The suspension of pain, under dangerous surgical operations, is the
greatest triumph of Therapeutic Science in the present century. It
came first by mesmeric hypnotism, which was applicable only to a few,
and was restricted by the jealous hostility of the old medical
profession. Then came the nitrous oxide, introduced by Dr. Wells, of
Hartford, and promptly discountenanced by the enlightened (?) medical
profession of Boston, and set aside for the next candidate, ether,
discovered in the United States also, but far interior to the nitrous
oxide as a safe and pleasant agent. This was largely superseded by
chloroform, discovered much earlier by Liebig and others, but
introduced as an anæsthetic in 1847, by Prof. Simpson. This proved to
be the most powerful and dangerous of all. Thus the whole policy of
the medical profession was to discourage the safe, and encourage the
more dangerous agents. The magnetic sleep, the most perfect of all
anæsthetic agents, was expelled from the realm of college authority;
ether was substituted for nitrous oxide, and chloroform preferred to
ether, until frequent deaths gave warning.
Nitrous oxide, much the safest of the three, has not been the
favorite, but has held its ground, especially with dentists. But even
nitrous oxide is not perfect. It is not equal to the magnetic sleep,
when the latter is practicable, but fortunately it is applicable to
all. To perfect the nitrous oxide, making it universally safe and
pleasant, Dr. U. K. Mayo, of Boston, has combined it with certain
harmless vegetable nervines, which appear to control the fatal
tendency which belongs to all anæsthetics when carried too far. The
success of Dr. Mayo, in perfecting our best anæsthetic, is amply
attested by those who have used it. Dr. Thorndike, than whom, Boston
had no better surgeon, pronounced it "the safest the world has yet
seen." It has been administered to children and to patients in extreme
debility. Drs. Frizzell and Williams, say they have given it
"repeatedly in heart disease, severe lung diseases, Bright's disease,
etc., where the patients were so feeble as to require assistance in
walking, many of them under medical treatment, and the results have
been all that we could ask--no irritation, suffocation, nor
depression. We heartily commend it to all as the anæsthetic of the
age." Dr. Morrill, of Boston, administered Mayo's anæsthetic to his
wife with delightful results when "her lungs were so badly
disorganized, that the administration of ether or gas would be
entirely unsafe." The reputation of this anæsthetic is now well
established; in fact, it is not only safe and harmless, but has great
medical virtue for daily use in many diseases, and is coming into use
for such purposes. In a paper before the Georgia State Dental Society,
Dr. E. Parsons testified strongly to its superiority. "The nitrous
oxide, (says Dr. P.) causes the patient when fully under its influence
to have very like the appearance of a corpse," but under this new
anæsthetic "the patient appears like one in a natural sleep." The
language of the press, generally has been highly commendatory, and if
Dr. Mayo had occupied so conspicuous a rank as Prof. Simpson, of
Edinburgh, his new anæsthetic would have been adopted at once in every
college of America and Europe.
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Mayo's Vegetable Anæsthetic.
A perfectly safe and pleasant substitute for chloroform, ether,
nitrous oxide gas, and all other anæsthetics. Discovered by Dr. U. K.
Mayo, April, 1883, and since administered by him and others in over
300,000 cases successfully. The youngest child, the most sensitive
lady, and those having heart disease, and lung complaint, inhale this
vapor with impunity. It stimulates the circulation of the blood and
builds up the tissues. Indorsed by the highest authority in the
professions, recommended in midwifery and all cases of nervous
prostration. Physicians, surgeons, dentists and private families
supplied with this vapor, liquefied, in cylinders of various
capacities. It should be administered the same as Nitrous Oxide, but
it does not produce headache and nausea as that sometimes does. For
further information pamphlets, testimonials, etc., apply to
DR. U. K. MAYO, Dentist,
378 Tremont St., Boston, Mass.
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Religio-Philosophical Journal.