MAN’S EFFORTS TO RELIEVE PAIN

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 94, 14 January 1939, Page 2 (Supplement)

MAN’S EFFORTS TO RELIEVE PAIN

Story Of The Discovery Of Anaesthesia

“Triumph Over Pain,” by Rene FulopMiller (London: Hamish Hamilton).

The story of man’s endeavours to conquer pain provides a fascinating chapter in the history of human development. The discovery of anaesthesia the word itself was coined by Oliver Wendell Holmes— -depended upon the work of scientific experimenters in a number of countries. Rene FulopMiller tells in detail of the early efforts to relieve pain by the use of drugs and later by mesmerism, practices which preceded the experiments which were to lead to the discovery and practical application of the first anaesthetics. An important investigator was Humphry Davy, who studied the effects of inhaling nitrous oxide or laughing gas. Another who experimented in the early years of the nineteenth centuiy to secure the relief of pain was Faraday, the medium he used being sulphuric ether. Strangely enough, neither of these scientists appears to have realized the immense possibilities of their experiments, and when no immediate success came their way. both allowed their interests to pass to other fields. A more discerning experimenter was Friedrich Wilhelm Serturner, the discoverer of morphine. “In fourteen years of unremitting labour,’ writes Rene Fulop-Miller, “Serturner had found a 'means of relieving many _ of mankind’s worst pains; but mankind showed him no gratitude. Embittered by the world’s unkindness, the misunderstood benefactor, like Davy, abandoned further attempts to advance the healing art.” Serturner began the study of guns and projectiles, and m this field found his fellows quite ready to praise the success he achieved.

The charge of charlatanism was one which many would-be benefactors of mankind had to face. The indifference of the medical faculty was another factor to be overcome, as Henry Hickman, a young English doctor, who had operated painlessly upon animals by using nitrous oxide, found. His ideas were ignored by the authorities both in England and France, and he died in 1830 at the age of 29 before he could win success. In America, a young doctor in Georgia, named Crawford Long, actually used ether successfully in a number of minor operations. This was in 1841, but local superstition and antagonism proved too much for him, and ■to retain his practice he was compelled to abandon the use of any pain-reliev-ing agency. However, suffering humanity had_but four more years to wait. In 1845, a Boston dentist, Dr. Morton, perfected a method for inhaling sulphuric ether, and in the same year two major surgical operations were successfully performed with his method in the Massachusetts General Hospital. Nows of this triumph quickly spread, and the use of anaesthetics soon became general in surgical practice throughout the civilized world.

Rene Fulop-Miller tells the story of the subsequent development of anaesthesia in a manner which will enthral the reader. No less interesting, though greatly to the discredit of most of the participants, is his account of the unseemly wrangles that ensued when it came to the point of deciding to whom the honour of giving the boon of anaesthesia to the world should go. He has achieved in his book a judicious blend of scientific and human interest.

LIFE IN A LONDON STREET

Clever Characterizations b

“Down Mangel Street,” by Mabel Constauduros (London: The Bodley Head).

A short time ago Miss - Constanduros’s novel, “Poison Flowers,” was published, and in that she gave evidence of a gift of characterization which, having made her radio sketches famous, did not desert her when she was equal to the exacting task of writing a novel. “Poison Flower” was remarkable for that, and for the fine inventive sense with which it was written. But it is evident that in her latest work, Miss Coustanduros is even more at home; she is writing of people she understands so 'well that it is little wonder that her characters are vivid and convincing. These stories concern a certain family named Ogboddy, who live “down Mangel Street.” Shining light in the family is that pleasant paragon, Mrs. Ogboddy. After her magnificence, her husband is rather pale and oppressed (which is surely authentic), and Ede, her daughter, too much involved in the trials of adolescence to attain the solid splendour of her mother. If the English people has its backbone in the middle classes, the backbone of the middle classes is the woman of the house. In creating the character of Mrs. Ogboddy, Miss Constanduros does more than perpetuate an amusing fiction. She has written the symbol of the classes that traditionally constitute England’s strength. What manner of woman is Mrs. Ogboddy? She is first a good wife and mother, having most of the English virtues of respectability, courage and good humour —and like most of her kind, she is a snob. This last, though regrettable, is not an odious condition; merely meaning that she has too blind a reverence of the powers' that _ be. Lastly, she likes to talk. She is a communicative soul, as are all her sisters. So when the little forum of housewives foregathers in Mangel Street, she is prominent in any discussion, making her present felt. She is not the only vivid character in the book—there are many.of them. For example, there is her friend who so successfully wrecks Ede s party. How true to life is her pessimism. There is the obnoxious woman, . over the sanitary or unsanitary condition of whose dustbin, many bitter controversies take place—she may be found in a hundred back streets today, vituperating with the greatest zest. Ede, who “looked so orful,” is beautifully drawn; a rather pathetic little figure. To those many people who find little inspiring in modern novels, and modern heroes and heroines insipid and fatuous, this invigorating book of sketches must be recommended.. And even those who maintain their illusions will find it worthwhile.