No one had
before Jackson ever conceived the idea of using sulphuric ether to
prevent pain in surgical operations.
Dr. Jackson personally instructed Mr. Morton respecting the anaesthetic
properties of
ether, and how to perform the experiment committed to him.
Further, his induction was made almost exclusively from his own
original observations.
It is undeniable that Dr. Jackson communicated to Dr. Peabody and
others, in February 1846, his induction regarding the anaesthetic
properties of sulfuric ether, and gave to him complete instructions for
verifying it and that too several months before Mr. Morton’s alleged
experiments with sulfuric ether. All that remained in order to verify the discovery, was, to
perform with the hands a prescribed act, and watch and report the
result.
The most Mr. Morton can claim is, not in any degree discovery,
but performance, verification, endeavors to introduce into practical use
the discovery of another man.
I have been prompted to make this effort in behalf of what I deem the
cause of truth and justice, by my sympathy for Jackson as an injured man
and benefactor of his race; and by my conviction that a conspiracy,
unparalleled in the history of scientific discovery, and so far
successful as to have deceived many upright and honorable men, has been
formed to rob Jackson, not merely of his rights of discovery, but of his
fair fame as a man. |
