BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
Report of the Select Committee of the House of Representatives
to whom was referred the memorial of Dr. Wm. T. G. Morton,
asking remuneration from Congress for the discovery of the
anoesthetic or pain-subduing properties of Sulphuric Ether.
Dr. Wm. II. Bissell, of Illinois, Chairman.
This is the report agreed upon by the committee above named,
and which is now published, in advance of its presentation, with
the attest of the Clerk of the House, dated June 28, 1852. It
fully recognizes and endorses the claim of Dr. Morton, and is
accompanied by an act granting to him the sum of $100,000,
on condition that he surrenders all right and title to the patent
heretofore issued to him. The report is able and learned, cover-
ing the whole field of controversy between Dr. Morton on the
one hand, and Drs. Jackson and Wells on the other. In its
general conclusions we are disposed to coincide. It fully makes
out the case of Dr. M. as against his rival claimants, placing
Dr. Jackson in the unenviable position of claiming the credit of
an improvement which he certainly did not make, and in the re-
sponsibility of which he seemed by no means anxious to be in-
volved at the time. We cannot add, however, that it so fully
makes out Dr. M.’s case in his own behalf. We are willing to
give him all the credit he really deserves, and we have no
objection that Congress shall allow him the sum named. But
we cannot agree that Dr. M. has made altogether such a discovery
as the Committee report, or that to him alone is due the credit
of introducing anaesthesia in surgery.
It does not appear, even by the showing of this report, that
Dr. M. did in reality discover the pain-subduing power of ether,
as stated in his memorial. That was pretty well known before,
as the facts cited by the committee sufficiently prove. Dr. M.
confesses that it was from Dr. Jackson that he learned the local
anaesthetic effect of ether as applied to a painful tooth,—an
observation by no means original with Dr. J., although he seems
to have thought so. Many similar applications of it had been
suggested. Among others that seem to be overlooked, Mr. Hugh
Neill of Liverpool had previously recommended the injection of
vapor of ether into the Eustachian tube in painful affections of
the internal ear, with a distinct recognition of its local anodyne
power. Neither was the idea of producing general anaesthesia by
inhalation of narcotic vapor original with Dr. M. He had
witnessed the unsuccessful attempts of his former partner, Dr.
Horace Wells, to produce it by nitrous oxide gas. The transi-
tion to sulphuric ether was obvious. The merest tyro in chemistry
has, for these many years, known how similar are the effects of
vapor of ether and nitrous oxide when inhaled. Both had been
taken thousands of times to the extent of intoxication, and the
result seen to be almost identical. Thus it appears that Dr.
Marcy, of Hartford, suggested to Dr. Wells in 1844, to substitute
the ether in his experiments, which he did in one instance with
entire success. Dr. Morton has given a long account of the
steps by which he arrived at his conclusions, showing that his
difficulty arose in the outset from his ignorance of facts well known
to others at the time. His merit consists simply in his having
first had the courage and directness to settle conclusively by a
practical test what with others had been only a suggestion or
proposition. For this he certainly deserves praise, and we are
not disposed to withhold it from him. What he really did dis-
cover was not the anaesthetic power of ether, but the fact that it
may be given with safety to the extent requisite for annulling
pain in surgical operations. Were he to claim no more than
this, we imagine that his right would be generally admitted at
once ; and the improvement is such, that we think even an am-
bitious man, as Dr. M. expressly states himself to be, might be
satisfied with the credit arising from it.
Much of Dr. M.’s difficulty seems also to have arisen from the
spirit in which he prosecuted his inquiries. Had he consulted
any competent chemist frankly, he could have learned all that
he needed about sulphuric ether at one interview. Had he sought
the advice of any skilful physician, he could have been enlightened
readily with regard to the probable effects of his proposed ex-
periment, and the means of guarding against any ill consequences.
But, instead of this, we find him, by his own statement, cautiously
propounding guarded questions concerning ether to scientific
persons—stealthily picking up odd scraps of information—
trembling lest others might divine his object in catecizing
them—sending his'“ four-ounce-phial ” first to one and then to
another apothecary—afraid to take the means necessary to secure
him good ether, and altogether displaying an extraordinary
degree of suspicion as to the honesty and honor of his neighbors.
No sooner had the surgeons of Boston used the mysterious fluid
which he brought with him to the Hospital, and demonstrated
that it could be employed with safety, than he commenced steps
for procuring a patent. The fluid itself was called Letheon, and
the style of its announcement "was such as to lead the profession
to believe that Dr. M. had discovered a new substance with these
extraordinary powers. Let any one recur to the journals of the
day, and he cannot resist the conviction that such impression
was produced intentionally. Nowt, in this business, as well as in
that of the patent, there was a degree of quackery which has
always rendered us indifferent as to whether Dr. M. succeeded
in establishing his claim or not. It is true, his patent lias
turned out valueless. As Mr. Borland remarked in the
debate upon this subject in the Senate, August 28th, 1852,
“his patent, so far as the legal remedy extends, is worthless to
him, although he has the legal right.” And why worthless ?
Simply because the claim of exclusive right in such a case is
absurd on the face of it. Mr. Smith, of Connecticut, took the
true position, when he argued in the Senate that “ this was not
a patentable discovery.” We can readily understand the issue
of a patent for any new instrument or any process of art. But
a patent for the exclusive use of any particular property of a
given substance is beyond our comprehension. Suppose the first
individual who discovered that a glass rod was rendered electric
by rubbing with silk, had taken out a patent for the exclusive
use of electricity. Would the deputy-marshal of the United
States be called upon to apprehend and lead before the magis-
trate every man who rubbed a glass rod with a silk-handkerchief
and therewith attracted bits of paper? If Dr. Franklin had
taken out letters patent for the exclusive right to attract light-
ning from the clouds—supposing such an event possible,—would
the authorities be obliged to scour the commons and confiscate
every boy’s kite ? The philosopher might have patented his
lightning-rod, undoubtedly, but if another investigator of nature
had discovered another and better method of protecting buildings
from lightning, the patent would become of no effect. The cases
are parallel. Dr. Morton might have patented any particular
method of inhaling ether, but the right of any man to inhale it
he could not touch. Suppose we reach up to our shelf, and,
taking down the ether bottle, inhale a drachm or two of it—are
we liable to an action at law for the offence ? The thing is so
totally absurd, that it defeats itself at once. Dr. M. was aware
of this at the outset, and hence the mystification about “ Letheon
which could not be kept up. We are sorry to be thus hard upon
him, but we think he deserves it all.
We must also be permitted to observe, that this is the most
curious Congressional document that has ever fallen under our
notice. If it is gotten up by the committee and published at
the public expense, Dr. M. may congratulate himself upon having
secured enthusiastic friends at head-quarters. In addition to
the report, we have numerous documents corroborative of Dr.
M.’s claim, with lithographic copies of the certificate in his favor
by physicians of Boston, and of the Monthyon medal given him
by the French Institute. In the body of the report we have
printed copies of his tickets in the Medical School of Harvard
University, and also of a diploma (honorary ?) from a college to
the south of this latitude, vThich is without a date, and has the
additional peculiarity that one of its professors, (writing himself
A. M.,) signs and duplicates his signature as Greorgiu/m. This
sort of publication may be all very right and proper, but it strikes
us as an immense piece of Barnumism, similar to that upon
which we have already animadverted. We cannot resist the
conviction that this pamphlet has been got up by some of the
patent-agents and “ claim-brokers ” who now abound in Wash-
ington, benevolently ready to assist—for a consideration—any
one anxious to have a finger in the long purse of Uncle Sam.
Principles of Human Physiology, with their chief applications to
Psychology, Pathology, Therapeutics, Hygiene and Forensic
Medicine. By William B. Carpenter, M. D., F. R. S., F.
G. S. Fifth American, from the Fourth and Enlarged London
Edition, with Three Hundred and Fourteen Lllustrations.
Edited with additions, by Francis Gurney Smith, M. D.,
Professor of the Institutes of Medicine in the Medical Depart-
ment of Pennsylvania College, etc. Philadelphia: Lea &
Blanchard, 1853. pp. 1091.
I
The popularity of Dr. Carpenter’s “Human Physiology” in
this country has been strikingly attested by the numerous editions
which it has gone through. Not only every English edition has
been reproduced, but in one instance a second American of one
of the English editions was called for. The fourth and last
English edition was completed only two months since in London,
and we are indebted to the enterprising American publishers for
its almost simultaneous appearance in the United States.
This edition is essentially a new treatise. The author has not
only remodelled his work, with a view to the modifications intro-
duced into the details of Physiological Science, since his last
edition; but he has, in many important particulars, condensed,
amplified, rearranged, and altered his original views upon vari-
ous topics, which “ the progressive maturation of his own opinions,
and his increased experience as a teacher, have caused him to look
upon in a light very different from that under which he had pre-
viously regarded them.”
Without attempting a complete outline of the changes interwoven
by Dr. Carpenter, in the “reconstruction” of his work, we may
notice some of the more striking and prominent. Perhaps of
these the most important is the introduction of the second chapter
of this edition, which comprises a general view of the “ Chemical
Components of the Human Body, and the changes which they
undergo within it.” The scope of this chapter embraces many
recent discoveries, and includes perhaps more of the topics which
give Physiology its varying aspect, than any other department
of it. Dr. Carpenter has succeeded admirably in presenting a
“ faithful and concise exposition of the present state of our
knowledge on this important subject.” We shall especially advert
only to his views on two very interesting points in this connec-
tion—“the respective relations of fibrin and albumen to the nutri-
tive processes, and of the former to the gelatinous tissues ”—and
“ the discoveries of M. Cl. Bernard in regard to the elaboration
of sugar and fat in the liver.”
The doctrines of Zimmermann and Simon, that fibrin is one of
the elements of the blood “ ’which have arisen in it from its own
decay, or has reverted to it from the waste of the tissues,” is re-
jected by Dr. Carpenter,
“as completely opposed by the whole physiological history of Fibrin,
and more particularly by the gradual development of this ingredient in
chyle, during its onward progress to the sanguiferous system; whilst,
again, it seems to be entirely negatived by a comparison of the condition
of fibrin with that of the known products of the disintegration of the
tissues, such as urea or creatin, in which we see a marked tendency to the
reproduction of purely physical or chemical conditions, (and this pre-
eminently in the crystalline aggregation,) to the exclusion of those of
vitality.”
Fibrin, on the contrary, he believes, according to the commonly
received views, to be endowed with vital force during the assimila-
tion of the crude material furnished by albumen or casein, and to
be “the first step in its conversion into living tissue.” But, he
adopts the surmise—
“ that the peculiar vital powers, with which fibrin is endowed, give a
special tendency to development into tissues of the fibro-gelatinous
type, which may thus be almost said to be pre-formed in the blood;
whilst the tissues of the cellulo-albuminous develop themselves at the
expense of some other element of the blood, possibly the globulin of the
floating corpuscles.”
As regards the elaboration of fat and sugar by the liver, Dr.
Carpenter considers it to be the result of the disintegration of
the tissues, which, in the descending process,
“ resolve themselves iifio two classes of substances; on the one hand,
saccharine, oleaginous, and resinous matters, analogous to those of plants
in which carbon predominates ; on the other, a set of compounds peculiar
to animals, of which nitrogen is the characteristic ingredient. * * * * *
The sugar generated by the agency of the liver, from the products of the
waste or disintegration of the system that are contained in the blood,
seems to be at once employed in supporting the combustive process by
which the animal heat is maintained.”
The chapter on “the Structual Elements of the Human Body,
and the Vital Actions which they exhibit ”—which includes the
general doctrines’of Cell-formation and of Vital Force—is also
new.
The chapter on the ££ Physical Characters, Chemical Composi-
tion and Vital Properties of the Blood ” has been greatly extended
and almost entirely re-written.
“The series of chapters on the several organic functions remain the
same as in the previous edition; but important additions and corrections
have been made in every one.”
“ It is in the chapter devoted to the Functions of the Nervous System,
which constitutes one-fifth of the entire volume, that the greatest addi-
tions and alterations will be found. This subject, in its Psychological
as well as in its Physiological relations, has occupied more of the Author’s
attention than any other department of Physiology; and he now offers
the more matured points of his enquiries and reflections, with some con-
fidence, that even if his views should hereafter require modification as to
details, they will be found to be fundamentally correct, and to furnish
materials of some value in Psychological inquiry, as well as in the study
of Mental Pathology.”—Preface^ pp. 13, 14.
We have thus adverted to some of the leading ££ additions and
alterations,” which have been introduced by the author into this
edition of his Physiology. They will be found, however, very
far to exceed the ordinary limits of a new edition—££ the old
materials having been incorporated with the new, rather than the
new with the old.” It now certainly presents the most complete
treatise on the subject within the reach of the American reader;
and while, for availability as a text-book, we may perhaps
regret its growth in bulk, we are sure that the student of physiology
will feel the impossibility of presenting a thorough digest of the
facts of the science within a more limited compass.
It is to be observed, that a large number of references have
been incorporated with this edition; and “ to this addition, no
small portion of the augmented bulk of the volume is due.”
The duties of the American editor have been performed with
excellent taste and discretion. His additions have been limited
to an “ occasional illustration of the text,” and a notice of such
recent discoveries as have appeared in the journals, while the
sheets passed through the press. The additional matter, though
not overloading the text, will be found every where appropriate
and valuable.
On Animal Chemistry in its application to Stomach and Renal
Diseases. By H. Bence Jones, M. D., etc., London. John
Churchill, 1852.
We have here a London copy of this excellent work, kindly
furnished byM. Bailliere of New York. It does not purport to be
a complete treatise upon the subjects mentioned in the title, but
is composed of twelve separate lectures, illustrating some few of
the varied diseases affecting the Stomach and Renal system.
The author in the commencement pays a merited tribute to
Dr. Prout, whose well known "work is admitted to be the “ fons
et origo ” of most of the treatises on the affections which Dr.
Jones now discusses.
The 1st Lecture is devoted to the consideration of Food, com-
prising all that is new and valuable under that head, and its re-
lation to Air, Exercise, Respiration, &c. The 2d Lecture, on
Digestion, contains much information on that subject, of value.
From this to Lecture 3d the transition is easy. It considers
the Blood, and furnishes all that is essential upon that important
component of the animal economy. Lecture 4th commences
the consideration of the Urine, beginning with Calculi. Lectures
Sth and 6th consider respectively the quantity and Acidity of
the Urine and Uric acid. These lectures demand more than a
passing notice, as they are important in a chemical point of view.
Dr. Jones does not believe the statement of Prout, that the
acidity of the urine is dependent upon acid urate of ammonia,
yet in confirmation of Prout’s views we may mention that vol.
li. of the Annalen der Chemie gives two compounds—lithate of
ammonia and super’ lithate of ammonia. Dr. Jones, however,
says, “ the conclusions I have arrived at are that uric acid is
combined with ammonia, but the urate of ammonia is modified
in form and in solubility by common salt and other saline sub-
stances which exist with it in the urine.” And again, “ the so-
called super lithate of ammonia, I consider to be a mixture of
uric acid and urate of ammonia.” As it is, farther observations
are necessary to determine the existence of one or two compounds,
and we do not arrogate to ourselves the power of determining
the true state of the question.
Lecture 7th considers Oxalate of Lime and Sulphates. Dr.
Jones here introduces to the profession a new term, “ sulphuric
diathesis.”
He promises, that at a future time he will notice more fully
the variations of the sulphates in disease, and hints that there is
a peculiar class of diseases in which the sulphates are in excess.
Lectures 8th and 9th consider the Alkalescence of the Urine.
Lecture 10th, Albuminous Urine. Lecture 11th, Diabetes and
Diuresis ; and Lecture 12th, Relation of Urine to food and animal
system and methods of examination.
The work is written in a free and off-hand style, and in a
manner that evinces a thorough study of the subject before pre-
senting it to the profession. In the rage for new things we too
often pass by that which may appear trivial and unimportant in
order to observe the grandeur of the new.
In the volume before us attention to this fact will help us to
deduce from the observations of the writer, much of value to the
practitioner. It has often occurred to us, that these are the
only works where the connexions of physiology and pathology
are demonstrated; very frequently it happens that in pursuit of
physiological knowledge we are apt to lose sight of its applica-
tion to pathology, or rather forget to make the application.
The book may be placed along with the manuals of Bird,
Griffith, Warwick, &c.
It comprises 139 pages, and is plainly printed and neatly
bound. To the student of animal chemistry it opens a wide
field for observation, and one from which he can glean
much. We have no doubt that an American edition would be
hailed with pleasure. The increasing attractions this subject
presents to the profession, have engendered a proportional demand
for information, and this volume appears opportunely to supply
the want.
It is well to have such books as these in one’s library. To most,
the works of Bright, Prout, &c., are inaccessible; and in the 139
pages, Jones has condensed much that is eminently practical
and valuable, in his own enthusiastic manner. Space does not
permit us to attempt a thorough analysis of the whole work, and
we must therefore close this hasty sketch with a hearty com-
mendation of it to all who are interested in this department of
medicine.
First Principles of Chemistry for the use of Colleges and
Schools. By Benj. Silliman, Jr., M. A., M. D., &c. With
Four Hundred and Twenty-five Illustrations. Twenty-fifth
Edition. Re-written and enlarged. Philadelphia : H. C. Peck
and Theo. Bliss. 1852.
We have before us a copy of the twenty-fifth edition of this ex-
cellent work, and if any evidence of its value were needed, this
fact alone would be sufficient at once to mark its popularity. The
whole work has been re-written and to a great extent re-arranged,
according to the standard facts and doctrines now received in
chemical science. The work is divided into four parts. Part I.
is devoted to the consideration of Physics, embracing all that is
usually taught in that connexion with chemistry, as Matter, Heat,
Light, &c. Part II. considers Chemical Philosophy, embracing
the Laws of Combination, Nomenclature, Symbols, &c. Part III.
is devoted to Inorganic Chemistry, treating of the Classification
of the Elements, and the consideration of each in particular, with
their combinations, &c. And “ last, but not least,” Part IV. com-
prehends Organic Chemistry, giving under that caption the
Nature of Organic Bodies, the Vegetable Acids and Alkaloids, the
Blood, the Nutrition of Animals, Plants, &c. &c.
The work by its title claims to be the “ First Principles of
Chemistry,” and it has certainly attained that mark. It is in its
style clear and perspicuous, and in its matter elaborate without
becoming abstruse. It is admirably adapted to the wants of the
beginner in chemical research, and on this ground claims the at-
tention of the medical teacher as a class book in the office for
students. In our opinion, it is eminently suited for this purpose.—
presenting to the tyro a book from which he can gather all that is
necessary in this go-ahead age for raising the foundations upon
which to build in the future, while it will furnish to the advanced
student much important information in a form convenient for ready
reference. We say this after having examined the work minutely,
and finding much in it to awaken the mind and refresh the me-
mory. It is already the “ Text-Book at Yale College,” and se-
veral similar institutions, where it has been adopted for the use of
those who consider that chemistry should be a component part of
every liberal education.
The work consists of 544 pages (exclusive of the Index), of
which number about 120 are devoted to the consideration of
Physics, 17 to Chemical Philosophy, 200 to Inorganic Chemistry,
and about 200 more to Organic Chemistry. In the latter part of
the work considerable tact and care are evinced in the .classifica-
tion of the great mass of facts that have accumulated within the
last few years in this department of chemistry. In fact, Organic
Chemistry has of late attracted so much attention, although even
yet not as much as is commensurate with its importance, that a
chemical work without a full exposition of it is not now complete.
This department has been arranged under the supervision of
Mr. T. S. Hunt, who has proved himself fully competent to the
task. Emanating, however, as the major part of the work does,
from the pen of a “ Silliman,’’ is rhe best evidence of its cor-
rectness and sound chemical reasoning. The book is copiously
illustrated, and it has seldom been our pleasure to observe more
accurate and beautiful wood-cuts. In its typography it will vie
with many other works of more pretension, and in its general
“ getting up” it does a deal of credit to its publishers. We wish
it an extended sale and a careful perusal.
Notice of the Life and Professional Services of William R.
Grant, 01. D. By Henry S. Patterson, M. D., Professor
of Materia Medica and Therapeutics, in the Medical Depart-
ment of Pennsylvania College.
Dr. Patterson has presented a highly appropriate and inter-
esting memoir of his late colleague, who, during a short profes-
sional career, and comparatively brief sojourn here, worked his
way to no little distinction and deservedly high personal esti-
mation.
Dr. Grant was a native of Nova Scotia, whence he emigrated
to Philadelphia, in the year 1836, to matriculate as a pupil of
Jefferson Medical College, where he graduated in 1839.	“ He
was immediately appointed Demonstrator of Anatomy, and
Curator of the Museum of Jefferson College, which situation he
filled with credit to himself and advantage to his alma mater for
three years.” In 1843, upon the dissolution of the original
Faculty of Pennsylvania College, Dr. Grant formed one of an
association which assumed the task of re-organizing the School;
and his duties in this sphere, as Professor of Anatomy, were
continued till his death, last Spring. As a teacher of Anatomy,
he earned considerable reputation and popularity; and his labors
were no doubt efficient in elevating the School to its present
point of success. “ In his professional relations, Dr. Grant was
characterized by great amiability of temper, courteous deport-
ment, and the strictest integrity.”
General Pathology, as Conducive to the Establishment of Ra-
tional Principles for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Disease;
a Course of Lectures delivered at St. Thomas’ Hospital during
the Sammer Session ofV&P). By John Simon, F. R. S., one
of the Surgical Staff of that Hospital, &c. &c. Philadelphia :
Blanchard & Lea ; 1852.
This is the title of a new work recently re-published by Messrs.
Blanchard & Lea, of this city. It consists of a series of highly
interesting and instructive lectures delivered at St. Thomas’
Hospital, London. Some of the new and apparently heterodox
ideas therein advanced upon Pathological subjects, at first
tempted us to cast aside the book, as one subverting doctrines
hitherto taught and received; but when we examined the sound
and cogent arguments, and beheld the unmistakeable array of
evidence adduced by Mr. S. in support of his propositions, we
were forced to the conclusion, that many of our long accredited
and cherished opinions on the subject of disease could no longer
be sustained by reason or supported by fact.
His views are plainly and concisely stated, and in such an
attractive manner, as to enchain the attention of the reader ;
and should they be adopted by the profession at large, are calcu-
lated to produce important changes in medicine. Physicians and
students will obtain from its perusal not only the latest disco-
veries in Pathology, but that which is even more valuable, a
systematic outline for the prosecution of their future studies and
investigations. Altogether, we look upon it as one of the most
satisfactory and rational treatises upon that branch now extant.