltimore, where  he
received the regular title of M.D. from Washington University.   In
Dec.  1851, he made a third and last  appeal to congress, and his
memorial was referred  to a  select  committee; the  report  of the
majority, al'icr a  most elaborate  investigation, awarded  the honor of 
35
the discovery to Dr. Morton, and in April 1852, the majority reported
a bill appropriating $100,000 as a national  testimonial  for his dis-
covery, on the condition that he  should surrender his patent to the
government; this  bill, on  account of the  excitement  attending the
then approaching  presidential election, was  not acted upon, though
warmly  approved by several members  of the cabinet and urged
by members  uf congress  having  at  last  been  brought before the
senate as  an  amendment to the army  appropriation  bill it was
adopted. In  1853  an amendment to the appropriation bill was offered,
granting $100,000 to the  discoverer of practical anaesthesia; after a
warm debate it passed the  senate, 26 to 23, but failed in the house.
In 1854 a  similar  bill was presented by Mr. Everett, which passed
the senate  by 24 to 13, but was  lost in  the house.   Thus ended a
struggle of eight years spent in vindicating his claims.  In 1854 Dr.
Morton  attempted to obtain from the executive a recognition of the
validity of his patent, supported by the recommendation of 150  mem-
bers of congress that the right to  use  his discovery be purchased for
the public  service, or that the government respect its own patent and
discontinue its use ; after two years' delay the president informed him
that whenever it was decided  in the courts that the government had
violated his patent, it would pay.  At this defeat his creditors became
importunate,  and   reduced him  and his family to utter   poverty;
but in the winter  of 185G-7 a  plan for a national testimonial was
instituted in  Boston, encouraged by many of  the principal  physicians
and merchants of that city  ; in their appeal they give to him the  credit
of presenting to the world the fact  that a safe insensibility can be
produced by etheric vapors in  the  following words: "Nearly the
whole of the medical profession  of this city, in the midst of  whom
the discovery was  made, together with other bodies of competent per-
sons who have investigated its  origin, have, after careful scrutiny, con-
curred  in  assigning this merit to  Dr. Morton, and public opinion has
long  since affirmed their verdict."  In  1858 a similar  appeal was
made in l^ew York, signed by the principle medical men of that city,
from which the following is an extract: " For this discovery the world
is indebted to Dr.  William T.  G. Morton, of Boston.   AVhatever may
have been the steps preliminary to  this remarkable discovery, Dr.
Morton's claim to it is established beyond all controversy, and his merit
in this respect, with those who have taken the trouble to inform  them-
selves on the subject, can be no longer a question of dispute." In 1860
the medical profession of Philadelphia signed a testimonial of the same
character, which says: " We believe the practical originator of  anaes-
thetic inhalation to be Dr. AVilliam T. G. Morton, of Boston,  Mass. 
36
inhalation  for  the purpose  of producing insensibility to pain  in a
patient while undergoing a surgical operation, and that  he is the one
who first succeeded in effecting this result.  He  was, indisputably, the
first to urge the anaesthetic properties of  the vapor of ether upon the
attention of the medical profession, and thus succeeded in establishing
the practice of anaesthetic inhalation."  In 185H, to save  his  home
from the sheriff's sale for debt, he  instituted a  suit against a marine
hospital surgeon for infringing his patent, as  suggested by the presi-
dent, which was decided in his favor in the U.  S. circuit court.—See
"Trials of a  Public  Benefactor," by  Dr. Nathan  P.  Rice, (New
York, 1859). 
APPENDIX  D.
PROCEEDINGS  OF  HOSPITALS.
            MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL.
   The undersigned, to whom a propositions of the Trustees of this hos-
 pital should contribute a fund to be established for the benefit of Dr.
 Morton, was referred, report:
   That  Dr. Morton is known  to  have been chiefly instrumental  in
 conferring a great good upon his race—
   That his agency in  a discovery, which has already relieved multi-
 tudes from suffering, has yielded to him no pecuniary compensation
 for its acknowledged benefits, but has, on the contrary, been attended
 by many sacrifices—
   That his only rewards have  been the consciousness of a great ser-
 vice rendered and a title to fame—
   That  the  government  of the country has omitted to  provide a
 proper reward—
   That justice entitles him to remuneration, and that  the only mode
 in which it seems to be probable that the means  of doing that  justice
 can be furnished, is, through voluntary contributions from the philan-
 thropic, in some such form as is now suggested.
   Therefore,  your committee  think that the object  is  proper, and
 that its early attainment is to be desired ;  so  that the only question
 is whether the trustees may properly contribute  of the funds  of this
 institution for its promotion.
   No ordinary circumstance would justify the trustees,  should they
 apply any portion of the funds under their control to any  object other
 than the direct relief of the sick under their care.
   But the relations between Dr. Morton and this  hospital, in  regard
 to the great  discovery which prompts the  proposed   memorial, are
peculiar.
   The first  important surgical  operation, to which  that  discovery
was applied, was performed within its walls, at his instance. 
38
   At a time when he supposed that his agency in it would be pecuni-
 ary rewarded by those who should derive benefits from it, he con-
 ferred upon this  hospital the right to profit by it in all cases without
 any charge.
   We have been  and shall continue to be benefitted by it, to an extent
 which no reasonable  amount of money could compensate for.
   Dr. Morton and his friends  think  that  the refusal  of the trustees
 of the Massachusetts General Hospital to subscribe  to the contem-
 plated fund would prevent its foundation.  In view of all  the circum-
 stances, your  committee think that apprehension well founded.
   When  individuals  have  made  bequests, or rendered  remarkable
 services to the institution, the trustees have deemed it proper to ex-
 pend such sums as may have been required, to procure appropriate
 memorials of  them, to be preserved within the walls of the hospital;
 and  your  committee think that the propriety of a subscription toward
 the fund,  which it is now proposed to establish for the benefit of Dr.
 Morton, would rest safely on the grounds which have been found suf-
 ficient in such cases.
   They, therefore, recommend that the subjoined vote  be passed.
                           J. Tiiomas Stevenson, )  ~,
                           John Lowell,         \ Committee.
   Boston,  Feb. 22, 1857.
   Voted, That the Chairman of this Board be requested to subscribe,
on behalf of the Massachusetts General Hospital, one thousand dollars
toward the fund which it  is proposed  to establish for  the benefit  of
Dr. W. T. G.  Morton, as a memorial of the great service which that
gentleman has rendered to  science  and to humanity,  in  connection
with the discovery of  the uses of ether.
  Trustees.—Henry B. Rogers.  John P. Bigclow, James B. Bradlee, Wm.  S.
Bullard, \Yilham J.  Dale, William  W. (iiceenough,  Thomas Lamb. John
Lowell, Robert M. Mason,  Charles H. Mills,  J. Thomas Stevenson, Edward
\\ igglesworth.
         MASSACHUSETTS EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY.
   Voted, That the Secretary of this Board be authorized to subscribe,
on behalf of the Massachusetts Charitable  Eye  and Ear Infirmary,
two hundred dollars  towards the fund to be raised for the benefit of
Dr. AY. T. G. Morton, as  a recognition of the  greatest discovery of
modern times, and an acknowledgment of the great service which that
gentleman has rendered to science and humanity, by the discovery of
the uses of ether.
  Trustees.—J. H. Walcott, J. AY. Edmands, Henry Rice, Dr. E. Reynolds,
G. II.  fchaw, U. H. Mills, It. W. Hooper,  Moses  Grant, Ja-s. Lawrence,  Dr.
S. D. Towiisend, J. A. Blanchard. 
39
                      NEW YORK  HOSPITAL.
" Geokge T. Trimble, Esq.,
        President of the Board of Governers of the New York Hospital:
  Sir : The members of the medical profession of New York, have made an
appeal in behalf of Dr. Wm. T. G. Morton, of Boston, who was  the  first to
discover and demonstrate by experiment the power of sulphuric ether, to ren-
der the human economy insensible to pain under surgical operations.
  » The object of this appeal is to raise, by voluntary contributions, a fund, as
a national testimonial for his benefit, such as shall be  a worthy acknowledg-
ment of the priceless value of a discovery, which has already done, and is con-
stantly doing so much to diminish human suffering.                  ,
  ••Boston, the scene of Dr. Morton's labors, has  taken the initiation m this
effort and has made a noble beginning.                       _
  » It is believed that the  action of the New York Hospital, m reference to
this appeal, will exert an important influence on other kindred institutions in
this  city and elsewhere, and it is therefore earnestly hoped that the object will
be regarded with favor bv the  Board of Governors.  Nowhere in our whole
land arc the benefits of this discovery more constantly witnessed  than in  the
New York Hospital and there seems to  be special  propriety in such an institu-
tion acting a conspicuous part in acknowledging our  common indebtedness to
the discoverer, of such a boon to suffering humanity.
  " Having been delegated to present this object to your Board I beg leave.
Mr.  President, through you, to  submit this  communication with the  accom-
panying appeal to  that honorable body for consideration at their next meeting.
  " I have the honor to remain, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
                                             " Gurdox Buck, M.D.
  "New York, July 3d, 1853.

   The subject being thus fairly laid before the custodians of the  insti-
tutions of  New York, the society of  the New York Hospital,  a  close
corporation, governed by the gentlemen named in the  note appended,*

immediately  voted  that their president, Hon.  George T. Trimble,

subscribe five hundred dollars to the proposed fund.


  COMMISSIONERS OF EMIGRATION, OF THE STATE  OF  N. Y.
   The Commissioners of Emigration,  composed of  the   gentlemen

named in the annexed note,t passed the following resolution :
   " Resolved, That in view of the great  benefits derived by the Insti-

tutions and patients under  the charge of the Commissioners of  Emi-

 gration, by the use of sulphuric ether,  the  sum of two hundred and
 fifty dollars to be donated to Dr. AVm. T. G. Morton, the  discoverer

 thereof, as a  consideration of the feeling of the Board, with an  ex-
 pression of regret that the present  state of the funds under  their
 charge would not  permit the Commissioners to  show  a  more substan-

tial appreciation of the great importance of  the discovery."

   *  George T. Trimble, Najah Taylor, Gulian C. Verplanck. James F. Do Pey-
Fter, John A.  Stevens, James I. Jones,  Stacy B.  Collins, George F.  Hussey,
Edwin  I).  Moigan,  David  Colden Murray,  Robert Lenox  Kennedy,  John
David Wolfe,  George F. Jones, Joseph Walker,  Ihomas Hall Faile, Thomas
B.  Millman,  James  N. Cobb, George  T. Olyphant,  John 0. Green,  David
('larkson, Abram  S. Hewitt,  Frederick  A.  Conkling, Nathaniel P. Bailey,
Otis I). Swan, Henry L. Picrson, James W. Bcekman.
   r  Gulian C. Ycrplanck, Prest.; E. Crabtree, Vice-Prest.; B. Casscrly, Sec.;
■ v.- -■ .-;.^.w^^^  g„„t Pl^hK Pnrrlv. John P. dimming.  Cvrus 
40
                    BELLEVUE HOSPITAL.
  The  Governors of the  Almshouse  referred  the subject  to the
committee on Bellevue Hospital to report.  AYhile considering the
subject, the committee received from Stephen Smith,M.D., Secretary,
the following resolution, unanimously adopted by the Medical Board
of Bellevue Hospital:
  Resolved, That the Medical Board of Bellevue Hospital cheerfully
express their conviction that to the zeal, perseverance, and skill of Dr.
AVm. T. Green 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 they are  convinced that but for his
energy, courage, and success, there  is no reason to believe that man-
kind would yet have received that boon from any  of the gentlemen
whose names have been prominently connected with this subject.
                           John  AV. Francis, M. D.,
                                      President Medical Board.
  Stephen Smith. M. D., Secretary.

   Referred to Committee on Bellevue Hospital.

  On the  4th of August, the  Committee  to whom the subject  was
referred, reported in favor of appropriating the sum of $1,50;'.

  On September 14, the  following  preamble and resolution,  appro-
priating fifteeen hundred  dollars was adopted :
  Resolved, That this Board view with high appreciation the initia-
tory steps taken by the Aledical Faculty of the cities of Boston  and
New York  to acknowledge, in a substantial manner,  the discovery
and  appliances of sulphuric ether  by  Dr. AVm. T. G. Morton,  and
believing the same to be as expressed and  set forth in their testimo-
nials, the greatest benefit of the present age  rendered to science  and
humanity, deem it our duty, in consideration thereof, and of the many
uses to which the same has been applied in the institutions under our
charge, to unqualifiedly endorse the same.
  And  be  it farther Resolved, That the  sum of  Fifteen Hundred
Dollars be,  and the same  is hereby appropriated as  compensation for
the use of sulphuric ether in the hospital  under our charge, and the
same be taken  from  the  unexpended  appropriation  of Bellevue
Hospital.
  The president of the Board  of Ten Governors immediately made
the subscription to the proposed fund. 
COMESPONDENCE. 
 
APPENDIX  E.
                       CORRESPONDENCE.
   During the last summer, the Governor  of Massachusetts, N. P.
 Banks, late Speaker  of the  House of Representatives, wrote to his
 Excellency the Governor of New York, that " A  national  subscrip-
 tion, intended as an  acknowledgment of his  [Dr. Morton's] great
 public service in the discovery, and introduction to common use, of
 this important power [sulphuric  ether], has been  commenced here,
 under the auspices of gentlemen of the highest professional standing,
 who were themselves witnesses of the successive steps through which
 this discovery was made.   They  are  men whose names alone are a"
 guarantee that their statements may be relied upon, and no words of
 mine can aid in giving their opinion  strength.  In addition to that
 of merchants and professional men of the  first eminence, you will
 find in the publication made by the trustees of the  fund to be raised,
 a petition to the President, signed by a majority of the members of the
 thirty-third Congress,* which is, I think, to  be regarded as an evi-
 dence of the very general estimate which was  made of the  claims of
 Dr. Morton upon the government and the public,
   " The subscription has been liberally commenced in Boston, but it
 is thought that other cities that have been benefited by the discovery
 should participate in the recognition of the merits  of the discoverer,
 and in making him appropriate honors.  I hope that other cities may
 imitate the example of Boston in this respect, and contribute something
 to aid, and,  I may say, relieve one who is certainly  deserving of great
 credit, and  who  has  as yet, received  no advantage from his  dis-
 covery."
   Dr. James Jackson, wrote  to George Ripiey,  one of the  editors of
 the  American Cyclopedia:  " To  him  [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.  It is  now  more than  eleven  years
 since he made  this discovery known.   At the  present day  the bene-
 fit of it is known throughout the civilized portion of  the world.  Every
■MMh»i.^Ail^Ala—iI££-lhiLiiJlid                     thousands. 
44
 If the knowledge of it could be  lost millions and  millions of dollars
 could be raised for the recovery of it.   Every man  is liable to  the
 misfortunes which would make the use of it invaluable to him.
   " Is not something due to the gentleman who introduced the use of
 ether for  the use of the  present and all future generations of men ?
 Shall it be recorded in history, that he lived on a very small income,
 while millions were blessing his discovery ?  Should he not be repaid
 in some substantial manner?  As I understand the  matter, his busi-
 ness has been destroyed ? strange to say, and  he  needs aid.  May I
 ask you to make his case known in New York, in the hope that he
 may receive the evidence of such gratitude as is due to him ?"

   Dr. Jacob Bigelow,  President of  the Academy  of  Arts and
 Sciences, wrote to Dr. Parker, that " I hope the community who are
 daily deriving the benefit of his [Dr. Morton's] inestimable discovery,
 will not  be insensible to  the  debt  they owe him.   He is the only
•man, without whom, the world would at  this day have wanted the
 blessing of anaesthetic inhalation."

   Dr. O. AV. Holmes wrote to AVillard Parker, M. D.,: " It gives me
 great  pleasure  to  add my  name to that of my friends, who have
 recommended the  claims of Dr. W. T. G. Morton to your favorable
 notice.
   " A surgeon in great business, like yourself, must know well what we
 owe to the discover  of the use of ether in  surgery.  The part Dr.
 Morton took in that, is matter of history, and I cannot but think you
 will agree with  us in believing that but for  his  happy audacity we
 should have waited an indefinite period for the discovery.
   " I write this time, therefore, to request your kind consideration of
 the subject  that will be  presented to your notice, not professing to
 have any personal claim upon your valuable time, but considering that
 your position, entitles you  to the  honor of being among  the foremost
 in every movement, involving the interest of science and humanity."

   Dr. John Jeffries, wrote to Willard Parker, M. D.: " Of the jus-
 tice to his [Dr. Morton's]  claim,  as  the  person by whom this great
 benefaction was conferred  on the medical profession, and upon man-
 kind,  I  entertain no doubt; and  consequently  of  the  weight of
 obligations  which  physicians and  societies at large, are under to  him
 for this benefit.  A public benefaction  has  been  set on foot for Dr.
 Morton, who is himself poor, and made  so in some measure, in con-
 sequence of his agency in providing a blessing for mankind.  It has 
45
my full approbation and best wishes  for  its success.  I would  also
express my confidence in the plan and details by which it was carried
out, arising from the high character for intelligence and integrity of
gentlemen, under whose  auspices  it is  to be conducted.  AVhatever
you  may please to do  to  aid, will be on  the side of justice and
humanity."

   Dr. S. D. Townsend, one of the surgeons of Massachusetts Gen-
eral Hospital, wrote to Willard Parker, M. D.: " Having  been con-
versant with the use of ether from the first day of its introduction, I
have always  given to Dr. Morton the credit of being the author of
its extensive employment into our profession.  The object of this move-
ment is to obtain subscriptions to a fund, to be placed in the hands of
trustees, for  his [Dr. Morton's]  benefit,  which is to be raised  from
different hospitals in the country, that have been so greatly benefited
by its  use.   Dr.  Morton's   pecuniary circumstances  have  been
greatly reduced, by the exclusive attentions he has  paid to this object,
having  entirely broken  up the  business which he was extensively
engaged in, and he needs  the  aid of all professional men, who have
been^o greatly benefited by this discovery. I am sure I can rely upon
you to give it all the  assistance which  your prominent situation can
 afford him."

   Nathaniel I. Bowditch, Esq., in a letter to Amos A. Lawrence and
 John Lowell, Trustees of the Morton  Fund, says: — " Circumstances,
 as you are aware, made  me originally take great interest in the Ether
 discovery.  In the Hospital Report and a pamphlet in vindication of
 it, I have expressed, as  forcibly as in  my power, my conviction that
 it is to  the  boldness, energy and perseverance, of Dr. Morton, that
 the world owes the demonstration of this great truth of  science.
 I have never seen the slightest  reason for  doubting the accuracy of
 the conclusion at which I first arrived.   It happens that in my own
 person I have already had  occasion to be especially thankful for this
 blessing.  Ether has  been administered to me no less than  seven
 times, and on each  occasion  has saved me from great suffering.
 I consider  Dr. Morton, indeed, to be one of my permanent attendant
 physicians, and one the value of whose  prescription  cannot be esti-
 mated in money, or expressed in words.  I have therefore cheerfully
 subscribed $5(J0 on the book which you sent me."

   Thomas B. Curtis, Esq., of Boston,  in a letter to AArm. E. Bowen,
 Esq., of Philadelphia: " Dr  Morton  who  first made known to...the 
46
world the blessed effects of Ether in doing away with pain.   Instead
of riches and honor, he has reaped nothing from his great discovery.
Our Government has cheated him, but they have not deprived him of
the support of the most eminent surgeons in America, and the sympa-
thy of many of our best citizens."

   Dr. AVm. H. Van Buren, of the New York Hospital, in a letter to
Prof. Neill, of Philadelphia : " Here, there was no dissenting voice in
the right quarter, i. e. among  the profession — and  I think  on the
broad ground of humanity, Dr. Morton has a right  to  our support.
His misfortunes  entitle  him to our regard above all other consider-
ations."

   Dr. Fordyce  Barker,  of the  Bellevue  Hospital, New  York, in a
letter to Dr. Edward Hartshorn, of Philadelphia : '; The  profession in
this city and in Boston have with great unanimity, made an effort to
induce the  people to bestow upon Dr. Morton some  reward propor-
tioned to the value of his  discovery, and it  is hoped that our brethren
in Philadelphia will join heartily in the endeavor."

   Dr. George T. Eliot, of the  Bellevue Hospital, New York, in  a
letter to Dr. Biddle,  of  Philadelphia: " I sincerely think that Dr.
Morton  ought to be placed above the necessity  for labor during his
life, and that it is a reproach to the United States that the Government
did not  behave differently. The feeling of  the profession here, is in
favor of the testimonial in his behalf."

   Dr. Batcheldor, President of the Academy of Medicine, Neiv York,
in a letter to Prof. Meigs, of Philadelphia : " Dr. AVm. T. G. Morton,
the  discoverer of Anaesthesia,  now so universally employed in the
alleviation  of human suffering; in perfecting his discovery and intro-
ducing it to  the world,  has made great sacrifices, and  it is no more
than just that he should reap some reward, small though it may be,
in  comparison with the  vast  benefits, which he  has conferred upon
suffering humanity.   The appeal to the justice  and liberality of our
fellow-citizens has  been gladly seconded by  the  profession  in this
city, and I have no doubt that such will be the case in your city."

   Dr. John II. Griscomb, of the New  York  Hospital, in a letter to
Prof. George B. AVood,  of Philadephia:—" The Medical profession
of Boston  and in New  York  have taken great interest in the eftort 
47
character in favor of Dr. Morton, whose sacrifices, means, time and
health in his devotion to  the  perfecting of this most extraordinary
discovery, renders some pecuniary return essential.   We regard this
as a truly national matter, to which the profession of the whole country
phould lend their aid."

   Dr. Isaac Wood, of the Bellevue Hospital, New York, in a  letter to
Prof. Geo. B. AVood, of Philadelphia :—" At a meeting of our  Medical
Board, held- last evening, at my house, a resolution was unanimously
passed, to recommend the  testimonial to  Dr. Morton to the favorable
notice of the Board of ten  Governors of the Bellevue Hospital.

   Prof. Valentine Mott, of New York, in a letter to  Prof. Pancoast,
of  Philadelphia: — "The Profession  here, generally award to Dr.
Morton the honor of  this great discovery.   AVe have been doing, for
the Testimonial to him, a little  in this city."

   Dr. John AV. Francis, of New York,  in  a letter to Prof. Samuel
Jackson, of Philadelphia: — "Something,  our entire Faculty have
determined, must be  done for  Dr. Morton as a great benefactor  to
humanity.  In New York  we are  not  idle.  Our Bellevue Hospital,
I believe, will make a liberal donation."

   Dr. F. M. Markoe, of the New York Hospital,  in a letter to Dr.
Franklin Bache, of Philadelphia: — " We have been much interested
in the matter of the Testimonial to Dr.  Morton, and feel the convic-
tion that not only he is entitled to the credit of the discovery of this
great practical use of Ether, but that  the country owe him a debt of
gratitude which ought to take some tangible and available form."

|   Prof.  Alfred C. Post,  of New York, in a letter  to  Prof.  S. D.
Gross, of Philadelphia: — "I hope the Profession, ef your city, will
ftake an  interest in obtaining from the community some  substantial
acknowledgment of the great services which Dr. Morton has rendered
jto science and humanity.
{  " 1 think, from  the investigations which I have  made,  that there
Is  no  reason  to doubt that he is  entitled  to  the  exclusive  merit
of introducing the valuable discovery which he claims 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." 
                               48

  Dr.  B. AV. McCready, of the Bellevue Hospital, New York,
a letter to Dr. AV. II.  Gobreeht,  of Philadelphia: — "It has  be
deemed just, by the leading medical  men  of  Bo
that  Dr.  Morton should realize something mor
than barren honors, to which he has to support his claims at his owi
expense."
iioston and New Yorlfr
re from his discover!
  Prof. AVillard Parker, of New York, in a letter to  Mr. Allsop:—
" Dr. Morton has laid the civilized world under an infinite obligation
and exhausted his means by so doing.   I am desirous that some returi
should be made, and he be relieved from his condition of want.  Ir
this city a movement is being made in furtherance of this object."

  Dr. John Watson, of the New York Hospital, in a  letter to John
A. Stevens, Esq.:—" As our  national government is  not likely tc
remunerate Dr. Morton  for the trouble and  expense, not to speak of
loss  of business, to which he  has been subjected, American  people
should take his sacrifices into serious consideration, and show by
their own liberality that what  the government cannot do, the peoplt
are not willing to leave undone." 
^ 
 
      With the view of obtaining effectual co-operation  in other places, a  meeting of a

committee  of fifty gentlemen  was  held at  the house of Dr. J. Mason Warren, January

2Gth, 1861, and as a result of this meeting, the following organization has been adopted.

The  aid of the medical profession, and the  public in general, is now respectfully solicited

to assist in carrying into  effect this laudable  purpose.   Jt is proposed  that a  public

subscription  be instituted, the  avails  of which shall  be  paid  into the hands of Amos

A.  Lawrence  and  John  Lowell, of  Boston, Trustees, to be  held,  appropriated,  and

invested for the benefit of Dr.  Morton and his family.

                                           PRESIDENT :
                                   De. JAMES  JACKSON,
                    Emeritus Professor of Theory and Practice of Medicine, Harvard University.
                                    VICE-PRESIDENTS
Dr. JACOB BIGELOW,
     President American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
 "  GEO. HAYWARD,
     Consulting  Surgeon Massachusetts General Hospital.
 "  S. D. TOWNSEND,
     Surgeon Massachusetts General Hospital.
 "  EDW.  REYNOLDS,
     Consulting  Surgeon Massachusetts General Hospital.
C. C. FELTON, LL.D.,
     President Harvard  University.
Dr. JOHN HOMANS,
    President Massachusetts Medical Society.
    Consulting Physician Massachusetts General Hospital.
 "  JOHN JEFFRIES,
    Consulting Surgeon Massachusetts General Hospital.
JARED SPARKS, LL.D.,
    Late President of Harvard University.
HENRY W. LONGFELLOW, LL.D.,

ROBERT C. AVINTHROF, LL.D.,
    President of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Dr. JOHN C. DALTON,
 "  D. II. STORER,
     Professor of Obstetrics and Medical Jurisprudence in
        Harvard University.
 '  CHARLES G. PUTNAM,
 "  A. A.  GOULD,
     Physician to Massachusetts General Hospital.
 "  CHARLES II. STEDMAN,
 "  CHARLES GORDON,
 "  HENRY I. BOW DITCH,
     Physician to Massachusetts General Hospital.
 "  HENRY G. CLARK,
     Surgeon to Massachusetts General Hospital.
 "   OLIVER WENDELL  HOLMES,
    Professor  of Anatomy and Physiology in Harvard
        University.
GENERAL COMMITTEE :
              Dr. ROBERT  W. HOOPER,
                   Surgeon to  the Massachusetts  Charitable Eye and
                       Ear Infirmary.
                " J. MASON WARREN,
                   Sun/eon to the Massachusetts General Hospital.
                " AVILL1AM J. DALE,
                " HENRY J. BIGELOW,
                   Suryeon to the Massachusetts General Hospital.
                " CHARLES E. BUCKINGHAM,
                " FRANCIS MINOT,
                   Physician to the Massachusetts General Hospital.
                "  GEORGE  II. LYMAN,
                "  EDWARD II. CLARKE,
                   Professor of Materia Mediea in Harvard University.
                "  LUTHER  PARKS, Jr.,
                "  J. BAXTER UPHAAI,
Dr. JOHN AVARE,
     Late Professor of Theory and Practice  of Medicine
        in Harvard University.
 «  DAVID AV. CIIEEVER,
 "  J. N. BORLAND,
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:
               Dr. C. D. HOMANS,
                 " ROBERT WARE,
                 " JAMES C. WHITE,
                 " RICFIARD M. HODGES,
                 " CALVIN G. PAGE.
TRUSTEES :
AMOS  A. LAWRENCE,
   Treasurer of Harvard University.
JOHN LOWELL.
    secretary:
FRANCIS MINOT. 
                  TESTIMONIAL TO WM. T. 0.  MORTON.


                                             Boston, Mass., U. S. A., April, 1861.

    More than fourteen years have elapsed  since the first application of Sulphuric
Ether as an Anaesthetic agent.  During this period its use has been extended over the
whole civilized world ; it has been employed in private dwellings, in hospitals, and upon
the field of battle, and has been hailed as the most beneficent gift  conferred  upon
mankind since the discovery of Vaccination.   It  has  enabled every human being to
contemplate pain, disease and death, with comparative composure ; and its loss, were
such a thing possible, would be universally regarded as  a calamity to our race.
     The Anaesthetic properties of Ether if  before known, had  never  been  before
practically applied, and except for the courage, energy and perseverance of Dr. Morton,
 .hej would not "prubabi} have been ap^lWl  to  ihis'nyv.  The  peculiar elaiu-^f  Dr.
Morton is not merely that he introduced  the use of Ether, but that he first demonstrated
the fact that the human system can be safely reduced to a  condition in which it becomes
unconscious of the sufferings  of disease,  the pain of surgical operations, and the pangs
of childbirth.   The same purpose  has since  been effected by Chloroform and  other
agents, but it is  not  assuming too much  to say that except for  the demonstration of
this great  fact of the  possibility and safety of Anesthesia, their employment would
have never been  suggested.
     But while all mankind have been benefited, Dr. Morton has been a loser, to a. large
amount, by his discovery, in  a worldly point of view;  and  in consequence of the time
consumed, the expenses incurred in its introduction, and  the suspension of his professional
 labors,he is less advantageously situated than before.  This does not  seem just, and it
 is now proposed  to procure and present to him an adequate testimonial, not as a com-
 pensation, for a full  compensation is in its nature impossible, but as a  remuneration
for his expenditure, and   an expression of the deep  and  grateful sense  entertained
 by his fellow creatures of  the inestimable benefit he has  conferred upon them.