BULLETIN OF
ANESTHESIA J!ISTORY
AHA
VOLUME 18, NUMBER 2
MARCH, 2000
The Henry Isaiah Dorr Professorship at
Harvard University:
The World's Oldest Endowed
Chair in Anesthesia
by Richard J. Kitz and Edward Lowenstein
Preface
The authors have been unexpected ben­
eficiaries of substantial historical materi­
als concerning Henry Isaiah Dorr. Thus our
efforts to compose this biography of one of
academic anesthesia's first benefactors was
aided substantially by previous efforts of
Dr. John P. Bunker, an alumnus of Harvard
Medical School and the Massachusetts
General Hospital. His text, The Anesthesi­
ologist and the Surgeon, describes the life of
Dr. Henry K. Beecher, the first Henry I.
Dorr Professor at Harvard. The book
chronicles some aspects of the Dorr Chair,
but much additional information is to be
found in Bunker's files, now archived in
the Anesthesia Department of the MGH.
Lydia A. Conlay, M.D., Ph.D., an alumna
of that Department, and currently Profes­
sor and Chairperson of Anesthesia at
Temple University School of Medicine in
Philadelphia, retrieved substantial infor­
mation from the library of that institution.
Dorr spent more than 20 years in Phila­
delphia at the Philadelphia Dental College,
later to merge with Temple University. The
authors are particularly grateful to Drs.
Bunker and Conlay for the materials they
have identified and without which the com­
pilation of this biography would have been
unlikely. Mr. Patrick Sim at the Wood Li­
brary-Museum of the American Society of
Anesthesiology was specially helpful. We
also wish to express our admiration for
Harvard's Countway Library archivists,
Office of the General Counsel and Deposi­
tory who were infallibly able to locate, re­
trieve and reproduce many of the docu­
ments used in this report. With the help of
an Internet search, and aided by her son,
Mr. Allan Bissett, and a local library, the
Figure 1. Hemy Isaiah
DOli, M.D., D.Sc., D.D.S.
77zis photograph
accompanied an article in
Current Researches in
Anesthesia and Analgesia
describing a testimonial
dinner given jointly by the
Associated Anesthetists of
the United States and
Canada and the
International Anesthesia
Research Society. It was
taken December 25, 1925,
when DI: Dorr was 81 years
of age.
authors ultimately located Mrs. Elisabeth
Snow Bissett, now age 86, and living alone
in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. It was our
great privilege to meet with her in Septem­
ber 1999, whose still vivid recollections of
her grand uncle are recorded in this docu­
ment.
Because of this voluminous trove of
source material, this narrative can best be
developed by quoting directly from the
original documents. Little speculation and
interpretation are then required.
The Genesis of a Professorship
Charles W. Eliot, perhaps Harvard
University's greatest president, said it best.
In his annual report to the Fellows and the
Faculty of Harvard for 1901-02 he wrote,
"Of all university endowments the most
fundamental and permanently valuable are
endowed professorships; for they secure
good teaching generation after generation,
so far as security can be predicted of any
human contrivance which depends on the
perpetuity of civilization. The three essen­
tial provisions at any seat of learning are
teaching, research and accumulation of
books. The endowments which secure these
three are the fundamental endowments."
It is averred that the idea of permanent
Continued on Page 3
2
BULLETIN OF ANESTHESIA HISTORY
Wood Library-Museum
of Anesthesiology
Duplicate Vintage Books for Sale
Adams RC. Intravenous Anesthesia. New York: Paul B. Hoeber; 1944. $25.00
American Medical Association. Fundamentals of Anesthesia. yd ed. Philadelphia: WB.
Saunders; 1954. (Prepared under the Editorial Direction of the Consultant Committee for
Revision of Fundamentals of Anesthesia, a publication of the Council on Pharmacy and
Chemistry of the AMA) $15.00
Ballantine RIW. A Practice of General Anaesthesia for Neurosurgery. London: J&A
Churchill; 1960. $25.00
Bourne W. Mysterious Waters to Guard: Essays and Addresses on Anaesthesia. Springfield:
Charles C. Thomas; 1955. $45.00
Bunker, JP, Forrest WH, JR, Mosteller F, Vandam LD, Eds. The National Halothane
Study: A Study of the Possible Association Between Halothane Anesthesia and Postoperative
Hepatic Necrosis. Bethesda: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of General
Medical Sciences; 1969. $35.00
Burroughs Wellcome & Co. Anaesthetics Antient and Modern: An Historical Sketch of
Anaesthesia. London: Burroughs Wellcome; 1907. (Lecture Memoranda, American Medi­
cal Association, Atlantic City, NJ 1907) $35.00
Cullen SC. Anesthesia: A Manual for Students & P hysicians. 6th ed. Chicago: Year Book
Medical Publishers; 1961. $15.00
Curare Intocostrin. New York: E.R. Squibb & Sons; 1946. $20.00
Ellis H, McLarty M. Anatomy for Anaesthetists. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publica­
tions; 1963. $25.00
Goldberger E. A Primer of Watel, Electrolyte and Acid-Base Syndromes. 3rd ed. Philadel­
phia: Lea & Febiger; 1965. $15.00
Hill DW. Physics Applied to Anaesthesia. London: Butterworths; 1967. $20.00
Horace Wells Dentist: Father of Surgical Anesthesia. Proceedings of Centenmy Commemora­
tions of Wells' DiscovelY in 1844 and Lists of Wells Memorabilia Including Bibliographies, Memo­
rials and Testimonials; 1948. $35.00
Hunter AR. Neurosurgical Anaesthesia. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications;
1975. $20.00
Johnson SL. The History of Cardiac SurgelY 1896-1955. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press;
1970. $35.00
Journal of the Hist01Y ofMedicine and Allied Sciences. October 1946 Volume 1 Number 4.
Anesthesia Centennial Number. $55.00
Macintosh SR, Mushin WW. Local Analgesia Brachial Plexus. Edinburgh: E. & S.
Livingstone; 1967. $25.00
Marx GF, Orkin LR. Physiology of Obstetric Anesthesia. Springfield: Charles C. Thomas;
1969. $15.00
Price HL. Circulation During Anesthesia and Operation. Springfield: Charles C. Thomas;
1967. $15.00
Raper HR. Man Against Pain: The Epic of Anesthesia. New York: Prentice-Hall; 1945.
$35.00
Sadove MS, Cross JH. The RecovelY Room: Immediate Postoperative Management. Phila­
delphia: WB. Saunders; 1956. $25.00
Shane SM. Out of This World: Anesthetics and What They do to ¥1m. New York: Creative
Age Press; 1947. $15.00
Snow JC. Anesthesia in Otolmyngology and Ophthalmology. Springfield: Charles C. Tho­
mas; 1972. $25.00
Sykes MK, McNicol MW, Campbell EJM. Respiratory Failure. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell
Scientific Publications; 1976. $25.00
To order, please contact: Karen Bieterman, Assistant Librarian; Wood Library-Mu­
seum of Anesthesiology; 520 N. Northwest Highway; Park Ridge, IL 60068-2573. (847)
825-5586 Ext. 58, Fax: (847) 825-1692.
Call for
Papers!
Through the efforts of Dr. David
Shepard, the Anesthesia History Associa­
tion will meet in joint session with the His­
tory of Anaesthesia Society on Saturday
June 10, 2000, the day after the World Con­
gress in Montreal. The Faculty Club at
McGill University will be the setting.
Abstracts of papers should be submit­
ted on an 8V2" x 11" paper with one inch
margins all around. Presentation will be of
15-20 minutes' duration.
Please send completed abstracts by May
1,2000 to:
A.J. Wright, M.L.S.
Department of Anesthesiology Library
University of Alabama at Birmingham
619 19th Street South, JT 965
Birmingham, AL 35233-6810
Bulletin ofAnesthesia HistOlY (ISSN 1522-8649) is
published four times a year as a joint effort of the
Anesthesia History Association and the Wood­
Library Museum of Anesthesiology. The Bulletin
was published as Anesthesia HistOlY Association
Newsletter through Vol. 13, No. 3, July 1995.
The Bulletin is now indexed in HISTLINE
(history of medicine on-line), a database main­
tained by the U.S. National Library of Medi­
cine at <http:igm.nlm.nih.gov>.
C.R. Stephen, MD, Senior Editor
Doris K Cope, MD, Editor
Donald Caton, MD, Associate Editor
AJ. Wright, MLS, Associate Editor
Fred Spielman, MD, Associate Editor
Douglas Bacon, MD, Associate Editor
Peter McDermott, MD, Book Review Editor
Debra Lipscomb, Editorial Staff
Editorial, Reprint, and Circulation matters
should be addressed to the Editor, UPMC
Shadyside, Multidisciplinary Pain Program,
5230 Centre Ave., 1 South, Pittsburgh, PA
15232 U.S.A. Telephone (412) 623-3754; Fax
(412) 623-3759
Manuscripts may be submitted on disk us­
ing Word for Windows or other PC text pro­
gram. Please save files in RICH TEXT FOR­
MAT (.rtf) if possible and submit a hard copy
printout in addition to the disk. All illustra­
tions/photos MUST be submitted as original
hard copy, not electronically. Photographs
should be original glossy prints, NOT photo­
copies, laser prints or slides. Photocopies of
line drawings or other artwork are NQI ac­
ceptable for publication.
BULLETIN OF ANESTHESIA HISTORY
Dorr
.
.
.
Continuedfium R1gi 1
endowment for teachers in universities
hails back at least as far as the late Middle
Ages, for it was in 1503 that Lady Marga­
ret Beaufort, the mother of Henry V III, es­
tablished five Regius or King's Professors
at Cambridge and Oxford.
The words 'endowment', 'chair' and
'professorship' are in various ways en­
twined. To be sure, the term professor im­
plies "one who proclaims or publicly de­
clares." In medieval European universities
it was a synonym of Magister or Doctor,
degrees originally being a qualification to
teach but the term "was gradually restricted
to an inner circle of teachers, and the term
professor came eventually to be confined
to the holders of salaried or endowed teach­
ing offices, or to the highest class of these."
An association of 'professor' with 'chair'
is also in context medieval. The O.E.D. de­
votes 13 pages to various definitions and
origins of the various uses of the word chair.
One definition states "the seat from which
a professor or other authorized teacher de­
livers his lectures. Hence: the office or po­
sition of a professor." The earliest citation
in support of that definition is from the
Pecock Reports, c. 1449, 518 "to be read in
the chaier of scolis" and in 1691,Wood Ath.
Oxon. 11, 506 "His prudent presiding in
the Professor's chair," also O.E.D.
Harvard College was approaching 100
years of age before enjoying such support
"designed to underwrite in lasting fashion
a professor' s salary." Thomas Hollis
(1659-1731) of London, a philanthropist of
Baptist persuasion, was the donor of
Harvard's first named chairs-one in Di­
vinity in 1721, the other in Mathematics
and Natural Philosophy in 1727. The Deed
of Gifts states in part, "I order and appoint
the yearly Summe of Eighty Pounds to be
paid by the Treasurer of the said College
for the time being for one professor of Di­
vinity, who shall be nominated and chosen
by the President and Fellows of Harvard
College, or the major part of them ... to read
Lectures in the Hall of the said College, and
otherwise to instruct the Students accord­
ing to the scheme approved by the Honor­
able Board of Overseers and annex there­
unto."l
Considerably later, in 19l0, in a letter
to Harvard President A. Lawrence Lowell,
Dr. Henry Isaiah Dorr (Figure 1) initiated
the proceedings that led to the establish­
ment of the first endowed chair in Anaes­
thesia in the world (Figure 2) . The Dorr
Fund at Harvard was consolidated by Dr.
Dorr's will in 1921, exactly 200 years after
the Hollis Professorship was established at
the School of Divinity.
Henry I. Dorr: His Life and Legacy
Henry Isaiah Dorr was born December
28, 1844, in Ipswich, Massachusetts, the son
of Lydia and Clark Dorr, an event less than
two years before W.T.G. Morton was to dem­
onstrate the anesthetic qualities of dietheyl
ether at the Massachusetts General Hospi­
tal. His family were New England farmers
of modest circumstances. The father died
when the son was six and his mother re­
married within the year. He ran away from
home at eight years of age. Of that day he
wrote years later, the boy was "the
commander-in-chief of five red cents,
earned honestly however, by selling roasted
chestnuts." On the occasion of a commemo­
ration of Dorr's seminal contributions, the
journal Current Researches in Anesthesia and
Analgesia of February 1926 concerning
IThe Deed continues: "Rules, Orders & Statutes Relating to the Professor of Divinity in Harvard College at Cam­
bridge in New England
'1. That the Professor be a Master of Arts and in Communion with some Christian Church of one of the three
Denominations Congregational, Presbyterian or Baptist.
'2. That his province be to Instruct the Students in the several parts of Theology by reading a system of Positive &
a course of Controversial Divinity beginning alwaies with a short Prayr.
'3. That the said Professor read his Private Lectures of Positive & Controversial Divinity so many times in a week
as shall finish both Courses within the term of one year.
'4. That the Professor set apart two or three hours one afternoon in the week to answer such questions of the
Students who shall apply to him as refer to the system or controversies of Religion or cases of Conscience or the
seeming contradictions in Scripture.
'5. That ye Professor of Divinity while in that Office shall not be a Tutor in any other Science or obliged to any
other attendance in ye College the above mentioned publick & Private Lectures.
'6. That the Professor read his private Lectures to such only as are at least of two years standing in the College.
'7. That an Honoble Salary be provided for the Professor it is expected that he require no fee from any of the
Students for their instruction.
'8. That the said Professor be at all times under the inspection of the Revd the President and Fellows with the
Honble and Revd the Overseers for the time being to be by them displaced for any just and valuable cause.
'That he repeat his Oaths to the civil Government.
'That he declare it as his belief that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the only perfect Rule of faith
and manners. And that he promise to explain and open the Scriptures to his Pupils with integrity and faithfulness &
according to the best light that God shall give him.
'That he promise to promote true piety and Godliness by his example and Instructions.
'That he consult the good of the College and the Peace of the Churches of our Lord Jesus Christ on all occasions.
'That he Religiously observe the Statutes of his Founder and all such other Statues & orders as shall be made by the
College not repugnant thereunto."
3
Dorr's childhood wrote, "a life of much
wandering and hard work followed. Fi­
nally, the lad had fallen into good hands.
He was given a good home and sent to
school. But his benefactors were by no
means rich and he had to fight every step
of the road and work his way through to
the end.
"Dr. Dorr was not quite 16 years old
when he joined the Regular Army of the
North. 'I had to lie to get in,' he says. 'But
they forced me to. The year before that,
when I told them my right age, they would
not have me. But it was a white lie, I think,
for I prevaricated in order to serve my
country so I trust that the little fib will not
be counted against me. I did pay for it,
though, for I virtually had to start my
schooling all over again when I received
my discharge, and it naturally set me back
three years. But I don't regret it.'
"Dr. Dorr studied at Harvard in 1869
and 1870. He entered the University after
serving three years in the Civil War from
the early autumn of 1861 until the close of
hostilities. He fought in every engagement
during his three years under the colors of
the Union. He was so fortunate as to 'come
through without a scratch.' Three horses
were shot out from under him but he never
so much as saw the inside of an ambu­
lance."
In the early 1970s, John P. Bunker,
M.D., who had chronicled the life of the
first Dorr Professor at Harvard, Dr. Henry
Knowles Beecher, corresponded with
Dorr's great niece, Mrs. Elisabeth Snow
Bissett. In a letter dated January 29, 1971,
she commented on Dorr' s early life:
"W hether Dr. Dorr's early and vivid
memory of the emaciated father dying from
a wasting disease turned his interest sub­
consciously toward medicine as a career, I
can only conjecture upon. He believed from
an early age that he possessed both the ca­
pabilities and tenacity to become an 'edu­
cated man.' His determination to train for
a career in medicine, however, appears to
date from his return from the Civil War at
age 19, with three years of combat duty and
$350 of army pay credited to his account.
"While he combined working 'at an
honest job' with completing his interrupted
studies, his savings for his future educa­
tion grew so slowly that he was persuaded
finally by a prosperous dentist to accept
financial assistance, on the condition that
he would, for the present, abandon his plan
to study medicine and take up instead the
study of dentistry. He enrolled promptly
as a dental student at Harvard and follow­
ing the completion of his studies there
Continued on Next Page
4
BULLETIN OF ANESTHESIA HISTORY
Dorr
.
.
.
Continued ji-Oll! Page 3
practiced dentistry for several years as a li­
censed 'practitioner of dentistry.' His am­
bition to become a physician was not real­
ized until he graduated from Jefferson
Medical College at the age of 39."
Mrs. Bissett further writes, "Because of
his long term concern for the financial
needs of the colleges and hospitals with
which he had been associated in Philadel­
phia, the two interests of scholarship and
its support were inseparable. His first ven­
tures into land investment were disappoint­
ing. Later he found himself owning valu­
able acreage because of railroad land pur­
chases. Still latel� when he was forced by
poor health into early retirement, stocks
and bonds became his 'vocation.' The de­
sire to build his estate to a size that would
support his ambitious endowment plans,
without question, was the spark that kept
him keen of mind and bright of eye until
the day of his death.
"In neither appearance nor manner was
he other than the modest scholarly profes­
sor. He never owned either a home or a car
and only when he made his weekly trip to
his investment broker's office in Boston (or
his annual visit to Philadelphia, his legal
residence) did he 'dress respectfully' to use
his wife's phrase."
Although he did not graduate from
Harvard Dental School, the archives indi­
cate that he spent two years (1869 and 1870)
in dental studies at the University. He ap­
parently had a thriving dental practice in
New England and because of "nervous ex­
haustion brought on by over work" he spent
a prolonged period in California. It is un­
certain where he lived and whether or not
he practiced dentistry in the West. Return­
ing to the east coast in 1875, he stopped in
Washington, D. C. , then Philadelphia
where he visited the Philadelphia Dental
College. For uncertain reasons he enrolled
in the College from which he eventually
graduated with a degree in Dental Surgery
in 1876.
The Philadelphia Experience
(1875-1896)
In 1875, Dorr moved to Philadelphia,
remaining connected to that city for the rest
of his life, and it may have remained his
official residence even after 1914, when he
moved to the Massachusetts home of his
niece, Mrs. Helen Snow.
Dorr enrolled as a student in the Phila­
delphia Dental College in 1875, possibly
because he may have felt that prior expo­
sure to dental education at Harvard and
subsequent practice required supplemen-
tation. Dorr is listed as being from Cali­
fornia, presumably reflecting his post Civil
War location. The student body of approxi­
mately 100 included members from 18
states, the District of Columbia, and twelve
foreign countries-an eclectic group in­
deed. Dorr graduated among this class in
1876, receiving the D.D.S. degree.
In light of his academic advancement
and important role in the growth and de­
velopment of the Philadelphia Dental Col­
lege, perhaps the most surprising aspect of
his 20-year tenure at that institution is how
little is presently retrievable. This much
seems substantiated: after graduation he
joined the faculty, remaining a member
until his resignation on March 21, 1896. He
started as a Demonstrator, but by 1878 had
attained the rank of Adjunct Professor of
Dentistry. Later the same year, a new chair
of Clinical Dentistry was established, and
to which he was appointed. In 1889, his title
was changed to Professor of Practical Den­
tistry, Anaesthetics and Anaesthesia
(author's emphasis) . Up to the present, the
earliest appointment to the rank of profes­
sor in this subject had been thought to be
in 1905. This thus represents the earliest
appointment as Professor in anesthesia,
coming less than five decades after
Morton' s demonstration and approxi­
mately five decades before the first en­
dowed professor of anesthesia was ap­
pointed. Perhaps it was this appointment
to a professorial post that was the nidus of
an idea that led ultimately to the DOff
Chairs both at Temple and Harvard.
Regrettably we are able to discover little
to provide insight into Dorr's anesthetic ac­
tivities which resulted in this appointment
and title. The existing record appears in a
handwritten letter by DOff. "To the narra­
tors best knowledge and belief, the first sys­
tematic course of instruction in anesthet­
ics and anesthesia was also given in this
school. The teaching embraced history,
chemical and other properties of anesthe­
sia, physiological functions in connection
therewith, the action of the anesthetic from
the nasal portal to Varolis bridge [pons]
over which it should not cross into the dan­
gerous regions of the medulla oblongata;
physical diagnosis; resuscitation etc., etc.
In addition, after the final examination,
those students best qualified, were given a
special, rigid examination by a board of
most competent physicians, assisted by
Professor DOff of that course of study, and
to those candidates meeting the require­
ments, certifications were issued, certify­
ing their qualifications.
"A new anesthetic [technique] was suc­
cessfully used by Professor M.L. Flyer and
H.1. DOff. Let us again quote from a news­
paper column. 'Philadelphia has long had
the representation of being the home of
medical and dental skill, where many of the
greatest experiments ever attempted by
experts have been successfully performed.
The colleges and institutions here turn out
a greater number of students than any other
city in the country. Science in medical and
dental skill has been advanced to a remark­
able degree and the success of the many dif­
ferent operations has placed the experts of
this city far in lead in their art. Many ex­
periments have been made in the use of
anesthetics, but none has been so success­
ful as the one which took place at the Phila­
delphia Dental College last Friday after­
noon. This is the first operation with ni­
trous oxide gas in combination with oxy­
gen for an anesthetic in short surgery op­
erations and was performed before the en­
tire school. This new method is a long step
in the improvement of the use of anesthet­
ics and adds new levels to those which have
been won before. The patients under this
combination of gases do not exhibit the ex­
citement or groaning as when under the in­
fluence of nitrous oxide or ether adminis­
tration, the lips retain their usual color and
the patients experience but little accelera­
tion of the pulse. The duration of the an­
aesthetic is longer and the operation for the
administration is quite simple. It is a very
recent importation from England and as
this is the first use of it in the United States,
Philadelphia scientists have displayed a
great amount of interest. Operations of this
order have been tried before in England but
none has ever been as successful as this
one.' How the above result would have
cheered the disappointed Wells, and re­
buked the too hasty ridicule of Warren."
DOff had attended Jefferson Medical
College while a Philadelphia Dental Col­
lege faculty member, achieving the M.D.
in 1884. It is known that he aspired to be­
come a physician as a young man but the
financial constraints described previously
mandated that he first elect dentistry. How­
ever, in a note he recommended "five years
of study with eligibility to both degrees in
medicine and dentistry. This would in­
crease the efficiency of the dentist, and put
him on the same footing with his confreres
in medicine." He seems to have been refer­
ring to oral surgery, which specialty was
stated to have originated at the Philadel­
phia Dental College.
Dorr is listed as "Henry Isaiah DOff,
M.D., D.D.S., Professor of the Practice of
Dentistry, Anaesthetics and Anaesthesia,
Treasurer of Faculty" on a PDC letterhead
of 1896. The appointment of a clinician to
BULLETIN OF ANESTHESIA HISTORY
this professorship seems meaningful and
in marked contrast to Harvard Medical
School Dean David Edsall's strongly
worded opinion in 1919 that an appoint­
ment as professor of Anesthesia should be
occupied by a pharmacologist working in
the Department of Pharmacology (vide in­
fra). It seems entirely appropriate that this,
the first appointment of its kind in the
world, was awarded to a person who was
both a physician and a dentist, given the
important role dentists played in the dis­
covery of anesthesia and the aspirations of
patients and practitioners alike for pain­
less dentistry.
Dorr received two other academic titles
some years before his death. An honorary
D.Sc. was awarded by Temple University,
joined by the former Philadelphia Dental
College, at the University graduation ex­
ercises in 1925. On December 13, 1926, The
Board of Trustees of Temple University
elected him Emeritus Professor of Anesthe­
sia and Anesthetics, quite possibly another
world first for the academic anesthesia
community. The latter appointment fol­
lowed a benefaction by Dorr to the Uni­
versity (vide infi·a).
Dorr served..as Treasurer of Philadel-
phia Dental College from 1890 until his
resignation from the faculty in 1896, and
as Trustee while still a member of the fac­
ulty (dates unknown) . He appeared to be
active in the fund raising of the college, and
his signature is one of several in an account
book of the "Original Equipment of the
Philadelphia Dental College." The student
body grew from 100 to over 400 during the
two decades he was associated with that
institution. In light of these activities and
interests, the events surrounding his resig­
nation at the age of 52 seem surprising.
On March 14, 1896, a special meeting
of the faculty of Philadelphia Dental Col­
lege and Hospital of Oral Surgery was
called by Professor S.H. Guilford, Dean of
the Faculty. The purpose of this meeting
was to gain assent to Dean Guilford's pro­
posal to raise $5000 from each member of
the Faculty "for the purpose of purchasing
land for and the erection of a new college
building." Dorr declined, as he indicated
that in his present state of health, he "could
not put forth the exertion necessary to sat­
isfy himself, and until his health improved,
did not see his way clear to put down the
amount of assessment unless he could at­
tend the meetings and throw his efforts into
S
the work of organizing and purchasing and
building." He offered to resign his Profes­
sorship in favor of one Dr. Greenbaum and
stated he would turn over to whomever the
faculty would name, the approximately
$2000 he had collected as tuition from the
students. At a subsequent meeting one
week later, a check in the amount of
$2276.18 made out to the Treasurer of
Philadelphia Dental College was received
from Dorr and his resignation was an­
nounced. Another faculty member, a Dr.
Flagg, also resigned in the Spring of 1896.
It is interesting to speculate whether his
health or some other consideration was at
issue, particularly in view of the fact that
he lived some three decades longer. Could
the minutes reflect the fact that he was
upset that as long-term Treasurer he was
not leading the effort to raise funds? Alter­
natively, Professor S.H. Guilford, who
chaired the above meeting, had b een
elected Dean of the Faculty in January,
1896. Could Dorr have hoped that he would
have gained this post? If these proceedings
were disappointing to Dorr, did they influ­
ence his decision to make Harvard Univer­
sity his primary beneficiary?
Philadelphia Benefactions
'April 22, 1925
17 Ridgefield Road
Winchester, Mass
Russell H. Conwell, D.D., L.L.D.
President of Temple University
Dear Dr. Conwell:
As a recent alumnus of Temple University and proud of its record, I wish to occupy a niche in its future achieve­
ments through the dental branch of the educational tree. I have already disposed of the greater part of the little I have
to dispense, therefore I cannot at present or possibly during my life, give outright the amount that would be available
at my demise. Would your corporation accept as trustee, say, thirty thousand dollars in good bonds, the income of
which would be payable to me in an agreed stated sum during my life, and afterwards to use the said income for the
purpose and in the manner that I may desire, providing of course it meets the approbation of your honorable board of
trustees. If you think from the above meager statement that my little proposed gift might be acceptable, I will in person
elucidate and if it meets the approval of all concerned forthwith execute the necessary instrument in accordance
therewith.
Faithfully yours,
Henry Isaiah Dorr
Written on back of attached letter
Have accepted his proposition for the
Russell H. Conwell
T. u.,
3Not all Dorr's investments were successful. It is unclear how Dorr happened to purchase property in Kansas City
and we have no evidence he was ever there. However, on May 5, 1891, he bought four lots (#196-199, Jarboe's addition
at 18th and Summit Streets) by foreclosure for $6200. He took out a five year mortgage at 8% interest for $6000. He
paid taxes on this property for 36 years, during which the two houses thereon deteriorated due to "unfavorable change
in the locality, time and vandalism." Apparently, the houses were unoccupied for this period. In 1927, he wrote that the
property "has been a great loss to me not only in interest or money invested, but also through taxes special and
general." He had authorized sale for $2500 several years earlier but no one expressed any interest.
On March 4, 1927, he offered the lots to Dr. Charles Beury, then President of Temple University. On April 20, 1927,
the lots were "conveyed" to Dr. Beury for $1, "to hold and continue to hold in trust only for the use of Temple
University or its assigns." The title remained in Dr. Beury's name after he executed a deed to Temple University and
a declaration of trust in its favor in order that the property would more readily be sold. The property, however, would
prove difficult to sell. As early as 1929, the University would actively attempt to do so. An offer to purchase for $3200
in September, 1931, proved to be false. A letter written in 1939 refers to a Board of Trustees meeting in September,
1931, during which it was suggested to cease paying taxes on the property. However in 1932, the University paid
$778.19 for curbing and street paving in addition to annual taxes which ran between approximately $30 and $50. In
1939, the University in fact stopped paying taxes.
In 1999, a neighbor recalled that a wooden church had stood on these lots, but it was torn down several years ago.
The property is now used as a parking lot for a nearby retirement center. He thought that the lots had been owned by
William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, but the college has no record of this. Perhaps the neighbor confused
Jewell College with Temple University.
Dorr's benefactions to Philadelphia in­
stitutions ensued over two decades later.
His activities during the interim are un­
clear. W hether he combined the practice
of dentistry with travel and accumulating
the resources he later bequeathed is uncer­
tain. According to some obituaries, he may
have practiced for several years in Winches­
ter, Massachusetts, where he died in 1927.
At the graduation exercises of Temple
University in 1924, when he received the
D.Sc., he established and funded the Henry
1. Dorr Prize of $50 for the best final ex­
amination in Anesthesia, awarded annually
at least through 1928. The circumstances
leading to the establishment of this Prize
are not recorded but are striking evidence
to his convictions that 'anesthesia' be in­
corporated into medical and dental student
education.
On April 22, 1925, Dorr wrote Russell
H. Conwell, D.D., L.L.D., the President of
Temple University, offering a $30,000 gift
to the school. He mentioned that he was a
"recent alumnus of Temple University,"
seemingly reflecting the D.Sc., which had
been awarded to him in 1924. 2 According
to the obituary in the Temple University
Weekly of 29 April 1929, he considered this
gift a "debt of honor" and a moral obliga­
tion to Conwell, who had founded Temple
University in 1884, primarily for saving
Continued 011 Next Page
6
BULLETIN OF ANESTHESIA HISTORY
Dorr
.
.
.
Contilluedji-omPageS
Philadelphia Dental College by incorporat­
ing it into Temple University as the School
of Dentistry in 1907. Conwell accepted the
gift with alacrity, and an indenture dated
June 3, 1925, was drawn and executed re­
quiring as Dorr wished "... the income be
used to established and maintain a labora­
tory of research and teaching in any of the
studies taught in the Philadelphia Dental
College, now a department of Temple Uni­
versity-this contribution shall be forever
known as the Doctor Henry Isaiah Dorr
Gift to dental progress." The document was
originally drawn in Dorr' s hand, and
named Harvard University "for the pur­
poses stated in an Indenture dated Febru­
ary 15, 1917" as secondary beneficiary if
Temple University did not meet the stated
terms. This gift was supplemented by an
additional amount of $20,000, as recorded
in the Temple University Minutes of Feb­
ruary 26, 1926. A subsequent Indenture
dated February 16, 1926, between Dorr and
Temple University nullified the June 1925
document. The new conditions were that
"The University shall after Dorr's death
use the income of the fund for the purposes
of establishing and maintaining the Doc­
tor Henry Isaiah Dorr Chair of Research
and Teaching in Dental Science. For this
purpose, the University agrees to furnish
ample laboratory facilities without cost (au­
thors' emphasis) to the gift or the occupant
of said Chair."
At present, the value of the Dorr Fund
is approximately $110,000, the current in­
cumbent is Samuel Seltzer, D.D.S., former
Professor and Chairman of Endodontics,
who remains active in the department. A
plaque to Henry Isaiah Dorr is located in
the first floor lobby of the Temple Univer­
sity School of Dentistry.
A penultimate gift of $5000 to the
"Russell H. Conwell Foundation" of
Temple University to honor the then-de­
ceased President of Temple University was
proposed by letter from Winchester, Mas­
sachusetts, on October 22, 1926, and ex­
ecuted November 8, 1926. A final gift to
Temple University consisted of land in
Kansas City, conveyed in 1927.3
Professional Recognition and
Published Contributions
Except for the letters and indentures
mentioned previously, only a modest num­
ber of Henry Isaiah Dorr's written contri­
butions have been identified to date. Sev­
eral of them contain thoughts expressed on
occasions when he was honored for his con­
tributions to dentistry or to anesthesia, oth­
ers are published letters, and even a poem.
These writings reveal a profound, thought­
ful and scholarly person, who had great
respect for the power of science to benefit
mankind. They also suggest that he pos­
sessed strong spirituality. Most were writ­
ten well into his eighth and ninth decades
4"The following thoughts on science and research by Dorr will find appreciation and response among the readers
of current researches:
'Science is defined as knowledge of principles or facts, and is indispensable as a foundation upon which to erect a
temple of knowledge. It has given us much of value in recent years, and it has also become more of a companion than
formerly, through the agency of electricity. It gives us light, transportation, and enters largely into the endeavors of life,
making possible such new wonders as the radio, with its incredible possibilities. It is culture on a higher plane if
intelligence, as compared with the lower plane of ignorance. As we progress in wisdom we more fully realize our
deficiencies. In other words, a well-stored mind will disclose one's illiteracy. The foremost minds have been unable to
grasp all the problems of life, or solve their mysteries. Hence, the most successful scientist has wisely chosen a field of
action he was best qualified to fill. This calls for collateral education coupled with a more complete knowledge of the
intended specialty. If possible, one should know a little of everything and all of something. To succeed in any worthy
enterprise, there must be a will, incentive, persistency of purpose, ability, and a desired goal to be finally attained.
'We grow in accordance with what we feed upon. If we properly exercise our mind and body we increase our
intellectual and physical capabilities, which will aid us in accomplishing more of credit. We marvel at the magnitude
of the discoveries and inventions of the past and present age, by means of brain and wealth. But too often we fail to
realize and appreciate that these priceless blessings are the outcome of unselfish and persistent efforts of master minds
in behalf of science and humanity. Jealousy is prone to criticize a successful man, in lieu of eulogizing his results and
purpose. Science and wealth are the twofold requisites of pre-eminent achievement, or better, as Herbert Spencer puts
it, "Only when Genius is married to Science can the highest results be produced." No doubt he included money, as the
nutshell includes the kernel. Money is our most powerful ally, although the good Book says, "The love of money is a
root of all kinds of evil;" but experience adds, as well as all kinds of good. For one must love the getting of money before
it can demonstrate its worth.
'Reflect upon the marvelous progress that has resulted from endowed Research Laboratories, made possible by
praiseworthy men of wealth, and who study the public welfare in times to come. These are the men whose names and
glorious deeds will be transmitted to posterity. Ideal justice, as conceived by Plato. There would be more rapid progress
in the many unsolved problems if there were more adequate financial support and proper recognition of merited
research devotees. It is stated that many scientific advances have been made by those before the demand upon their
services required so much of their time that it gave little or no opportunity for continued research. For here, patience
and study are necessary to eminent success, while imperfect investigation will seldom outlive the light of proof, as
"Wisdom and youth are seldom joined in one." Now unbelieving in this ages of science that Roger Bacon was cast into
a dungeon for the crime of chemical experimentation. I can best sum up the merits of those who have been instrumen­
tal in the advancement of science and the bettering of mankind, by repeating the inscription on the New Academy
Building in Washington, the home of the National Academy of Science and Research Council: To science, pilot of
industry, conqueror of disease, multiplier of the harvest, explorer of the universe, revealer of nature's laws, external
guide to truth.' "
of life, proving that his intellectual vigor
was undiminished at his death.
On Ether Day, October 16, 1922, at age
77, Dorr was celebrated at a dinner given
by 12 dental colleagues. He expressed the
following sentiment: "We think of death
with dread, but it is as natural and beauti­
ful as birth. It is akin to all returnings and
thought to be a symbol of creation. We see
it in the return of the seasons, in the flow­
ers, in the trees,-in their budding, and in
the falling of their leaves."
On October 28, 1925, at the Adelphia
Hotel, Philadelphia, the Associated Anes­
thetists of the United States and Canada
and the International Anesthesia Research
Society honored Dr. Dorr with a loving cup
in recognition of his "valuable professional
services and munificent gifts for advance­
ment of the science and teaching of anes­
thesia." In an editorial in Current Researches
in Anesthesia and Analgesia (5:48-50, 1926),
the contribution was recognized.4 On this
occasion, he forcefully articulated his mo­
tivation for endowing a research laboratory.
Following his demise, the Dorr Re­
search Society of Oral Histo-Pathology and
Therapeutics was founded in February,
1928, by Professor Frederick James of the
Temple University School of Dentistry. The
Dorr Laboratory was dedicated January 31,
1928. The Laboratory included a class­
room, 40 microscopes, fully equipped pho­
tographic dark room and a laboratory of­
fice. The stated purpose of the Dorr Soci­
ety was to "stimulate interest in Histopa­
thology and Therapeutics and to provide a
laboratory where students may engage in
original research of their own selection un­
der faculty direction and guidance."
Strangely, anesthesia was not mentioned.
It was subsequently stated that Dorr be­
queathed the funds that made the labora­
tory possible but no specific allocation
could be identified. The actual income
from the Dorr Fund was sequestered for the
support of the chair, but the capital was pre­
served. In this way, the stipulations of the
February, 1926, Indenture were met, and
both a laboratory and an endowed profes­
sorship achieved. For some years, Dorr Day
was celebrated at the Temple University
School of Dentistry, often in conjunction
with the Dorr Society. His laboratory and
its work were the focus of these events.
In October, 1922, during the Congress
of the National Anesthesia Research Soci­
ety, Columbus, Ohio, Dorr delivered an in­
sightful paper on post-graduate education
in anesthesia for dentists, the text of which
was published in the American Journal of
Surgery (37:76-80, 1922). Though this pa­
per was published a quarter of a century
BULLETIN OF ANESTHESIA HISTORY
after he had resigned his Professorship, it is
clear testimony to his continued interest in
anesthesia, education and dentistry. The full
text is well worth reading, and evinces an alert
mind which articulates many concepts and
principles that remain valid. Among these
are: (1) postgraduate students are often mo­
tivated to work harder than undergraduate
students because they recognize the value of
the subject; (2) classes should be small and
instruction individual; (3) responsibility for
administration of anesthesia under supervi­
sion is a necessity for gaining confidence; (4)
to administer an anesthetic uninformed is a
crime; to do so with intelligence is a duty; (5)
guided experiments on animals may facili­
tate learning the principles of anesthesia and
in addition stimulate the spirit of inquilY in
some students; (6) discussion of anesthesia
associated deaths of experimental animals is
one of the best ways of learning; and (7) di­
dactic instruction is only the initial step in
gaining competence, clinical experience in
centers of instruction is a requisite. With the
implementation of these principles, the au­
thors conclude, "the time is approaching
when the anesthetist will be the captain of
the operating room, as he should be, rather
than the surgeon, as is the case today."
DOlT had previously expressed (Pennsyl­
vania MedicalJoulIlal 21:475-476, 1918) dis­
may at the ruling of the Pennsylvania at­
torney general that decreed that "anesthe­
tists need not be physicians." DOlT's argu­
ments he made to support his view that "the
law of justice and humanity demand a
trained physician" are as cogent today as
they were then. In this letter, he revealed
that a "chair of research and teaching has
been arranged with a university of renown
and ample laboratory facilities and suffi­
cient endowment to command able inves­
tigators." This appears to be the first pub­
lished record of the establishment of the
Dorr Chair at Harvard University.
On his 80th birthday, he penned the fol­
lowing poem which appeared in the June,
1925, issue of TIle Gal'l'etsonian, a quarterly
publication of the Alumni Society of the
Philadelphia Dental College.
At Eighty Years
of Age
I love the springtime, birds and
flowers,
I love the trees and leafy bowers,
I love the rainbow and the
showers,
And yet, they say, I'm old.
I love all that is good and fair,
And pure and true in earth and
air,
And God I know is everywhere,
And yet, they say, I'm old.
In another issue of The Garretsonian
(date unknown) , he expressed the opinion
that contributions in aid of education
should be considered a privilege which re­
sult in the grave not ending one's useful­
ness. His benefactions certainly exemplify
this sentiment.
The Retirement Years
Mrs. Bissett picks up the story here: "At
some point, possibly soon after his retire­
ment, they (Dr. and Mrs. Dorr) were in
Southern California, Pasadena or maybe
Santa Barbara. W hen my parents were
married (1912) , the Dorrs were living year
'round at the Hotel Dennis in Atlantic City.
They enjoyed travel, and because of Dr.
Dorr's chronic asthma, moved around a lot.
Of course, where they had no children and
no household goods to speak of, except
some choice paintings and ornaments, it
was relatively easy (to move) . They also
lived in Brookline, Massachusetts, in early
1900 for a year or two. In 1914, following
the death of my mother's mother (Mrs.
DOlT's only sister) and my birth four weeks
later, Mrs. Dorr came to stay with my
mother, followed in a matter of weeks by
Dr. Dorr and they remained a part of our
household from then on, first at our home
in Somerville, Massachusetts (158 Summer
St.) , and moved with us to Winchester in
1920. However, Dr. DOlT always kept his
legal residence in Philadelphia."
During one of his several vacation trips
to the West Coast he stopped in Kansas City
and purchased property there (vide supra).
Apparently he had become fascinated with
owning land as an investment-the very be­
ginnings of his plans to make permanent
endowments in support of scholarship.
Bunker writes that during his retirement
years, "Dr. DOlT occupied himself prima­
rily with his investments, by which he
hoped to maximize his bequests. One
would judge that he was moderately suc­
cessful: assets of approximately $63,000
which he held in 1910 appreciated to
$100,000 in 1917 and to $265,000 at the
time of his death in 1927. His was achieved
entirely by means of investments in mu­
nicipal and railroad bonds which he delib­
erately chose in preference to stocks. Stocks
might have given greater profits, but he
considered them too risky. DOlT's caution
was vindicated in the 1929 crash, which his
endowment fund survived without a loss."
Interview with Elisabeth Snow Bissett,
September, 1999
The authors consider it their great good
fortune to find and have the privilege of
visiting for two hours with Dorr's grand
7
niece, Mrs. Elisabeth Snow Bissett. She is
now 85 and lives independently in a small,
cluttered home and possesses personal
characteristics often attributed to New
Englanders: alert, concise and private. She
refused our requests to take pictures or
record our conversations because "these are
private family matters." She did allow us
to make brief notes.
The Dorrs lived in the Snow home and
functioned as surrogate grandparents to
Elisabeth Snow. She dates her first recol­
lections of "Uncle Henry" to 1918/19 and
describes him as a tall, rangy, thin but not
frail man of Lincolnesque proportions. He
was a private person of strong convictions
which she attributes to his early
orphan-like life. He did not have a domi­
nating personality, but rather was adapt­
able and creative. He was always serious,
never frivolous, and thrifty but not penu­
rious. He was not active socially, nor did
he have close personal friends. The family
did not consider the DOlTS wealthy, though
they were "obviously comfortable." Mrs.
Bissett reported that for the 13 years they
lived in the same household, Dorr never
practiced dentistry or medicine nor were
those professions discussed frequently.
Apparently, a typical day in the life of
"Uncle Henry" always started with coddled
eggs, toast and coffee following which he
would sit in a creaky rocking chair in the
living room with family members. There­
after, he would go to his office on the sec­
ond floor of the home where he would con­
template, study and write. She does not
recall an extensive library. Mrs. Bissett
found and let us copy the text of a memo­
rial booklet sent to Mrs. DOlT by Temple
University School of Dentistry after
Henry's death, and two accounts of a din­
ner given by 15 Philadelphia dentists
(many of whom were on the faculty of
Temple University) on Ether Day, October
19, 1922. She also showed us individual
photographic portraits of Professor and
Mrs. Dorr. Mrs. Bissett does not believe she
has other of Dorr's documents and wist­
fully responded "where would I look?"
when asked, as she gestured to the opened
and unopened boxes that litter the rooms.
She believes Dorr had worked on an auto­
biography but does not know whether it was
completed or if she has it.
Dorr's plans to bequeath portions of his
estate to Harvard College and Temple Uni­
versity were well known and thoroughly
discussed with the family. Because the
Dorrs had no children and the Snows no
need for additional monies (Mrs. Bissett's
father and executor of the Dorr Estate,
Continued on Next Page
,..
8
BULLETIN OF ANESTHESIA HISTORY
Dorr
.
.
.
Continued from Page 7
Thornton A. Snow, owned a thriving iron­
works in Chelsea, Massachusetts), this plan
was welcomed by all family members.
Among the mysteries not resolved dur­
ing our discussions with Mrs. Bissett was
how Dorr accumulated the wealth that he
so wisely invested and then bequeathed. It
would seem unlikely that his salary during
the 20 years he was a professor at the Phila­
delphia Dental College was more than
modest. But we could not retrieve salary
records. The Boards of Registration of
Medicine and Dentistry of Pennsylvania
and Massachusetts have no records of is­
suing authorization or license to practice
either dentistry or medicine in those states.
Mrs. Bissett could provide us with no
information as to what Dorr did from the
time that he ran away from home at age
eight and enlisted in the Union Army at
15. Nor did she have knowledge of his ac­
tivities for the 18-year period after he re­
signed his faculty appointment at Philadel­
phia Dental College in March of 1896 and
his move to join the Snows in Massachu­
setts in 1914.
Although not sickly in appearance, she
does confirm that he had asthma, though
she does not recall an asthmatic attack. She
does remember that some time later he had
angina pectoris with increasing frequency
and died in their home in Winchester, Mas­
sachusetts, of that condition. She con­
firmed that he is buried in the Arlington
National Cemetery because he was proud
of his Civil War service and burial there
"was not a costly experience"!
She adds this to his retirement from the
Philadelphia Dental College. "He had been
treasurer of the college for many years and
some 15 years earlier had been the chair­
man-in brain and heart-of its building
program. W hen the question of a faculty
assessment came up I feel sure that he no
longer had the vigor to actively participate.
I don't know when his kidney condition
occurred, or whether he was in Philadel­
phia at the time. But I have heard that he
outlived each of the several doctors who
had given him only six months to live."
ure 2 ) . It is addressed to A. Lawrence
Lowell, President of Harvard University,
Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dorr writes,
"Dear Sir: In furtherance of the matter I
talked with you about last September I am
arranging to leave my estate in trust for
various purposes. Would it be acceptable
to the President and the Fellows of Harvard
College if I should authorize my executor
and Trustee, the Gerard Trust Company of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after the death
of myself and wife to pay to them annually
the sum of $2000 for the purpose of estab­
lishing and maintaining a Henry I. Dorr
Chair of Research and Teaching in
Anaesthetics and Anaesthesia for the ben­
efit of the medical and dental students of
Harvard College, and suffering humanity.
That I may with more certainty of result
arrange my future affairs, may I request
such a reply that you may deem most wise.
Respectfully yours, Henry I. Dorr, M.D."
Just 10 days later on November 17, 1910,
President Lowell responded. "Dear Dr.
Dorr: I brought your letter before the Cor­
poration at its last meeting and I write to
say that a legacy such as you suggest therein
will be very gratefully accepted. I ought to
say that $2000 is not as much as we pay for
most of the full professors, even in the clini­
cal departments, where a man gives a part
only of his time to the School. No doubt
the 'Chair' would not necessarily mean a
full professorship, or that a man of emi­
nence might give a proportionate amount
of this time to this work. Thanking you
most heartily for the proposed gift, which
will be of great value to the School. I am
very truly yours, A. Lawrence Lowell."
On November 21, Dorr wrote to Lowell
again, this time on the stationary of the
Gerard Trust Company of Philadelphia.
"Dear Doctor: Your welcomed letter of the
17th instant duly received and its contents
pleased me very much for it arranges a mat­
ter that I have had long in contemplation.
The sum I named represents an annual in­
come from the $63,000 that I invested many
��
Harvard Benefactions
The archives of Harvard University are
a vast trove of interesting and important
historical documents. This segment of the
Henry I. Dorr story begins there. The very
first document relating to Dorr's ultimate
bequest to Harvard is a letter dated Novem­
ber 7, 1910, written by Dorr in long hand
from his temporary quarters at the Hotel
Walton in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Fig-
Figure 2. Hemy l DOr/"s November 7, 1910, letter to A. Lawrence Lowel� President ofHarvard College,
proposing a bequest to establish for thefirst time an end(JWed Chair in Anaesthetics and Anaesthesia. The
fluid, easily readable handwriting is characteristic ofthe many documents and letters he wrote.
BULLETIN OF ANESTHESIA HISTORY
years ago in $60,000 in 3Yz and 4% high
grade long term bonds, $45,000 of which
are legal for the Massachusetts savings
bank and all but $10,000 free of taxes in
Pennsylvania. The total income from these
bonds is $22l0. The charge of the transfer
is 5%-as agreed upon-on the amount of
income collected, which would be $110.50,
tax of 4 mills on $4,000 would be $40.00.
This would leave a net balance of income
annually of $2,059.50. If I have an oppor­
tunity I may exchange the $10,000 taxable
bonds for $10,000 not taxable bonds which
would increase the income $40.00. In the
consideration of the amount, I should pro­
vide for the proposed Chair, I was guided
somewhat by the recent gift of $60,000 to
establish a Samuel D. Gross Chair of Sur­
gery in the Jefferson Medical College, now
occupied by the great surgeon Dr. Costa. I
would like the word Chair to mean a full
professorship, the occupant of which to be
a man of eminence who might give-as you
well suggested-a proportionate amount of
his time to this work, in accordance with
agreement and income. As I desire the
aforementioned Chair become prominent
in research and teaching, I may be able to
add the income from $10,000 more bonds
to the above amount. Thus giving the in­
come of $70,000 bonds,-less Trustee ex­
penses-to this noble purpose. Respect­
fully yours, Henry I. Dorr."
Over the next several years, negotiations
continued until February 17, 1917, when
the "Dr. Henry Isaiah Dorr Chair in Re­
search and Teaching in Anaesthetics and
Anaesthesia" was formally established at
Harvard. From Harvard's records: "The gift
of Dr. Henry Isaiah Dorr 'for the purpose
of establishing and maintaining a Chair is
to be forever known as the Dr. Henry Isaiah
Dorr Chair of Research and Teaching in
Anaesthetics and Anaesthesia,' for the ben­
efit of the medical and dental students of
the College and suffering humanity. The
word 'Chair' contemplates a full professor­
ship, but pending the appointment of a full
professor, the Chair may be occupied for a
reasonable probationary period by any pro­
spective candidate for such professorship.
The incumbent of the said Chair shall be a
man of eminence, properly qualified to
carry on the work and researches for which
the Chair is established, giving to his work
that amount of time which is specified in
such agreement as he may make with the
College. The College covenants for itself
5"Will of Hemy Isaiah Dorr, MD Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the name of God. Amen.
"Know all men by these present that I, Henry Isaiah Dorr, MD being of sound mind and understanding and
having before my consciousness the certainty of death as sooner or later it comes to all men, do make this writing my
last will and testament, ordering that it be recorded and its directions carried out. That all just bills, within business
reason, be promptly paid, and all debt collected as soon as possible. I order and direct that all net income derivable
from my estate, real and personal, be given to my wife Sarah J. Dorr, nee Lakin, period after period as it is available in
accordance with her requirements and comfort, during her life. If however my wife Sarah J. Dorr should take against
my will I absolutely revoke all provisions made in her behalf and for her benefit. After the death of my wife Sarah J.
Dorr, nee Lakin, I order and direct that the executor and trustee of my estate herein after named, shall take from the
bonds of my estate twenty thousand dollars par value, $20,000, of any bonds found there excepting Liberty Loan
Bonds of the United States of America, and give them to the best equipped and responsible society for the prevention
of cruelty to animals in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This contribution to be forever known as the Dr. Henry Isaiah
Dorr's gift to poor, helpless, dumb animals for their protection and well being. This gift is conditional upon receiving
from the aforementioned society legally executed instruments of acceptance obligating itself and its successors to see
that only the income so received and expended and that in the best possible manner for the purposes above recited:
also, any necessary reimbursement shall be made in the city of Philadelphia Pennsylvania bonds. To prevent a sale at
the sacrifice of my securities, I order and direct that bonds, stocks and real estate shall be transferred, when practi­
cable, to the beneficiary: also all outstanding loans shall be continued until a propitious time to realize assets. I
bequeath the remainder of my property both real and personal to Harvard College in strict conformity with an 'inden­
ture, dated February 15, 1917 by and between Henry Isaiah Dorr of the city of Philadelphia, Doctor of Medicine,
herein after called Dr. Dorr, and the President and Fellows of Harvard College, a corporation in the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts, herein after called the College.' In accepting this gift the College agrees to publish research results
from the Chair established by the agency of my gifts, whenever it is deemed of public interest. I hereby appoint the
Gerard Trust Company of Philadelphia Pennsylvania with my wife Sarah J. Don; nee Lakin, during her life or ability
to serve, as executors and trustees of this my last will and testament and I hereby revoke any and all previously dated
wills, testaments and codicils, which may have been made by me. The Gerard Trust Company as executor and trustee
to receive a commission on the distribution of the principle of my estate of two percent as agreed upon between said
company and myself. My wife, Sarah J. Dorr, as co-executor and trustee to receive no commission on the principle of
my estate. It was also agreed that the charge upon the income collected shall be five percent of which amount the
Gerard Trust Company should take four-fifths and my wife Sarah J. Dorr one-fifth. I order and direct that the executor
and trustees defend the validity of this my last will and testament with all the legal means within their power. The
bonds among my assets I have purchased with due regard to the safety of the principle and a reasonable return of
income. Therefore, I order and direct that they remain among my assets until maturity, unless something should
develop to endanger the principle and income. In case of necessalY investments or re-investments, I order and direct
that only bonds of the higher grade considering first the safety of the principle shall be purchased. Take no chance on
high interest bearing bonds. As an after thought, I would state that the funeral expenses might include the purchase of
a burial lot and provision for its perpetual care. If so give it your best service.
"In witness thereof ! have hereto set my hand and seal this 7th day of December 1921. Hemy Isaiah Dorr, MD .
Signed, sealed and published and declared by the above mentioned Henry Isaiah Dorr, MD as and for his last will and
testament in the presence of us who at his request and in his presence and in the presence of each other have hereto
subscribed our names as witnesses.
Charles Fuller Johnson, Charles E. Bartlett, William E. Howard."
9
and its successors and assigns to furnish to
the occupant of the said Chair ample labo­
ratory facilities for the carrying out of his
work, without charge therefore either to the
occupant of the said Chair or the trust fund,
and also to see that the income received
shall be expended in the best possible man­
ner for the purposes above set forth.
"By another indenture, the President
and Fellows of Harvard College agreed
'never to merge or pool any interest or in­
vestment of this Fund with those of any
other Fund or of the College, but shall ever
hold this Fund separately invested'." This
last codicil was immediately beneficial but
later disastrous. The trust survived the
stock market crash of 1929 intact but be­
cause of these investment strictures was
unable to enjoy the stock market run that
began in the 1960s. Later, the University
moved to have this incumbrance lifted as
we will see.
Dr. Dorr's final will was written in long
hand in 1921; and it is so remarkable that
it is footnoted in its entirety.s
The Search for an Anesthetist to
Occupy the Dorr Chair
David L. Edsall, M.D . , Dean of the
Harvard Medical School, wrote a most in­
teresting letter to the University's Presi­
dent, A. Lawrence Lowell on December 5,
1919. "I have been interested also in the
Henry Isaiah Dorr Fund of $100,000, which
again is unfortunately given for the estab­
lishment of a Chair of Research and Teach­
ing, in this case in Anaesthesia and
Anaesthetics. That is a still more difficult
and unfortunate designation of the employ­
ment of the fund, as it not only specifies
that it must be a Chair, but in this case must
be a new Chair, and also in a subject in
which it really is unnecessary; and I think
undesirable to have a full professor and
certainly undesirable to have an actual
Department of Anaesthesia and
Anaesthetics. The establishment of such a
department with all the expenses that go
with a department would of course require
a much larger sum than this, and it would
be wholly unnecessary for this particular
purpose and would merely add another
burden such as the Department of Com­
parative Physiology to the expenses that the
School is already carrying. Still it seems to
be necessary to have someone designated
as occupying a professorial position and in
charge of the research and teaching in an­
esthesia and anesthetics as the money is
specifically given for that purpose.
"The notes that we have at the Medical
School suggest, but do not state, that the
Continued on Next Page
10
Dorr.
BULLETIN O F ANESTHESIA HISTORY
. . Continued FOil! Page 9
money has been applied to surgery already.
If it were still possible to apply the Fund
for that purpose, it would be better em­
ployed in connection with the Department
of Pharmacology because the fundamental
teaching regarding anesthesia and anes­
thetics is done there and only the practical
teaching is done in the Surgical Depart­
ment, and much more varied research in
regard to this subject could be carried out
there than in the Surgical Department,
particularly because anyone working on
this subject in the general pharmacologi­
cal way could perfectly properly work upon
general anesthetics, local anesthetics and
the drugs used for producing sleep and for
controlling pain; in other words, he would
be free to work at a pretty broad field in
pharmacology on this Fund which could
not well be done in a surgical department
because it requires a pharmacologist to do
work of this sort. He would at the same time
be free to work and be capable of working
on any research in anesthesia and anesthet­
ics that could be done in the Surgical De­
partment."
By indenture with Harvard, the Univer­
sity was obligated to pay the income of the
endowment to Dr. Dorr and his wife which
it did until the latter died in 1929.
At the request of the Dean in February,
1931, President Lowell appointed a com­
mittee to consider the method of use of the
Henry I. Dorr Fund for a Professorship of
Anesthesia. The Committee was chaired by
Dr. Edward D. Churchill, the newly ap­
pointed John Homans Professor of Surgery
and Chairman of the Surgical Services at
the Massachusetts General Hospital. Pro­
fessors Hunt, Irving, Minor and Dean
6The charge to the Dorr Fund Committee was enlarged to include responsibility for supervising the program and
the use of the Dorr Fund monies.
In a letter to Dr. Howard Bradshaw dated July 27, 1 933, Dr. Churchill outlined the appointment. "The Trustees,
on July 21, voted to appoint you to the position of anaesthetist and to provide for the present from the Maurice Howe
Richardson Fund a sum of one thousand five hundred ($1500) per annum to finance your research in anesthesia.
"The arrangements with the Harvard Medical School are as follows: The Dean has entered into the budget of next
year an item of $3,000 from the Dorr Fund for your salary. Your title next year has been approved by the Faculty as a
Research Fellow in Anaesthesia. This appointment and allotment of the salalY are made out on a yearly basis, but with
the idea in view that if you are successful you will be considered a candidate for further advance with a professorship
an ultimate prospect."
Bradshaw's responsibilities as the Officer-in-Charge of the Anesthesia Service at the Hospital were enumerated:
I. To supervise and study the methods of anesthesia.
2. To improve the organization of the service.
3. To selve as a consultant on unusual cases.
4. 10 approve the use of new and untried anesthetics.
5. To advise the administration in regard to the purchase of anesthetic appliances.
6. To supelvise the training of nurse anesthetists and house officers.
7. To approve candidates for training in anesthesia submitted by the Nurses' 1hining School.
8. To make recommendations in regard to the appointment of resident or graduate students in anesthesia.
"The terms under which the Dorr Fund was given to the University make it apparent that the holder of the Chair
of Anaesthesia will be responsible for the teaching of anesthesia in the Medical School and the Dental School. As a
definite start in the matter of teaching, I suggest that you make it your duty to study the organization of the teaching
of anesthesia in other surgical clinics and be prepared in the Fall to present some scheme of organization to the Don
Fund Committee for furtherance of this work
"VelY truly yours, Edward D. Churchill, MD, Chairman of the Dorr Fund Committee"
'I. Teaching:-In 1 934-1935 at the recommendation of the Department of Surgery, Dr. Bradshaw was promoted
to Instructor in Anesthesia. Actual teaching has been:
A. Weekly conference with 4th year surgical students.
B. Elective course in Anesthesia limited to one 4th year student a month. This course has been popular and more
applications have been received than could be accepted. For two periods two men have been accepted. This course
embraces the administration of anesthetics under direct supervision. Men who have been particularly interested have
taken part in laboratory problems.
C. General lecture in Anesthesia to 2nd year class
D. Two section exercises in II year surgery
E. Two students full time for a month in experimental problems
II. Investigative Problems:-Pllblished Work
A. A method for measuring lung volume in dogs (with H. Beecher)-J. Thoracic Surg. 2:439 (June) 1933.
B. Effect of laparotomy and abdominal distension on lung volume (with H. Beecher and G. Lindskog-J. Thoracic Surg. 2:444 (June) 1 933).
C. The re-inflation of atelectatic lung-J. Thoracic Surg. 3:333 (Apr.) 1 934.
D. Collateral respiration-Am. J. Physiol. 108:581 (June) 1 934.
E. The organization of anesthesia service-Bull. Am. Hosp. Ass'n. (Jan.) 1935.
III. Clinical:-Through the cooperation of the Massachusetts General Hospital, the following changes in organization have been made:
A. Provision for a Resident Anesthetist.
B. Provision for two Internes in Anesthesia.
C. Elimination of Undergraduate Nurse Technicians.
D. Addition of three Graduate Nurse Technicians.
E. Provision of salary for Assistant Anesthetist.
R 1taining school for Graduate Nurse Technicians.
G. Acceptance by Hospital of principle of full time service based on the lines of the organization of the X-ray
Department.
Edsall were committee members. At the
time the Committee was appointed, the
corpus of the Dorr Fund was $208,337.37,
the income from which was some $8,000
annually. In a preliminary report to the
Dean, Dr. Churchill stated, ''After several
meetings, the Committee was unable to
find a solution to the problem, particularly
because there seems to be no outstanding
individual in the country who in any way
met the qualifications for the position out­
lined in the bequest. The general opinion
of the Committee was against using money
to finance a man in the Department of
Pharmacology who might serve as a gen­
eral consultant to all of the hospitals con­
nected with the School. It seemed desirable,
if the position were to be filled, to have a
clinical portfolio so that the man would
have access to clinical materials for his in­
vestigative problems and teaching."
Dr. Churchill wrote to Dean Edsall in
March, 1933, "Since the meetings of this
Committee, I have kept the matter con­
stantly on my mind and have made exten­
sive inquiries throughout the country to see
if any man of promise might be obtained
to fill this position. At the same time there
has been a need at the Massachusetts Gen­
eral Hospital for a man to fill the position
of Chief Anaesthetist, made vacant by the
death of Dr. Freeman Allen some years ago.
Again the matter has been discussed by the
surgical staff as a purely hospital problem
and we've been unable to find a suitable
individual for this position.
"Last year Dr. Howard Bradshaw, a very
well trained young surgeon came to me
from Philadelphia to spend a year in the
surgical laboratory. He has been working
on respiratory physiology, particularly cer­
tain problems that have developed from the
application of Christie's method for deter­
mining lung volume to animal experimen­
tation. In this work, he has attained a thor­
ough familiarity with gas analysis and a
growing interest in the problem of gas ex­
change in the lung, lung volumes under
varying conditions and other allied prob­
lems. Much of the work during the second
half of the year has been carried out in Dr.
Cecil Drinker's laboratory because of the
lack of facilities for employing dogs at the
Massachusetts General Hospital. Bradshaw
has expressed his willingness to go ahead
with the study of anesthesia if a suitable
program can be outlined for him.
"I have talked at length with Bradshaw
about the type of work that would be most
suitable for him and which he prefers to
do. Quite rightly he would like to spend a
major portion of his time for the next few
years in experimental physiology in phar-
BULLETIN OF ANESTHESIA HISTORY
macology. I think it highly important that
he do this and is willing to limit his clini­
cal responsibilities and privileges very
strictly in order to give him a chance to
develop as a broad instead of a routine an­
a esthetist.
"I would suggest that he be appointed
as an anesthetist to the Hospital as that will
settle matters here and ensure him an un­
limited clinical opportunity whenever the
time arises for him to make use of it. It is
the intention of the Hospital to maintain
the present staff of nurse anesthetists who
have carried on the work for some years un­
changed, and Dr. Bradshaw would have no
routine clinical duties thrust upon his
shoulders at the time. I do think, however,
that it would be wise for him to study the
organization of the Department and be free
to make such changes or to utilize the clini­
cal material as he sees fit. I've made it very
clear to the Hospital and to the Board of
Trustees that we are not to expect routine
clinical work from Dr. Bradshaw at the
present time and to further this I have sug­
gested that he be on a strictly full time ba­
sis, i.e., without duties or privileges in the
private wards of the Hospital. It is my hope
that by giving Dr. Bradshaw every oppor­
tunity we can, both in the clinic and in the
laboratory, develop a man who in the fu­
ture may become a suitable candidate for
the Chair of Anaesthesia."
President Lowell a greed tha t it was
proper to use the Dorr bequest in training
a young man of promise. The Massachu­
setts General Hospital proposed to pay one
half of the salary of Dr. Bradshaw provid­
ing the remainder and laboratory expense
budget be supplied by the University. How-
ever, Dean Edsall, referring to the clause
and the terms in the Deed of Gifts, "The
College covenants for itself and its succes­
sors and a ssigns to furnish to the occupant
of this said Chair ample laboratory facili­
ties for the carrying out of his work, with­
out charge therefore either to the occupant
of the said Chair or to the Trust Fund" ar­
ranged for the Medical School to pay the
whole salary from the Dorr Fund and the
Hospital assume the laboratory expense
budget. The University assigned a salary
of $3,000 to Dr. Bradsha w who wa s ap­
pointed Research Fellow in Anaesthesia in
the Department of Surgery and Chief Anes­
thetist at the Massachusetts Genera l Hos­
pital. The Hospital set aside $1500 for labo­
ratory expenses and provided the space.6
It should be noted that a surgeon, Dr.
Howard Bradshaw, was the first person at
Harvard Medical School and the Massa­
chusetts General Hospital to enjoy research
support from the Dorr Endowment.
Two years later, Churchill's Dorr Fund
Committee wrote a report to the Dean out­
lining progress under three headings.7
The Committee report continued: "The
following consideration led to (G). If an
anesthetist is to supplement his income by
private practice, he will find great difficulty
in planning his time, both for work in the
teaching clinic and for investigative work.
He is not in a position to plan his program
for the day or week and set aside periods of
free time but is subject to interruption a t
the demand of the surgeons. Largely for
this reason it seems that the only feasible
plan for developing a teaching and produc­
tive Anesthesia Department is to maintain
it on a strictly full time basis, rather than
8The facilities available at the Massachusetts General Hospital for use in connection with the Dorr Fund were
summarized as follows:
I
Chief Anesthetist (Appointment by Hospital and Dorr Fund Committee; Salary from Dorr Fund)
$1,500
Budget for Research
$2,000
Salary for Assistant Anesthetist
(guarantee of $500 annual increase in salary up to total of $5,000)
(1st year ) $500 and maintenance
Resident Anesthetist
(2nd year) $700 and maintenance
2 Internes in Anesthesia
maintenance but no salary
10 Graduate Nurse Technicians
average salary $80 a month
2 Graduate Nurse Student Technicians
maintenance only
Authorization by Trustees for gradual extension of Anesthesia Service to the operating rooms in Baker Memorial
and Phillips House with charges for administration of anesthetics collected by Hospital and credited to Department.
The clinical material available for care and study was listed as:
Operations in 1935
Massachusetts General
5,569
Baker Memorial
2,701
1,061
Phillips House
I
'The assets transferred by Dr. Dorr where primarily railroad bonds and included $20,000 of the New York, New
Haven and Hartford Railroad Company, $10,000 of the Illinois Central Railroad Company and $10,000 from the
Chicago/Buriington and Quincy Railroad Company. Five thousand ($5,000) dollars each was also received from the
New York Central and Hudson River Railroad Company, Boston Elevated Railroad Company, Lake Shore and Michi­
gan Southern Railroad Company. Four thousand ($4,000) dollars each of the following were transferred: Oregon
Short Line Railroad Company and the Lynn and Boston Railroad Company. Two telephone companies bonds were
also delivered. Five thousand ($5,000) dollars of Michigan State Telephone Company and $2,000 of the Western
Union Telegraph Company. These bonds bore interest rates varying between 3WYo and 5%.
I
1
II
adopting the "Harvard" system as applied
to other clinica l posts. It is the plan of the
Hospital to collect fees for anesthesia ad­
ministered by members of the Department
and turn back these sums in the form of
salaries for personnel. The Hospital does
not plan to reduce the budget that it is now
putting into Anesthesia but to use funds
collected from the private wards for the
further development of the Department,
and particularly toward salaries of person­
nel."8
What is interesting about the report is
that it establishes for the fledgling Anes­
thesia Department at the Massachusetts
General Hospital the concept of full time
hospital support of personnel by returning
the fees collected by the hospital for physi­
cian services to the Department. This ar­
rangement was made "to set aside periods
of free time ... for work in the teaching
clinic a nd for investiga tive work." This
mode of Department organization estab­
lished 66 years ago to protect time for schol­
arship persists today in much the same
form at Massachusetts General Hospital
and many other departments. It stands as
a tribute to the perspicacity of Edward D.
Churchill, M.D., the Homans Professor of
Surgery.
Henry Knowles Beecher, The First
Dorr Professor
It should be noted, perhaps propheti­
cally, that Bradshaw's first two papers were
coauthored with Dr. Henry K. Beecher,
then a Senior Surgical House Officer at the
Massachusetts General Hospital. Beecher
had been on a leave of absence a broad,
working in the Research Laboratories of
Nobel Laureate August Krogh in
Copenhagen, Denmark. In the early Spring
of 1936, Bradshaw requested permission to
return to the Department of Surgery to
complete his training. On May 1 of that
year, Henry K. Beecher was appointed by
Churchill to succeed Bradsha w a s
Anaesthetist-in-Chief a t the MGH, and a n
Instructor of Anaesthesia at Harvard sup­
ported by the Henry Isaiah Dorr Fund.
Beecher's appointment was for a five­
year probationary period as allowed by the
Dorr covenant. During this period other
Harvard teaching hospitals including the
Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Children's
Hospital and the Boston Lying-In Hospi­
tal considered identifying their own can­
didates for the Dorr Chair. John Bunker
writes, "In the search that followed, Ralph
Waters himself [Waters was the Chairman
of Anesthesia at the University of Wiscon­
sin and the 'intellectual leader' of this new
Continued on Next Page
BULLETIN OF ANESTHESIA HISTORY
12
Dorr
.
.
.
Continued from Page 1 1
discipline] emerged as a candidate. Waters
was attracted by the opportunity at Harvard
to develop and coordinate several programs
for the training of anesthesiologists. He was
also unaware of the commitment that had
been made to Beecher. Waters proposed a
single university department of anesthesia
with a 'first assistant' at each of the four
satellite hospitals and with Beecher, already
incumbent as the first assistant at MGH.
It was an imaginative program, and, in ret­
rospect would have given Boston the tal­
ents of two undisputed giants of anesthe­
sia, one the first-rate clinician (Waters), the
other the first great laboratory investiga­
tor (Beecher). Churchill would have none
of the plan, however, and in any event it is
doubtful if the income from the Dorr Fund,
supplemented by the meager resources then
available to the hospitals, would have been
adequate for the purpose.
"By this time Beecher had a substantial
head start and his path to the Dorr Profes­
sOl'ship was never again seriously threat­
ened. The five-year trial period was one of
great productivity for him." The Harvard
Medical School endorsed the recommen­
dation of the Churchill Committee and on
July 1, 1941, Henry Knowles Beecher was
appointed the first incumbent of the Henry
Isaiah Dorr Professorship of Research and
Teaching in Anesthesia and Anesthetics.
He was succeeded precisely 29 years later,
July 1, 1970, by Richard John Kitz. After
28 years, Kitz was named the Henry I. Dorr
Distinguished Professor (emeritus status)
and on July 1, 1998, Edward Lowenstein
was invested as the third Dorr Professor.
Development of the Dorr Funds at
Harvard
The actual disposition of the funds re­
ceived by the University is recorded in its
archives. "This indenture, dated February
15, 1917, by and between Henry Isaiah Dorr
of the City of Philadelphia,Doctor of Medi­
cine, hereinafter called Dr. Dorr, and the
President and Fellows of Harvard College,
a corporation of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts, hereinafter called the Col­
lege, witnesseth that Dr. Dorr has trans­
ferred, assigned, set over and delivered to
the College and does hereby transfer, as­
sign, set over and deliver to the College, its
successors and assigns the following secu­
rities, for the purpose herein after stated,
viz:-"9
The indenture stated that if the College
did not establish the Chair, then the net
income would be payable to the Jefferson
Medical College of Philadelphia for the
above purposes and under the above con­
ditions. If Jefferson Medical College did
not accept the funds and its provisions then
the document requests that the income
"shall be payable to the Society for the Pre­
vention of Cruelty to Animals in Philadel­
phia, to be then known as the Dr. Henry
Isaiah Dorr Gift, and to be used for the
benefit of dumb animals."
The indenture also stated that "subject
only to the deduction for taxes herein after
specifically authorized, the College shall
when and as the same is collected pay the
entire income
of said Trust Fund to Dr. Dorr during
his life, and after his death to his wife, Sa­
rah J. Dorr if she survives him until she
dies or until she elects to take against and
notwithstanding the provisions of Dr.
Dorr's will if she should so elect, which­
ever shall first happen." The income de­
rived from these bonds, less taxes, was paid
to Dr. Dorr until his death in April of 1927
and then to his wife Sarah until she died
in February of 1929.
A second indenture found in the ar­
chives of the University and dated 3 June
1918 and referring to the indenture dated
February 15, 1917 states, "whereas, by that
instrument, Dr. Dorr reserved a power to
add to the securities so given and to amend
the said Trust, now therefore Harvard Col­
lege acknowledges that it has received from
Dr. Dorr the following securities:" $20,000
of Pennsylvania Railroad Class A bonds
and $5,000 of the Lake Shore and Michi­
gan Southern Railroad Company, and
$5,000 Dominion of Canada Third War
Loan bonds were transferred to Harvard
l"The final Probate Court ruling was signed on the 19th of June, 1 930, authorizing the sale of all assets and the
payment of all expenses. The total value of the estate was $26,219.92. Sixteen thousand six hundred and twenty nine
dollars and forty five cents ($16,629.45) was used to defray all expenses. Included was $147.31 expense for interment
in the Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. The remainder of $9,590.47 was paid to the Pennsylvania
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Mter these disbursements nothing remained for transfer to Harvard
College.
ll"Mass. Gen. Laws (fer. Ed.) c. 180A, paragraph 9 provides as follows: "Ifwritten consent of the donor cannot be
obtained by reason of his death, disability, unavailability, or possibility of identification, the governing ,board may
apply in the name of the institution through a Court of competent jurisdiction for the release of the restrictions
imposed by the applicable gift instrument of the use or instrument of an institutional fund. The Attorney General
shall be notified of the application and shall be given an opportunity to be heard. If the Court finds that the restriction
is obsolete, inappropriate, or impracticable, it may by order release the restriction in whole or in part. A release under
this subscription may not change an endowment fund to a fund that is not an endowment fund."
College and merged with Dorr's original
gift. The total transferred was thus
$100,000 which according to John Bunker
was valued at $265,000 at the time of his
death in 1927. Because of the conservative
nature of the investment (high grade
bonds) the fund was partially insulated
from the stock market crash of 1929. Its
value was $208,000 in 1931.
On August 15, 1929, four months after
Sarah Dorr's death, Mr. Thornton A. Snow
of Winchester, Massachusetts, and the ad­
ministrator of Dorr's will, filed an Equity
Petition "To the Honorable the Judges of
the Probate Court in and for the County of
Middlesex, Massachusetts stating 'your pe­
titioner is uncertain as to his duties in the
premises and praise that the Court will in­
struct him as follows: is any society for the
prevention of cruelty to animals in Phila­
delphia, Pennsylvania entitled as benefi­
ciary under the said will to any of the prop­
erty of the estate, and, if so, what society is
the beneficiary and what property shall be
given to it?" The petition goes on to state
"under the will of the testator [Dr. DOlT]
further ordered that after the decease of his
widow his executor and trustee take from
the bonds of his estate $20,000 par value of
any bonds found therein, except Liberty
Loan bonds of the United States of
America, and give them 'to the best
equipped and responsible society for the
prevention of cruelty to animals in Phila­
delphia, Pennsylvania', subject to certain
conditions." The testator bequeathed the
remainder of his property to Harvard Col­
lege. The petition lists the President and
Fellows of Harvard College; Women' s
Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals; the Philadelphia So­
ciety for the Prevention of Cruelty to Ani­
mals; Morris Animal Refuge; and the Ani­
mal Rescue League of Philadelphia.
The Court then solicited briefs from
each of the societies and the College and
on February 5, 1930, issued an opinion. "In
answer to the petitioners request for in­
structions, the petitioners are instructed
that the Pennsylvania Society for the Pre­
vention of Cruelty to Animals is the best
equipped and responsible society, and, as
such, is entitled to said legacy, or if , after
payment of the debts and charges of ad­
ministration, the bonds in the estate are
insufficient to pay the legacy in full, to so
much transfer as remains either in the form
of bonds or in such surplus of cash pro­
ceeds arising from the sale of the bonds." l o
The Deeds of Gifts also stipulated that
"during the lifetime of the grantor, it is ex­
pressly provided that no sale shall be made
Continued on Next Page
BULLETIN OF ANESTHESIA HISTORY
13
Le Protoxyde d'Azote a Paris
by Marie Therese Cousin (first published in
Cah Anesthesiol 1 999; 47:41 7-42)
Abbreviated and translated with permission of the author by Ray J. Defalque, MD, Birmingham, Alabama
N20 in Paris
S urgical Np anesthesia reached Paris
long after it had been adopted in the U.S. and
in England. In May, 1866, A.P. Preterre, a
Parisian dentist, persuaded several eminent
Parisian surgeons to let him anesthetize their
patients with the Np he had prepared in his
laboratory and had used in his dental prac­
tice. He had learnt of Np through his
brother, a dentist in New York.
Np was initially well received in Paris in
view of the numerous chloroform fatalities
occurring at that time. It was thought at first
that only 100% Np could produce complete
anesthesia and this generally produced cy­
anosis. Most operations, fortunately, were
velY short and the patients quickly woke up
and regained their normal color. There were,
however, some reports of deaths in the oper­
ating room and in the laboratory. C. Herman,
of Berlin, in a letter to the Societe de Biologie
in 1867, warned his French colleagues that
he had found N2° with ° 2 to be a rather weak
anesthetic but felt that it was criminal to ad­
minister it pure. He reported many deaths in
Germany.
To solve that dilemma, P. Bert in 1876
suggested the use of 80:20% NP :0 2 mixtures
at 1.2 atmosphere or even 50:50% NP:0 2 at
1.5 atmosphere. This, he thought, would
maintain a safe p0 2 while still producing full
anesthesia. In 1878 he reported his success
in dogs and rats to the Societe de Biologie
Dorr
.
.
.
and shortly thereafter convinced two eminent
Parisian surgeons, L. Labbe and J. Pean, to
try his hyperbaric technique on their surgi­
cal patients. In February, 1879, in the pneu­
matic chamber of the Daupley's Institute,
Labbe successfully excised an ingrown toe­
nail in a young man under a 80:20% NP :0 2
mixture at 1.2 atmosphere. A.P. Preterre and
P. Bert were present in the chamber. At the
end of March, 1879, J.E. Rottenstein, a Ger­
man dentist practicing in Paris,provided sev­
eral excellent anesthesias for Pean in the hy­
perbaric chamber of the Fontaine's Institute.
Fontaine initially brought his pneumatic
chamber to the S aint Louis and the
Laborisiere hospitals but he soon built a
mobile, horse-drawn unit with which he
toured the various Paris hospitals. A little
later,Pean had a chamber built at Saint Louis.
It was modernized in 1891. Thierry de Martel
and Ambard had an improved version built
in 1913 but it was unfortunately damaged and
abandoned during the World War. P. Bert
concluded from his hyperbaric work that Np
was a true anesthetic which could provide
deep anesthesia without causing cyanosis. He
also found that it had negligible effects on
the respiration and the circulation.
The expenses and technical difficulties of
administering hyperbaric Np prompted P.
Bert in 1883 to experiment with the Ameri­
can technique of "intermittent N 20", i.e. , al-
ternating periods of pure Np and of pure
air. In the process he discovered the phenom­
enon of diffusion hypoxia. He felt that the
latter could be prevented by administering a
80:20% mixture of NP :0 2 at the end of the
anesthesia.
The lethality of chloroform helped popu­
larize the use of Np in France during the
last two decades of the 19th century. In 1908,
howevel; Ombredanne and his inhaler helped
reinstate ether in France and push chloro­
form and Np in the background. Np re­
gained a brief surge of popularity with the
French militalY surgeons in WWI as it pro­
vided rapid and safe anesthesia for the mass
of shocked, wounded soldiers crowding the
clearing stations.
In 1923, the surgeon E. Desmaret and his
anesthetist, L. Amiot, rekindled French in­
terest in the NP :0 2 mixtures and built an
anesthetic machine to use them. It included
a closed system and a CO 2 absorber. Later
on, Desmaret removed the absorber to create
hyperventilation; he may also have inadvert­
ently achieved CO2 narcosis in his longer
cases. Shortly thereafter, Amiot started add­
ing ether to his NP :0 2 mixtures and from
1930 on, in Paris like in the rest of the world,
Np was used mainly as a basal adjunct to
more potent anesthetics.
chase no securities unless it is the best opin­
ion of the College that it is in the best in­
terest of the Trust so to do." Although these
strictures insulated the DOff Fund from the
Depression of the late '20s and early ' 30s,
they also interdicted the Harvard invest­
ment managers from maximizing the re­
turn of the DOff Funds when the stock
market later recovered. It became clear to
the University that funds accruing to the
DOff Chair were lagging those of its other
endowments. In 1982 the University moved
to ask the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
to remove these onerous restrictions which
were now inimicable to the original intent
of Henry Isaiah Dorr.
In its legal 'Complaint' of December
1982, attorneys for the College argued be-
fore the Supreme Judicial Court that the
"Plaintiff [Harvard] believes that the re­
striction contained in the indenture of Feb­
ruary 15, 1917, as amended by indenture
of June 3, 1918 is obsolete, inappropriate
and impracticable because (a) the possible
purpose of such restrictions, i.e., to assure
that the proper amount of income be paid
to Dr. DOff or his wife, is no longer rel­
evant, and (b) the continued separate in­
vestment of such funds would result in less
diversification of its investments of that
fund and would require greater expendi­
ture by the Plaintiff in the administration
thereof than would be required were such
funds invested in the [College's] General
Investments Account.
Contillued frail! Page 1 1
of any of the securities here and above spe­
cifically described, nor of any funds other­
wise coming to the College under this in­
denture without the approval thereof by Dr.
DOff in writing; and after the death of Dr.
Dorr all investments shall be made in se­
curities of a character similar or superior
to those hereby assigned and set over, the
safety of the principle to be always the first
consideration in making investments and
re-investments rather than higher return
of income therefrom.
"Subject to the foregoing, the College
shall have full power to invest and re-invest
the Trust Fund, for this purpose to sell or
exchange all or any property that may at
any time form a part of the Trust Fund;
provided that the College shall sell or pur-
Continued all Page 23
14
BULLETIN OF ANESTHESIA HISTORY
A Revisionist History of Ether Day, 1 846
by Guillermo C. Sanchez, M.D.
Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
/t'X!'� /
/rr-
In this article, it is not my purpose to re­
view and assess the relative merits and pri­
orities of the individuals who have been pos­
tulated as the inventors of inhalation anes­
thesia,e.g., Long,Wells, Jackson, and Morton.
I shall concentrate on the successful opera­
tion on Gilbert Abbott by John C. Warren,
with William Morton as anesthetist, and re­
view these events through three possible sce­
narios:
First Scenario:
As it has been told, the conventional and
traditional description of this dramatic day
goes something like this:
Edward Gilbert Abbott, a 21-year-old
printer-erroneous reading of the hospital
record calls him a "painter"-was admitted
to the Massachusetts General Hospital on
September 25, 1846, suffering from a "dan­
gerous vascular tumor of the neck" (Warren's
words) that the patient feared might grow
uncontrollably, though he had no symptoms.
Excision was planned for October 13th. Re­
membering that a local dentist and Harvard
Medical student, William Thomas Green
Morton, had proposed to Dr. John C. War):1':; c::'A.t-. t� , � t •• < .,. . �.t../t ;:.,.. �
r't... a -<,,--<...,.L.
.
r�)
, .... I
,...,A..../ . lt:,J..,1.:'" "
...
,.... 9<'
A,"�,r
J, t ' T,n"""-,,
.
�
, � _
/.
I<ueth ...-.<.... I-u�
, ,a (.. �
i ,.
'-. � I,'c", ' "'' /,'A�
j,
. #'r''''
�,
''/
;/''''
�
. ' 'I
<. ({(,,>,.rn;:} 4..- 0(.e. � 7t.i:C,- ("'l7rr 7m Itt,,",- rr hh-r-A
•
'<-/U�.,(11:1'1;.
/�
#
,;< A a..La..-r..7-u.- /J(J.. !/dw.·� I'/ht,,:'f,. , IIh ., � < ,.£. /(,- nrt)
!
" IJ
<r;;;;; r�L
,.'<'
.
..
"
'ff'=-< ,:./, " " ''':b.,o�.� 0". ,,�, ;1' ­
�� /rc. .n.� A(l'T�'1' "" tZ ;j:.'J 4u:� .
'n.:\
4,7' �( /If; (?oorr..;'- f71f<,1:.;"" ,.';,;rU�·:;." "�.
-;b/(.-;t;:.�.y' ''Jt.... 7::;L
tX/l,1'UlL 7T I. ,,�(�� , ;... I.��,'- '} ;j�
, ,':'/ (-;' ;'>lt�Y"�"'<-7...�", (.-r��- :.x�!' _-:J;;
/
k. oC.! �<.<'"�,, -,;;- ,�.w.. (r :7<I �.
... �d--ai:;?"'"-;) r. /�'
..�
. �l�..... 'J'#7'E,, -ITf.
..
I.
'h'.. •
<.
.. �c"• •
.
.
, .
;,0 "
-.L
.
.
�-'7"r�-'"
hH, ,/ , .-.Lt'
. Iy""<••�� 7fH�""
(.� t'....T
. I. ....-a...T
. .
101 fr>'- �/I?,,-,-I'-.ro�. ( .) 1<lm •• <lT<5-- ,7'- /�"4�..# ro ./ d<" A<­
!:'1>l+�.,� h7t-'!J':"U �. '-:!�4�17l(- � '��Il:h) �«-I) q
//��.
_
l..(J It � �(<-7:. � ... 7. :«·rr> . ,,� h� '�':" 'H. #;;;: r , t� /;,�
1>-u':::�«!I� I:. /��P-1��/ h,: ;./y.J ",ci" .vlc��d' :.::-- _
d�..J ,<-�(. // a. .« 1
C�:?t I<-« ---:T<: ;-t ,,,,, lit , ';i<"-�,, ;;lc.h . ,>:4.,
a;/�e"r.. . ;" �, .;.>�.-::; Ii '17'';: ' .,.S ,,/t:::;r�'­
.� i��� /11":<1-7:: A/;£I<z. ? ':i?,... .c,)T-I-,,< d,,&"';6 , a.,...)
.-- . '.'--4!'. v 0t .r'n.....) . a ... /,. H (:" ,;){"'....'t-..)• .;;:;t:
7.{. ) .... . ...-r.:'.....
F
;"l.,f tI�< ,�/ ),; /, ;;. .� .... a.,J � r77.'::-/� �--< ,., � j.;)u..4;;Z-,
t&.../.;.. zzi;;:-c ('t. �L ,u Ff""""..: It /.;. ,{! If£wf'./ n<T; I��::�
� /;� .t.� b_:l::!n '- I/ilt (ff;,... ., A4 Iy ... �<-- 7''' n L /4'; 4:uH
C\ "'I t...74;- L,)-'];:a. f:..(JA-:�.t.��; J--Y/'>f4�1�' au.) 7f/;:.�, 1t�""'"
IH U"7,i clu,,::) If';4 ;L:� �-7Yr';- .i ¥t;?t<;. <-- (?I� ' h:r
a (r.-; /i� Aa-d 1 t C" T"'� Ir��, � #m�, A� ,111;.) .h .A"-:') �""1
Z- If). -;f;:fxr �/J(J-�:
�%. �-<--< 0 If''-'<�I (,..<t" N. 7- ��""01;;::;Z;',
'7' #.!<J.-, r ,.r17r.. .... ;?t.: �� .1. 1;"... t-<<-4.-:r; ll.• • ;-> A. i-.-.- a!c",
c�.'7T.: (,�<'I r.- oU.p ilL 1t4-t'L h�,<-LC"a :7/' t1;.. , ___ I
�
ry:t�4 �.4'4
f.<4A. ;;
1 .£-7t'::. , ;.. r c··· d __� a.�.:' w_ a /4--/ d/. ( n 4.lH. <!.t<J'" t�'4"' .L;7I:/
I.!t,<�, A�;(l (.M (� <?foL..-.h")77 t�· b�-"';;::<
c..�...,u ,&rd llf. -1u.�<- ";· � �5r. fff;i<"';" A�) �n
. -C�
.
"
.
"
"
.
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
,-
.
.
..
,,
..
..
.. ..
..
..
..
..
..
!h�/"1������ff�
'
,",:,,,'5" .) ----
.
Figure 1. Operative note by J. C. Wan'en
(MGH records).
.
;}/;'; 6/ /'1y . '7(} " . ? #;;';'Et:� /.
,:& ;f£; ###(:7' ";<//!t£/ "4 ftf. �"'/ f'Y�L-/f'#��
: 7""
//</!" <'.7' tf;a dc .:/;. tYtf',(y/?!};.';i f'",':6
,.//! /;e /r.;l/ Ae_� /;r;{Zt;'/A./ ///e/ //;:, ,�/<u_
. /t),Me/ /l'o'/;f- ::I
(?il,,/f:./
£td/(/jtt', r
7//d./dJ'�L �.;: ?;:r:: g"-4�/>e .//!''//?/ ,.4jl'f?'#:=:
'"
.
_
a
,/
Figure 2.
Personal journal.
Warren papers
(Massachusetts
Historical
Society)
_
.
'
.
(,f'
�;.o
dk
..
':';'''':;:--;/'/7 Z<"ldh4
v�.J/t/l i<! :4/ /////'/& /l'da'/ .:j;(; , /;}//&/o
7
6· /-/�/,M'!<'--::::> 17 ,?i;.1ffir:/;::;',', / �y.
.Y,1 /,-t/U/.. 7:1 �l/#;/o/. /'4o';/u_ ;f& . ,ft /;'/4--;; t?�
MI"l'h'le?
/AtY../( I�'rL' /-��r _
'/f' / d
///11/ �//<'';; r
£(/ /1 /
. /'iJ
..
/e-.
ren a demonstration of the use of ether as a
way of preventing intraoperative pain, the
patient was asked whether he would agree to
a delay in the hopes of sparing himself much
suffering. He agreed.
On Friday, October 16th, the patient was
brought to the operating theater and, Morton
having failed to arrive on time, Dr. Warren
decided to proceed. ''As Dr. Morton has not
arrived, I presume he is otherwise engaged."
Morton rushed in with his inhaler. "Your
patient is ready, Dr. Morton." A smooth in­
duction: "Your patient is ready, Dr. Warren."
An excision of the tumor was accomplished
uneventfully. When the patient awoke, he
denied having felt any pain and Warren,
much elated, proclaimed to the spectators,
physicians and students,his famous: "Gentle­
men, this is no humbug." Later that day, ac­
cording to at least one author, he sat down to
write down his exultant operative note (Fig­
ure I ) -and later still, at home, he wrote
about it in his journal (Figure 2).
The patient convalesced without mishap
while the medical world and the wider pub­
lic celebrated the great therapeutic triumph.
A few days later Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes,
man of letters and dean of Harvard Medical
School, proposed that the procedure be called
"anaesthesia" and the agent "anaesthetic."
His felicitous suggestion was applauded and
accepted then and by posterity.
'
So far, the traditional version. Is there any
reason to question or doubt the facts as de­
scribed? Let us examine them in light of later
accounts, many given under oath.
Edward Gilbert Abbott, a frail, consump­
tive young man, died nine years later from
tuberculosis. He had a minor vascular mal­
formation under the left j aw "the size of a
large horse chestnut" (Henry J. Bigelow's de­
scription). There was discoloration of the lip
and on the tongue, a swelling the size of a
hazelnut.s He had no symptoms. Whether he
demanded surgery or it was suggested to him
is unclear (Figure 5). The operation consisted
Second Scenario:
Figure 3. Operative note, probably by C.
Heywood, house pupil (MGH records)
As it actually happened.
r/. ",i,•.£-. T/..t'L '''�' ;"",4.:, ", ,,,4'<:
.
•
"ilL k. __ . /;:"A4t_ , e�.c',,(• ..t d<-/u-A'�:"­
�,,� ti',�J!u., vl'elf; lrtZzM< U fu.� qk .'t':....'7�
i
"'-<..l...,.. ,, uv (6...- k�'.# .... b
o%IIL /
� ,rl
h�'_� ./,t;..
� k�� � t;;L'
t' ..< .,&-�'-'- �� �.t"!�"!:�f.}'��
-'I'l ,4I..�.;,. _ . 09,.. , �-- /, 'N,j.,�./-Z ,.� u-... £1:/ i�,-?- ok.,;..- .,u........ ...kk �(.At-Y�d.:-·_
_ .."it...... aL.1f"}," t::u._ "�,�4,<� ''''£4 -#�
'NY
k.. ,,(.tv "" f/,!,u«,.p 1.f'o�v' ,./. #.....t ,�
.... e.-�_.� /-.fi d� /u t'�£-, d.. .t� �fU�£"'dA�y
,(
"'"
-
"
..
..
oIt�. 4
"u ;.."...... v _
k�t·�-<-<-.L �&-l_'Z7/"...
..
d ... -If.-: c--c...-..��'�...L?/_ ,t- ,,�,...
//.l'p.c�- &.? �t__/ ki./-e-- _
..
..
.
&)l/J'ctlim !J fi)� 'It,�uv,�_
(!. /6
c>k b..Iif.,A tL .;,J
I
•
E­
J:i..£...1·� .
.
'<6 ••
)� ..:..
·d" «./':7_ � 1·1 :d a.."f"''&'u/-"" tI� ,;..:.,__
.�(, 1«..4 �... � ;.(.�.. hH/{- .1,," ht.UI'G- �'C.. iho/u- ' IPh•• C I.i;-_',/Mfi "{_=I'/1o I-tr<'
p.1;fi./:-. ....(�;,«; if" �k,: .4t!.... ,t,,""Hd
-t�_ �r/1q .,,,Ji/'-<,. ,, d,. d'Mt,;''''_/'''
AwV dVd;;,.:r� oil. @�/1�� It/. (�C/ IA:dv .><
.
,,j,n4
. �,bW
C--:IM4n..�'.(/ v tn./ Jf""h - �I
�F... :.I4 1 'u!',<..« rV ��d.-ZftJ _
,-_.
U alUf at. n__udu, 4A...;1<t:4(.. I-' (� t;� .
" (.�l.V_4<.:u. '/I f h _ /lA.., .p.U.N'.�/V � '''' './''/
.1.1£ /.,.:. .. ,-.., 1I� (t/�£. �... d4 A..- /dt.../.- 'it· &- .... ;.,..
C'-<,t1& <" t' rl1fo 'jo!;" "" _
\
.
'"
-
'"
.
.
,
.
IJ
�j"
,.�",.,(
;" / fII.{
d l "l
.
tltf'
.
ptni..
.
:%.• /hH .. t{ i,v
ri .,
,f' . ..
A mi ,1,..../.... g( 1'4,.
'Il- �
;;
: d:J
"
/1" ';" 1 < "" " /1. .. IJlf//(� A I. li ,, /0
/tr/
(,C.'! .
(. "1·'fi� /,, / 4·
.....
la-:.: .J,:i
fo &;... ,<
d'0�':�J
t> , . "r
BULlETIN OF ANESTHESIA HISTORY
a44__"�
'
� .d"" ':f.� . ,.I,t "'-____�_ , /:C:.
�' .. ...c � �.'d>-v rv,1'-""'-.:i:..%
r "'�r' . # >f�1AA!.<� A!:.. .k
....
vtZ. �".�.'W
�
, -�e .�t.
�.-<'
��
�
.
� !"'� -.
�y -;j� �,<...��
.&.
$p-t7
,
U-#,,<JUC ?A
� ,��,
_�/�. �d... ' u,'-;4� �iv
' k .(.. d f-�' ''? '�
�/Lu.
�..4:., .. h ....... �v """':" ;'! "'/.r-'VD--/:'�'-'" ":'� ?fL &:Z:,a( .
l ./ ,-;
",/
,t<z::...c /-; , �
'
.A , #:'.;;... ..... ;"
',.0.k:/"",-,
/...,. ' ,",,j 1
p'
/'
�N"'/'-/':' :"'" ,-z, ' /,(� /�, 'd.
",
��-�
":r-"'A":J' 14 ",., / C:'7 ;d. 7'-/"'''
''
''&''- ''';; ,
.tI'
A-J�
/ :)
._�/nua......... ...l -L...�. /.... ': �...... �
/t-�d-r�
"4:� a rd '4... e...
/_
� ?
/"'"',
...._.,.;./ii:.:. , � _-6.../
'4.y.. . ;C .r"c/.
�) ' ;'; .<-o<'.<- .r
kW d.. i � :1 a �
.f.
�
.�
;l:"'�
,
�
.
)
:}
.
. .
__. .r�"C"
_6 .
' (! t:'
�
acute respiratory distress. .
How could Morton conceal from the par­
ticipants what agent he was employing? We
will rely here and subsequently on the sworn
testimony of the main witnesses of this his­
toric event. Morton entered the operating
theater with the glass inhaler containing a
red liquid: ether colored with a dye. One of
his classmates, by prior arrangement, had
burnt cascarilla bark, an aromatic, in a bra­
zier in the corner of the room. No concern
about intraoperative explosions were enter­
tained. Another version describes the use of
another aromatic, "eau de mille-fleurs," a
distillate of many flowers (the term also de­
scribed cow's urine which was used medici­
nally in the 19th century, a subtle French play
on words).9 The exact aromatic is not cru­
cial.
The operative note, presumably written
by one of the two house officers and certainly
not by Warren, makes no mention of anes­
thesia or ether (Figure 3). This remains true
of all subsequent operative notes until early
December, 1846, perhaps respecting an agree­
ment with Morton who legalized his patent
on November 12th.
When I first saw the hospital record of
Gilbert Abbott's case years ago, the longer,
detailed note was loose-it has since been
bound in-lacking a page number as did all
the other notes in the bound volume, and in
a different handwriting from the rest. When
had this note been written and by whom?
After fruitless speculation I was fortunate in
discovering among the Warren papers at the
Massachusetts Historical Society the rough
draft of this document in John C. Warren's
hand (Figure 4). A note in the top right-hand
corner dates it from January, 1852. This dat­
ing is presumably by Warren's grandson, J.
Collins Warren. Innumerable surgeons
\
.7"-';"" ���..0
U/;/
.c,
�-L
..-v
�J/,_ • •
('. � �.
of cutting through the fascia, exposing "a
congeries of large veins and small arteries"
according to the hospital records, and a single
ligature was passed under it and knotted
tightly. The wound was filled with lint and a
few days later there was brisk bleeding for
three or four hours, which was controlled. Ap­
plications of "potasa with calce" were begun,
an eschar formed and sloughed, and the pa­
tient was discharged "cured" on December
7th. 0 tempol'G, 0 mores! In our age of same­
day surgery, utilization review committees
might note this historic hospitalization: three
weeks of anticipation, a one-stitch operation,
and seven weeks of convalescence before dis­
charge. On discharge the "tumor" was un-
Figure 4, Warren papers
(Massachusetts
Historical Society),
Note dates ji'DIn
January, 1 852.
changed in size but was no longer pulsatile.
In retrospect one can question the need
for surgery and the selection of this particu­
lar patient. Dr. Warren explained his not hav­
ing had a suitable private patient when
Morton proposed his experiment and his
choice of a ward patient, since he happened
to be the ward visit that month. The choice
of such a minor problem may have been wise
indeed.
One could assume that the patient, before
giving consent, and his surgeon knew what
agent would be used for this experiment and
the operative note would tend to confirm this,
but these assumptions would be wrong.
Morton intended to patent both the in­
haler and the procedure. Sulfuric ether was
well known to many in the audience and
Warren himself had used it as early as 1805,
and in 1808, when treating Governor Sullivan
of Massachusetts who was suffering from fa­
tal congestive heart failure due to aortic steno­
sis.1 True, he had given ether by mouth at
times and inhaled from a handkerchief at
others, but he and various physicians had
used it for asthma and other instances of
Continued on Page 1 6
S {-;. '-
,
" � _.
!. �.: ·:·i h'�d �the pleasur� �o .oalr'on �you·,�oda.y' .:to � co�v����- �?S�
·
on th'e s..ubj�;ot. of the ' Gas. I am' very anxious to· find a mode· O.f. :::
·
.
·
�
mitigating the sufferings of pati,ents UDder su:rgioal opera-
tio�s. ·-<If. you oan, itho�t improprirty ! · gi,!e. me·'�_ pr·a?�ic�l ·ao� ·
oo�t ot t�e apparatus ��d the 5ubstat:oe ��ployed; �'r:'ll�chase
w
I
Figure 5; Massachusetts General Hospital
records, 1846.
Figure 6. Letter
to Dr: Charles
Jackson. From
warren papers
(Massachusetts
Historical
Society)
for' the Hospita.l this app&ratus,
huma.nity, and a favor to
it
would be
'Your fri�nd and servant.,
('Signed)
Yark St( �
,
�
15
Oot: 28th, 1846,
J '. C.
Warren.
8
real bl�ssing t�
16
BULLETIN OF ANESTHESIA HISTORY
Ether Day.
. . Continued fivm Page 15
hounded by their respective record rooms
because of incomplete charts should find so­
lace in the time lag of this, probably the most
famous operative note in the annals of sur­
gery.
What about the entry in Warren's journal
on October 16th and another for October 17th
(Figure 7), both declaring "sulfuric ether was
the agent used"? Under oath six years later,
Warren explained that he had not then known
what the chemical was and thought it might
be a solution containing morphine.* He
learned the true nature of the agent from
Charles Jackson at the Warren Club-later
called the Thursday Club-at its first meet­
ing on October 27th. In the interval he had
conducted various experiments to try to de­
termine what the "gas" and "Dr. Morton's
preparation" actually was (Figure 6).
Clearly Dr. Warren is not a reliable source.
His biographers have pointed out that he even
obfuscated the number and names of his chil­
dren after he placed his oldest son John in
McLean Hospital ("The Asylum for the In­
sane") in 1841, expunging his name from the
family records. The unfortunate young man
died in McLean in 1875, 19 years after his
father.7
It is surprising that D r. Warren, who had
used ether for his patients for many years, as
early as 1805,4 though at times by ingestion
rather than by inhalation, should not have
recognized its smell during the first two op­
erations when it was used. Interestingly, he
had used chloroform on himself in 1839 when
suffering from renal colic, although he calls
it chloric ether.! More surprising still that the
deception should have succeeded with Henry
J. Bigelow. He was the main supporter of
. /.
$er-/l � . /���
/!?a./'" ,Jpi -f #.-I. �av #;/
/�;!�& #;:�etC' #. £
?�/£ r�'1 P-� . :#f/ #�/�¢ d/-;fL .,!¥--?;;;c? ,
4. '#L��.? ///,,�r:.,: d. /./'L.(ddud!7::> f.hf!�r��­
-
�
_
v
tyL
/a.&� 7'/&; �d zf;.�? /(//lk/ ;;r/ .
d �/!'I/l ;fH� /.(/-;::?r. .��z� �;-((t!trP./t:!?�/;u
/d";.?
//L
rjj#d-?L
_
�
(./_ £
.,#
-:j/
�:}�#/.u-C/
kd
/i, .7/
-C-<-L
/:7f/d /�H<-' !f-UL_�·tZr..e �/r:.
(7
/
/'l'
u
�
_.-#7
.
,r-bu
�7
t-/tt C1fd<t&/;£./
,- d-t� i£Z'6 ,;P- ��
. 6ff//£4�
'
.
.
'.
*"1 suspected it to be morphine and asked
whether morphine was dissolved in the fluid."
.
// -�./? /£ �/'T' (2·£( ?r: .aj�<
�
a ;4. r
�
�
.
. ·
7.7/c t'-pr',{ '/ /(./C' d.� �� ;t/� .f�d. �� , '
i
_
.
;$;/ c?t7y
,;f£
7-
�
/
t2/.<#?�#6 :1 #-.-/4d440�
Figure 7. John C. Warren, personal journal (Massachusetts Historical Society)
Morton and his crucial go-between in the
negotiations with the senior surgeons at the
Massachusetts General Hospital. He was
young, ambitious and well-informed, and yet
he too had to conduct experiments. Order­
ing from a shop in Philadelphia "sulfuric
ether, oil of wine, chloric ether and alcohol
cold and warm,"8 all of which he tried on his
house pupil, John C. Dalton, a form of hu­
man experimentation that would be anath­
ema today.
Finally, the naming of the procedure and
the generic terms employed. Those quoting
Oliver Wendell Holmes forget that in his fa­
mous letter, after suggesting the terms of
"anaesthesia" and "anaesthestics ," he added
"as used by Cullen and Linne."6 Long before
these authors employed the words, they had
been used extensively, at least 18 times in the
writings of Plato alone, and as far back as
D emosthenes, Thucydides and Hippocrates,
although these authors, except for the last,
were referring to psychological or metaphysi­
cal characteristics rather than medical
events.10
"putrid specimen," was splashed in both eyes
by "chloride of lime" and had his vision so
seriously affected that he was unable to write
in his journal and the few entries until Au­
gust, 1845, were written by his wife.! During
that period he performed eleven major pro­
cedures including a spectacular one with his
son J. Mason Warren, a ligation of both
carotids in a patient "afflicted with a naevus
of th e breast, neck and face . . . with a
fungus-like tumor on the inside of the lower
lip, base of the mouth and of the tongue."
Colltinued
Third Scenario:
Figure 8. William T.G. Morton
.
What might have been.
Could things have gone differently and
ended in a fiasco, as they did with the ill-fated
demonstration in the same operating theater
by Horace Wells in 1845?
In July, 1844, Dr. Warren, working on a
Figure 9. He1l1Y J. Bigelow
011
Next Page
BULLETIN OF ANESTHESIA HISTORY
17
The Book Corner
by Peter McDermott, M.D.
The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland 1932-1992 and
The Development of the Specialty of Anaesthesia: Sixty years of Progress and Achieve­
ment in the Context of Scientific, Political and Social Change
Thomas B. Boulton. xx + 785 pp., illus., index. London: The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland, 1 999.
E30.00 or $47.17 (as of 3/7/00). ISBN: 0 9536639 0 6
I hate big books. This is a very big book.
Its shear heft suggests the caution of steel­
tipped shoes. If it were a bass, it would be
mounted. Its title is so congested that it's hard
to read the whole thing at one sitting. It also
cries out "Whiggery ahead!" with the procla­
mation that "progress and achievement" lay
in store for the reader. Even without the
cheery triumphalism, I have deep suspicions
concerning institutional histories which they
themselves publish. Lastly, I am irritated by
the strange English attachment to antiquar­
ian collections of mind-numbing, trivial de­
tails compressed within book covers without
regard to significance or relationship.
S o with all my prejudices and crabbiness,
I have to say that this is really an excellent
book. It joins a lengthening shelf of histories
of national anesthesia societies (and some
state histories like that of Texas) as a refer-
Ether Day.
ence source for students and other scholars.
This is more than the story of a struggling
young specialty organizing for purposes of
gaining economic advantage and promoting
better standards of patient care, although it
is that. It's more than the serial biography of
great men committed to innovation and in­
vention in this new clinical science, though
it's that too. It tells the story of anesthesia
educational programs and the interdepen­
dence of institutions and individuals in re­
sponding to a variety of needs and opportu­
nities. As this new, splendid specialty mani­
fested itself, Boulton provides the necessary
chronological structure and the sequence of
�eetings, goals, and structural development
upon which its success depended. He is care­
ful to contextualize his narrative and he cre­
ates a rich lure of cultural, political, and so­
cial history in which he maintains focus on
the growth and maturation of the Associa­
tion and the specialty.
Sixty years is a long time and it would be
easy to slip into the "one damned thing after
another" mistake of many chronologies.
Boulton's doesn't. His ability to organize his
material along topical lines and to draw to­
gether the strands of concurrent and inter­
secting historical developments keeps this
book interesting and congenial. The author
introduces enough of himself and his take
on things to make the reading of it like a visit
with a friend or a gifted new acquaintance.
Besides useful indices and appendices,
there are 77 pages of references which will
prove invaluable to those who "do" further
research on the historical development and,
yes, "the progress and achievement" of a re­
markable association and specialty.
. . Continued from Page 16
The event was reported in the Boston Medical
and Surgical Journal and widely in the popu­
lar press and they received several letters from
admirers. On October 10, 1846, James
Fenimore Cooper wrote from Cooperstown
to introduce a friend, Harry Clark, who had
"an erectile tumor of lip, tongue and face." 2
The more detailed hospital record describes
extensive involvement of nearly the whole
body, and epilepsy, a severe case of
S turge-Weber syndrome. The patient was
admitted on October 1 9th and on October
23rd, a week after the Abbott operation and
without benefit of anesthesia, he had a right
carotid ligation. He was dead on October 26
and at autopsy his whole right cerebral hemi­
sphere was found to be virtually liquefied.
What if Dr. Warren had selected him in­
stead for the first serious attempt at ether­
ization? I leave to your imagination the con­
sequences of this scenario on the subsequent
acceptance of anesthesia.
References
l . Warren, Edward, MD, ed. TIle life of John
Collins Wurrell, MD, from his Autobiography and Jom�
nals. 2 vol. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1 860.
2. \'{Tarren papers. Boston: Massachusetts Histori­
cal Society.
3. Warren, John C., MD. Ulsclllar Ttl/1101'S. Manu­
script in Countway Library.
4. Warren, John C., MD. Etherization zvith Surgi­
cal Remarks. Boston: William Tickner and Co., 1848.
5 . Massachusetts General Hospital Surgical
Records, 1 845, 1 846.
6. Rice, Nathan, MD. 1i'ials of a Public Bellefac­
tOl: New York: Pudney & Russell, 1 859.
7. Truax, Rhoda. He Doctors W'arren of Boston.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1968.
8. Statements Supported by Evidence of William
T.G. Morton, MD, Washington, 1 853.
9. Woodward, Grace S. TIle lvlall \\1710 Conquered
Pain. Boston: Beacon Press, 1962.
10. Sanchez, G.C. Lexicographic history of "an­
esthesia." J. Clin. Allesth. 8:435-438, Sept. 1996.
Figure 10. John C. Warren
18
BUllETIN OF ANESTHESIA HISTORY
McDowell's Miracle
Was it prodigious skill or faith in divine support that enabled him to perform­
and his patient to survive-that surgical milestone ?
by Samuel L. Ostrin, M.D.
(Reprinted with permission from
MD
Magazine, December, 1 988)
Befitting that 1809 Christmas Day,
snow-covered serenity stretched across the
Kentucky landscape. The backdrop con­
trasted sharply with the hangman's noose
draped over a sturdy tree outside Dr. Eph­
raim McDowell's two-story house i n
Danville. Inside, the stillness was broken by
the crackling of the fire in a brick fireplace
as McDowell cleaned the blood off his instru­
ments and returned them to his bag.
Jane Todd Crawford's stocky form lay in
a small bedroom, beneath a quilt that moved
with the respirations of her opium-induced
sleep. McDowell could still hear echoes of
the hymns she had sung to bolster herself
against the excruciating pain of steel cutting
into her flesh as she lay strapped to the table.
By the time he had removed her ovarian
mass her voice had been reduced to a whis­
per, and she surrendered to shock shortly
thereafter. McDowell could do nothing then
but wait.
Neither he nor Jane Todd Crawford had
doubted the decision to operate, but still, that
Christmas Day, he must have wondered
whether his confidence and conviction had
passed some bound of reason. Like Sundays,
on which he preferred to operate, Christmas
Day had seemed particularly auspicious. A
religious man, he believed that the prayers
of his fellow parishioners would strengthen
his hand, and he was also known to write out
a prayer of his own to keep in his pocket dur­
ing an operation.
McDowell, the state's preeminent sur­
geon, had attended medical school at the
University of Edinburgh, a rarity for country
physicians whose learn-as-you-go training
was more the rule. Although McDowell re­
turned home before he could attain his medi­
cal degree, the aura of foreign and formal
education at a prestigious medical school
ensured a prosperous practice.
It was thus not unusual for Ephraim
McDowell to be called in consultation. Nor
was it unusual for him to travel 60 miles to
see a patient too ill to come to him. Jane Todd
Crawford's alleged twin pregnancy was in its
10th month, he had been told, and she was
experiencing all-but-intolerable pain. As
McDowell would later write, "She was af­
fected with pains similar to labour pains, from
which she could find no relief. So strong was
the presumption of her being in the last stage
of pregnancy that two physicians ... requested
my aid in delivering her."
McDowell could well recall
the signs that had substantiated
his suspicions. "Upon examina­
tion, per vaginam," he recalled,
"I found nothing in the uterus;
which induced the conclusion
that i t must be an enlarged
ovarium." He had seen too many
cases while studying in
Edinburgh to doubt his diag­
nosis. Crawford was not preg­
nant. The swelling in her abdo­
men was not the promise of life,
but a herald of death-an ova­
rian tumor.
He had asked to be left alone
with his patient as he described
her fate. Barring divine interven­
tion, her prognosis was a year or
two of protracted agony before a
death she would almost certainly
welcome. By his own account:
"Having never seen so large a
substance extracted nor heard of
an attempt, or success attending
any operation such as this re­
quired, I gave to the unhappy
woman information of her dangerous situa­
tion."
But he also gave her an option: The tu­
mor could be removed. The decision must be
hers, uninfluenced by family or conventional
medical wisdom. The procedure was used on
animals, he told her, and many survived. Al­
though never attempted on a human, it of­
fered a chance. She agreed to take it.
Until that time,the practice of surgery had
been all but limited to dressing wounds and
amputating limbs. The abdominal cavity was
sacrosanct. For over a century surgeons had
been arguing the feasibility of the animal
procedure of spaying as a viable option for
humans, but until McDowell, no one had
been courageous enough--{)r crazy enough­
to risk the surgery and his reputation along
with it. Abdominal wounds had been closed
and caesarean sections attempted when to do
otherwise meant certain and imminent death,
but elective entry into the peritoneal cavity
had never been tried.
In Edinburgh, it had been impressed upon
the students there that they could rely on a
mortality rate close to 100 per cent for exper­
imental incursions into the abdomen. It was
Ephraim McDowell one year be/ore his death
in 1 830.
an accepted dictum that entering the abdomi­
nal cavity doomed the victim, not only to un­
speakable pain, but to certain death from in­
fection. Those destined to champion anesthe­
sia and antisepsis were still to be born.
Nary an Ambulance
Crawford said her farewells and trekked
back with the surgeon to his hometown of
Danville, bracing her bulging abdomen
against the horn of her horse's saddle. On
Christmas Day, she was to trust her life to
his skill-and, as reverent as he, to God.
Kentucky in 1809 was still the frontier,and
Danville a backwoods stopover on the Wil­
derness Road. Coincidentally 67 years ear­
lier, on another momentous Christmas Day
in the McDowell family's history, Ephraim
McDowell's grandfather Samuel had been
fatally wounded by an Indian arrow. Al­
though the area was not the unbridled wilder­
ness it had been back then, the 60 miles be­
tween Jane Crawford's cabin and Danville
took three days on horseback through still-
BULLETIN OF ANESTHESIA HISTORY
inhospitable country. And small comfort
awaited the surgeon and his patient on ar­
rival.
As he prepared for the surgery, Danville's
citizens congregated in the frontier church.
The preacher, well aware of the reason for
the McDowell family's absence, took as his
sermon the message that only God has do­
minion over life and death. This time,
McDowell could not count on the prayers of
the congregation. As the operation pro­
gressed, a boisterous mob collected outside
his house, the noose in readiness.
To that God-fearing crowd in 1 809, the
issue was clear: Elective invasion of the peri­
toneum was tantamount to premeditated
murder. Small wonder, then, that as he per­
formed the operation, McDowell's friends
and neighbors were fully prepared to hang
him. His life, no less than his patient's, hung
in the balance.
McDowell must have performed the sur­
gery hundreds of times in his mind, review­
ing every nuance of anatomy and technique.
With his nephew James McDowell, M.D., as
his reluctant assistant, an apprentice, and
another family member also in attendance,
he took just under half an hour to remove
the 22Y2-pound tumor.
Jane Todd Crawford survived the surgery
and the shock that followed it. W hen
McDowell visited his patient's room on the
fifth postoperative day, he found her making
her bed; she was strong enough to return
home several weeks later. Forty�five years old
in 1 809, Jane Todd Crawford would eventu­
ally die at the age of 78.
Despite his landmark achievement­
Ephraim McDowell has been variously
termed the founder of operative gynecology
and the father of abdominal surgery-he was
reluctant to publicize it. He waited eight years
and repeated his success twice before report­
ing his experience. As he had feared, his ac­
count was seen as too incredible to gain wide­
spread acceptance. Initially in fact, no one be­
lieved it. A British establishment physician
said it best: "The alleged feat is impossible,
unethical, and could never have been per­
formed by a backwoods American."
It was not until 1 824, when Dr. John
Lizars, an Edinburgh classmate, read the re­
port and subsequently did three ovariotomies
himself, that the surgery was accepted for the
feat it was. Lizars concluded that there was
"little danger to apprehend in laying open the
abdominal cavity," and delaying was more
dangerous than operating. Within 25 years
19
of McDowell's death, more than 200 case re­
ports of his operation would appear in the
medical literature.
In retrospect, there is some irony that
bears on the chronicle. Faring considerably
less well than his patient Jane Todd Crawford,
McDowell died in 1 830 at the age of 59. By
contemporary accounts, he died of a likely­
and at that time inoperable-attack of appen­
dicitis.
Had Jane Todd Crawford not survived,
McDowell's fellow townspeople would prob­
ably have hung him for murder, but the op­
eration would have surfaced elsewhere. In
1 821 another American surgeon, Nathan
Smith, in Vermont, removed an ovarian tu­
mor. Because news traveled so slowly in the
early 1 9th century, he was unaware that he
had not been first to do the procedure.
As for today's physicians, who often ex­
press a longing for medicine's good old days,
they might reflect on the fate that awaited
McDowell had Jane Todd Crawford not sur­
vived. Besieged though they may be by high
insurance premiums and fear of malpractice
suits, most doctors, one suspects, would still
prefer litigation to lynching.
TIze setting: In his home,
McDowell (in shirtsleeves at
right) prepares to operate on
his hymn-singing patient.
20
BULLETIN OF ANESTHESIA HISTORY
Mandrake to Morphine: Anodynes of Antiquity
by Gillian R. Hamilton, BA. and Thomas F. Baskett, M.B., F.R.G.S. c. *
Abstract
The work of the Hippocratic physicians
led to the understanding that pain was due
to physical disease rather than super­
natural punishment. Thus, pharmacologi­
cal attempts to relieve pain became legiti­
mate goals.
The earliest anodynes were derived from
plants, and included mandrake, alcohol,
cannabis, hyoscyamus, and opium. The de­
velopment of these analgesics and their use
in modern medicine are reviewed. Only
opium and its derivatives continue to be
widely used as analgesics.
This article has been peer-reviewed.
Introduction
In ancient civilizations, pain and dis­
ease were regarded as due to supernatural
causes and penalties for having offended
the gods. Indeed, the word "pain" is derived
from the Greek "poine" and the Latin
"poena," which mean penalty or punish­
ment. Attempts to cope with pain usually
involved prayer, incantation, and the use
of charms. The Hippocratic physicians of
the fourth century BC challenged this no­
tion. Instead, they thought that pain origi­
nated from a disruption of the elements
(earth, fire, air, and water) and humors
(blood, black bile, yellow bile, phlegm) of
the body. Although pain may have been
accepted as a more inevitable part of life
than it is today, attempts were probably
made to relieve pain before these efforts
were documented. The earliest pharmaco­
logical methods included plant derivatives
such as mandrake, alcohol, cannabis, hyos­
cyamus, and opium. These were the most
widely used anodynes of antiquity and are
the focus of this review. (The word anodyne
is derived from the Latin words " ano"
meaning "without," and "dynia" meaning
"pain.") Derivatives of these compounds
continue to be used in modern medical
practice, although only opium is still widely
used as an analgesic.
Mandrake
The mandrake plant Mandragora
officinal'um belongs to the family Solanaceae
as do the common potato, tomato, and egg­
plant. Its natural habitat is the lands sur­
rounding the Mediterranean. Atropine and
scopolamine give mandrake both its sopo*G.R.-Hamiiton is a fourth-year medical student
at D alhousie University. Dr. B askett is a professor
of obstetrics and gynaecology, Dalhousie Univer­
sity, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
rific and weak analgesic properties. Man­
drake was probably the most widely used
analgesic of antiquity; the Babylonians
used it more than 4,000 years ago for pain
relief.l Mandrake was also known in an­
cient Egypt; its fruits were found in
Tutankhamen's tomb.2
The mandrake plant is associated with
colorful legends. Since its bifid root was lik­
ened to the human body, its harvest was
surrounded by ritual. When the root was
pulled from the ground, it was rumored
that it would emit a scream so loud that
those who heard it would die. Before re­
moval from the ground, the root was at­
tached to the tail of a dog, allowing the
onlooker to watch from a safe distance
while plugging the ears.
Mandrake was also believed to be an
aphrodisiac and fertility drug. In the Book
of Genesis (30, 14) the barren Rachel says
to Leah, "Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's
mandrakes." Rachel later bore her son, Jo­
seph. Because of its perceived fer­
tility-enhancing properties, mandrake was
called "the love apple." The Egyptian word
for mandrake was "phallus of the field,"
and in Arabic "mandrake" means "devil's
testicles." Venus, the Roman goddess of
love, was sometimes called Mandragontis.3
Mandrake was generally prized for its
s oporific properties . Th e ophrastus
(372-287 BC) in his EllquilY into Plants de­
scribed the mandrake root that was scraped
and soaked in vinegar as a "sleep inducer"
(Book IX, 9.1) . In the first century AD, the
Roman encyclopedist Celsus mentioned
the use of mandrake for both pain relief
and insomnia, and recommended a pillow
stuffed with mandrake apples to induce
sleep.4
Dioscorides (circa 54-68 AD) was a
Greek physician and surgeon who may have
served with Nero's army. During his trav­
els, he studied the medicinal use of plants
and summarized his findings in De Mate­
ria Medica, a work on which the therapeutic
practices of Western countries were largely
based until the 17th century. Dioscorides
recommended that patients should take
mandrake mixed with wine before an am­
putation: "For such as cannot sleep, or are
grievously pained, and upon whom being
cut, or cauterized, they wish to make a
not-feeling pain" (Book IV, 76). Likewise,
Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) , in his Histol'ia
Naturalis, recommended mandrake juice to
be used before surgery to produce anesthe­
sia.
John Gerard, in his Herbal or Generall
Historie of Plantes published in London in
1597, described the virtues of mandrake as
follows: "the wine wherein the root hath
been boyled or infused provoketh sleepe
and asswageth paine."5
Mandrake's popularity as an analgesic
and soporific agent diminished in the 16th
century and was out of favor by the end of
the 18th century. Derivatives, s uch as
etoposide and tenoposide, are used today
as chemotherapeutic agents.
Alcohol
Both the analgesic and euphoric prop­
erties of alcohol have been recognized for
millennia. The earliest record of alcohol
consumption comes from the Mediterra­
nean basin. Wine was made on the north­
east shores where grapes grew well, whereas
beer was brewed in the Nile valley where
the climate favored cultivation of grain. By
4000 BC, domestic beer and imported wine
were common in Egypt. The Ebers papy­
rus, compiled about 1550 BC,6 described
the use of wine and beer as vehicles for
medications.
The oldest existing medical work from
India, the Charaka Samhita, "prescribed al­
coholic drink to a full-term pregnant
woman, after the extraction of a dead fe­
tus, with a view to making her insensible
to pain."7 A later Indian medical work, the
Sushruta Samhita, perhaps compiled as
early as the fourth century BC, advised that
alcohol be used before surgical operations
to produce insensibility to pain.?
In Greece, the Hippocratic Corpus,
which was mainly written between 420 and
350 BC, recommends kukeon, a mixture of
wine and flour, for pain relief.8 In general,
however, pain relief was unimportant in the
Hippocratic works.
Pain relief, however, was considered im­
portant in China. Pien Ch'iao, a physician
who lived about 225 BC, advocated the use
of wine as an analgesic or anesthetic agent.
Legend has it that Pien Ch'iao gave two
men a drugged wine and rendered them in­
sensible for three days, during which time
he opened their chests and exchanged their
hearts.4,9
In the first century AD, Dioscorides also
recognized alcohol's analgesic qualities. In
Materia Medica, he described several wines
including oinos aromatites, which is "both
soporiferous, and an easer of pain," and
oinos mandragorites, which "brings one
into a heavy and profound sleep" but "ye
BULLETIN OF ANESTHESIA HISTORY
moderate use takes away ye sense of paine"
(Book V, 64 and 81).
There are several references to the me­
dicinal use of alcohol in both the Bible and
the Talmud; the most dramatic describe the
use of alcohol before execution. The Tal­
mud states "if a man is led forth to death,
he is given a cup of spiced wine to drink,
whereby his soul is wrapped in night."1
Similarly, in the Bible, "give strong drink
unto him that is ready to perish" (Proverbs
31, 6). The use of alcohol as a soporific and
as an analgesic in its own right, and as a
vehicle for other medications, was ubiqui­
tous for the relief of suffering associated
with trauma, disease, surgery, and child­
birth. Today, alcohol continues to be used
as a vehicle for other medications in addi­
tion to its role as the most commonly used
social drug.
Cannabis
The leaves and flowers of the cannabis
plant contain the drug cannabis, the active
principle of which is delta-9- tetrahydro­
cannabinol (THC) . The use of cannabis has
been established in medicine since antiq­
uity.l O,ll Although it is often called Indian
hemp, cannabis was probably first used in
China and only brought to India around
the fourth century BC. Its soporific effects
were described in the Sushruta Samhita,
and it was supposedly used for surgical an­
esthesia.? The Greek historian Herodotus
(484-424 BC) mentioned cannabis use dur­
ing the Persian Wars (Book IV, 76) ,u Can­
nabis may have been available to the an­
cient Egyptians, but its use as a
pain-relieving medication is doubtful. 1 2
In the first century AD, Dioscorides de­
scribed cannabis and remarked on one an­
algesic property: "being juiced when it is
green is good for ye pains of ye ears" (Book
I l l , 165) . Nearly 200 years later, the Chi­
nese surgeon Hua T'o is reputed to have
used a mixture of hashish and wine for
anesthesia during an operation on an ar­
row wound in the arm of General Kuan
Yuri.1O
Although cannabis is no longer listed
in drug formularies, there has been a re­
cent revival of interest in its use as an anti­
emetic for chemotherapy, an agent for low­
ering intraocular pressure, and as an anal­
gesic in multiple sclerosis.
Hyoscyamus
The hyoscyamus plant is less well
known to the modern reader. It was also
known as henbane because it was fatal to
poultry that ate the plant. Like mandrake,
it belongs to the family Solanaceae. Three
types of hyoscyamus are described: black,
red, and white. The leaves and seeds, which
have been used for millennia in topical
applications for pain relief, contain scopo­
lamine.
Possibly the earliest recorded use of lo­
cal anesthesia for toothache was described
in a Babylonian clay tablet inscribed
around 2250 BC. It recommended pow­
dered henbane9 seeds mixed with gum
mastic to be applied to the painful tooth.
Over 2000 years later, Celsus also recom­
mended hyoscyamus to ease toothache.B
Dioscorides advocated the use of henbane
for pain relief; he found white henbane "ye
fittest for cures" and "the juice of the seed
... better than the liquor, and a more easer
of pain" (Book IV, 69) .
In the 16th century, Gerard stated:
"Henbane causeth drowsinesse, and
mitigateth all kinde of paine..." He men­
tioned its topical application to relieve the
pain of gout and toothache. He also recog­
nized the potential dangers if it was taken
internally: "the leaves, seed, and juyce
taken inwardly causes unquiet sleepe like
unto the sleepe of drunkenesse which
continueth long, and is deadly to the
party."5
Scopolamine, an anticholinergic agent
and primary active principle of hyoscyamus
and mandrake, was one of the oldest rem­
edies for seasickness and continues to be
used for this purpose in the form of a
transdermal patch. It has been found to be
as effective as many recent anti-motion
sickness agents.
Opium
Throughout history, the opium poppy,
Papaver somniferum, and its derivative,
opium, have received much attention. The
oldest written records of opium are on clay
tablets inscribed by the Sumerians, who
may have cultivated poppies and isolated
opium 5,000 years ago.I4,I5 The Sumerian
word for opium was "gil" meaning "joy,"
and the poppy was "hul gil," "plant of
joy."I 4,I5
The Ebers papyrus, compiled in Egypt
around 1550 BC, mentioned a concoction
of poppy pods and fly excreta to be used as
a sedative for children, not unlike the
opium- containing British gripe water,
which was used from Victorian times until
the mid-1940s.I4 Others have denied, how­
ever, that there was use of opium in Egypt
at the time the Ebers papyrus was written.I6
This position is supported by the likelihood
that the opium poppy was not indigenous
to Egypt and was probably first grown in
TurkeyY Nunn argues that opium was first
imported to Egypt from Cyprus in the early
18th Dynasty (1551-1436 BC) , and later
2I
from Palestine soon after the reign of
Tuthmosis 111 (1504-1450 BC) , since in­
tact burials from that period contain seed
capsules of the opium poppy.2
The opium poppy was likely known in
Greece. In 700 BC, Homer described a drug
called nepenthes, which was able to "quiet
all pain and strife, and bring forgetfulness
of every ill" (Odyssey, IV, 219). It has been
postulated that nepenthes contained opium
brought to Greece from Egypt. 14 Opium
analgesia may also have been prescribed by
Hippocrates; mecon, which was described
as a purgative and narcotic, may refer to
opium or a similar derivative of the opium
poppy.IS
Many attribute to Theophrastus the first
reference to the juice of the poppy, which
he called mekonion, although he only re­
fers once to the opium poppy in his En­
qUilY into Plants.IS He mentions the collec­
tion of juice from the head of the poppy,
but does not describe the method used
(Book IX, 8.2) . The first description of a
method of opium collection was made by
Scribonius Largus, a personal medical at­
tendant to Emperor Claudius, about the
year 40 AD.IS He described how to slit the
poppy capsule, allow some juice to exude
and dry in situ, and scrape it off and roll it
into a ball,3
In the first century AD, Pliny the Elder
referred to the soporific action of "the drug
from the poppy capsule." He stated: "poppy
boiled in honey is wonderfully serviceable
for making throat cures, and also cultivated
poppy is a powerful soporific" (Book XVIII,
229) . He also warned of the danger of poppy
juice: "It is not only a soporific, but if too
large dose be swallowed the sleep even ends
in death" (Book XX, 199) . In the same era,
Celsus described anodynes containing
opium or lacrimae papaveris, "tears of
poppy."Il,I8 He advocated the use of vari­
ous poppy species for headache, kidney dis­
ease, joint pains, and before surgery.I 9,20
Dioscorides described the differentia­
tion of true opium from look-alikes, sug­
gesting that there must have been trade in
impure opium products: "They counterfeit
it by mixing Glaucium or gum, or ye juice
of ye wild Lettuce ... Some are come to so
much madness as to mix grease with it"
(Book IV, 65) . Dioscorides distinguished
between the weaker extract of the entire
plant, "meconion," and the more potent
latex of the capsules, "opium," which is "a
pain-easer and a sleep causer" (Book IV,
65). He warned that " ... being drank too
much, it hurts, making men lethargicall
and it kills." He described various appli­
cations of the latex, including "... being put
Continued on Next Page
22
BULLETIN OF ANESTHESIA HISTORY
Anodynes
.
.
.
Continued from Page 21
up with ye finger for a suppository, it
causeth sleep."
Galen ( l 31-201 AD), personal physi­
cian to the Roman Emperor Marcus
Aurelius, recommended a paste contain­
ing opium as a local application for tooth­
ache. He may have encouraged Marcus
Aurelius in the use of opium but was aware
that it was a potentially dangerous drug
and advised great care with its use.9, 2 1 The
Persian physician Avicenna (980-1037
AD), in his text The Canon ofMedicine, de­
scribed opium as the most powerful o f nar­
cotics, followed by mandrake, hemlock,
and white and black hyoscyamus. He rec­
ommended opium for disease of the eye and
for diarrhea. Avicenna himself may have died
from an opium overdose.IS
Opium was brought to India from
Arabia in the ninth century AD, although
it may have been used in folk medicine as
early as the fourth century BC.7 In gen­
eral, opium was eaten in ancient India
whereas it was smoked in China. The use
of opium in China may date back to the
Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD).2 2 It is gener­
ally believed, however, that opium was first
brought to China by the Arabs in the ninth
century AD.I S There, it was initially used
as a remedy for dysentery. Opium-smoking
for recreation did not become popular un­
til the 17th century. 23
In the Middle Ages, a sponge soaked in
a mixture of narcotic substances was used
to help a patient fall asleep before surgery.
The best-known recipe for the spongia
somnifera, described by the l 3th-century
monk and physician, Theodoric, contained
opium, mulberry, hyoscyamus, hemlock,
mandrake and lettuce.
was the "divine plant" of the Incas. Its
leaves were chewed to give strength and en­
durance on journeys, and to overcome hun­
ger and pain. Coca was used as an anesthetic
for trephination before the arrival of Co­
lumbus. It was chewed by the surgeon who
periodically spat into the wound.24, 25 Co­
caine, a derivative of the coca plant, was the
first topical anesthetic used in modern
medicine. Since its introduction by Karl
Koller in 1884, many related compounds
have been developed for use as local anes­
thetic agents.
The thorn apple, Datura stramonium, is
yet another member of the family Solan­
aceae. Dioscorides described its effects:
"The root being drank with wine ye quan­
tity to a dragm, hath ye power to effect not
unpleasant fantasies. But two dragms be­
ing drank, make one beside himself for
three days, and four being drank kill him"
(Book IV, 74). The Aztecs and Zuni used
jimson weed "as a narcotic, anodyne, and
anesthetic during the setting of fractures." 2 5
In modern medicine, the extract of the thorn
apple is called stramonium,2l Asthmador
cigarettes containing stramonium were
available until recently as a treatment for
asthma.
Willow leaves and bark crushed in oil
were applied to painful joints by the ancient
Egyptians and Sumerians. In 1763, Rever­
end Edmund Stone became the first person
in modern times to describe the beneficial
properties of bark from Salix alba. Nearly
100 years later, Charles Gerhard, a profes­
sor of chemistry in Strasburg, produced the
first acetylsalicylic acid. Today, aspirin is
widely used as an analgesic, anti-pyretic,
and anti-inflammatory agent, and in the
management of atherosclerosis.
Conclusion
Other Anodynes
Belladonna, Atropa belladonna, the
deadly nightshade, is another member of
the family Solanacear. Theophrastus sug­
gested soaking the root in wine, and to
achieve drowsiness, drinking the wine af­
ter the bark of the root was bruised. 2 1 Bel­
ladonna extract was one of the first drugs
used to treat tremor in patients with
Parkinson's disease. Its active principle is
the anticholinergic agent atropine, named
for Atropos. One of the three Fates in
Greek mythology, Atropos severed a
person's thread of life. Atropine is used
today in treating bradycardia.
Both the leaves and roots of the coca
plant, Elythroxyline coca, contain the alka­
loid cocaine. The plant is native to Bolivia
and Peru, where for millennia the aborigi­
nal people have used it as a stimulant. It
Many anodynes that were used in antiq­
uity can still be found in modern clinical
practice. Some are used in their original
form, some in their derivative or synthetic
form, but most are prescribed for purposes
other than analgesia. Only opium and re­
lated compounds continue to be given as
systemic analgesics.
Opium, although rarely used in its whole
form in modern medicine, has several de­
rivatives that can control pain. The extract
morphine remains one of the most widely
used analgesics. Although many new
pain-relieving compounds have been de­
veloped, morphine remains the gold stan­
dard by which all new analgesic prepara­
tions are judged. One could argue that the
words of Thomas Sydenham, written over
300 years ago, remain true: ''Among the rem­
edies which it has pleased Almighty God to
give to man to relieve his sufferings, none
is so universal and so efficacious as opium."
References
1. Raper HR. Man Against Pain: the Epic of
Anesthesia. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1945.
2 . Nunn JF. The origins o f anesthesia. In:
Atkinson RS, Boulton TB, editors. A Hist01Y ofAn­
esthesia. London: Royal Society of Medicine Press,
1 989.
3. Ellis E S . Ancient Anodynes . London:
Heinemann, 1946.
4. Bergman NA. The Genesis of Surgical Anes­
thesia. Park Ridge: Wood Library-Museum of An­
esthesiology, 1998.
5. Gerard J. The Herbal or General HistOlY of
Plants, 1633 edition revised. New York: Dover Pub­
lications, 1 975.
6. Leake CD, Silverman M. Alcoholic Beverages
in Clinical Medicine. Chicago: Year Book Medical
Publishers, 1966.
7. Dwarakanath SC. Use of opium and can­
nabis in traditional systems of medicine in India.
Bull Narc 1965; 27:1 5-9.
8. Fabre J. TIle Hippocratic Doctor: Anciellt Les­
sonsfor the Modem WOrld. London: The Royal Soci­
ety of Medicine Press, 1997; 47-9.
9. Keys TE. TIle HistOlY of Surgical Anesthesia.
New York: Schuman, 1945.
1 0. Grinspoon L, Bakalar JE. Marihuana, the
Forbidden Medicine. New Haven: Yale University
Press, 1993.
1 1 . Wolstenholme GEW, Knight J, editors.
Hashish: Its Chemisuy and Pharmacology. London: J
and A Churchill Ltd., 1965.
12. 0 Brien ME, Hoel D. Overpowering pain.
A serious problem comes out of the closet. Postgrad
Med 1997; 102:198-2 1 2.
13. Tallmadge GK. Some anesthestics of antiq­
uity. J Hist Med Allied Sci 1 946; 1 : 5 1 5-20.
1 4. Benedetti C, Premuda L. The history of
opium and its derivatives. Adv Pain Res TIler 1990;
14:1-3 5.
15. Brownstein MJ. A brief history of opiates,
opioid pep tides, and opioid receptors. Proc Nat
Acad Sci 1993; 90:5391-3.
16. Bisset NG, Bruhn JG, Curio S, Holmstedt
B, Nyman U, Zenk MR. Was opium known in 18th
dynasty ancient Egypt? An examination of materi­
als from the tomb of chief royal architect Kha. J
Etllllopharm 1994; 41 :99-1 14.
17. Wright AD. The history of opium. Med Bioi
JIlustr 1 968; 1 8:62-70.
18. Macht Dr. The history of opium and some
of its preparation and alkaloids. JAMA 1 9 5 1 ;
64:477-8 1 .
1 9.. Scarborough J . The opium poppy i n Hel­
lenistic and Roman medicine. In: Porter R, Teich
M, editors. Drugs and Narcotics in HistOlY. Cam­
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
20. Kirkup L. Surgery before general anesthe­
sia. In: Mann RD, editor. TIle History of the Man­
agement ofPain. Casterton Hall: Parthenon Publish­
ing Group, 1988:1 5-30.
2 1 . Scarborough J. Theophrastus on herbals
and herbal remedies. J Hist Bioi 1978; 1 1 :333-58.
22. Fort J. Giver of delight or liberator of sin:
drug use and addiction in Asia. Bull Narc 1965;
17:1-1 1 .
23. Grossman A . Opioid peptides and pain. In:
Mann RD, editor. The HistOlY of the Managemellt of
Pain. Casterton Hall: Parthenon Publishing Group,
1988.
24. Greene NM. Anesthesia and the develop­
ment of surgery ( 1 846-1896). Anesth Analg 1979;
58:5-12.
25. Vogel W. American Indian Medicine.
Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1970.
I
I
BULLETIN OF ANESTHESIA HISTORY
Dorr
. . .
Contimted fivlIl Page 13
"The Dorr Fund will continue to be used
for the educational, charitable and other
eleemosynary purposes for which it was
given, notwithstanding the release of said
restrictions."
On January 12, 1983, the Supreme Ju­
dicial Court for the Commonwealth of Mas­
sachusetts issued a judgment which reads
as follows: "This case came to be heard
before the Court, Abrams, J. presiding and
the defendant having answered and as­
sented to the relief requested, it is hereby
ordered and adjudged that all investment
restrictures on the Funds set forth in Ex­
hibits A and B attached to the complaint,
as well as the Dorr Fund, which prevent
the investment thereof in plaintiff 's gen­
eral investments account are hereby re­
leased pursuant to the Massachusetts Gen­
eral Laws 180A, paragraph 9, dated at Bos­
ton this 12th day of January, 1983." 11
As 00 une 30 1982, the fair market value
of the Dorr Funds assets was $162,894.77.
Dr. Warren Zapol, the Reginald Jenney
Professor of Anesthesiology and the current
Anesthetist-in-Chief of the Department of
Anesthesia and Critical Care at the MGH,
has contributed $250,000 to the Dorr Fund
in each of the past three years. The market
value of the Dorr Fund on November 1,
1998, was $1,544,070; and on April 30 ,
1999, was $2,251,722-a tribute to the
Harvard Management Co. , Inc. , the
University's investment manager.
Medicine, Surgery, and Midwifery at Ox­
ford University. Later he became Lord
N uffield and the chairs assumed the
Nuffield title. A good friend of Sir Will­
iam, Dr. Robert Macintosh, pointed out to
him the omission of anaesthesia. Morris
then insisted that unless the University also
establish a chair in anaesthesia, he would
withdraw his offer. Morris, now Lord
Nuffield, personally selected Robert
Macintosh to become the first Nuffield Pro­
fessor of Anaesthesia and in 1937 estab­
lished the Nuffield Department of
Anaesthetics at Oxford.
It is clear from this historical record that
the 'Dr. Henry Isaiah Dorr Chair of Re­
search and Teaching of Anesthesia and An­
esthetics' was the first in the world when
established at Harvard on February 17,
1917. However, because of covenants in the
indenture, the income from the endowment
was paid to Henry and Sarah Dorr until
the latter's death in February of 1929.
Harvard's search committee under Edward
D. Churchill, finding no suitable scholar
in anesthesia, appointed first Howard
Bradshaw and then Henry K. Beecher in
1936 for a five-year probationary period
allowing him to develop into a Harvard
academician/clinician. Beecher became the
first Henry Isaiah Dorr Professor in 1941.
So there really is no basis for a controversy
between Oxford and Harvard. Clearly the
first endowed chair in anaesthesia was at
Harvard, and the first endowed Professor
of Anaesthesia at Oxford.
The Dorr (Harvard) and
Other Endowed Professorships in
Nuffield (Oxford) Controversy
Anesthesia at the
Harvard Medical School
For many endeavors and disciplines but
especially medicine and science, 'who did
it first?' is of major importance. Patents and
Nobel prizes are awarded on the basis of
primacy of invention or publication. Anes­
thesia is no exception as the William Tho­
mas Green Morton and Crawford Long
controversy attests. Who was the first to use
diethyl ether as an anesthetic? Documents
prove that Crawford Long indeed used
ether as an anesthetic in his practice in
Athens, Georgia, on March 30, 1842. The
first public demonstration of the anesthetic
qualities of diethyl ether was by William
Thomas Green Morton at the Massachu­
setts General Hospital on October 16, 1846.
Generally, primacy is assigned to those who
first allow their discoveries to be scruti­
nized by their peers and the public. For this
reason, W.T.G. Morton is generally given
the most credit.
In Oxford, England, Sir William Mor­
ris, scion of the Morris automobile com­
pany, agreed to endow chairs initially in
There are now seven endowed profes­
sorships of anesthesia at Harvard, attest­
ing to the dramatic maturation of anesthe­
siology as a true academic discipline. A list
of the progeny of Dorr's legacy follows:
The "David S. Sheridan Professorship
of Anaesthesia and Respiratory Therapy"
was established in 1975 by Mr. Sheridan,
former president of the National Catheter
Corporation. John Hedley-Whyte, B.A.,
M.B., B.Ch., M.A., M.D. was appointed the
Sheridan Professor in 1975.
Contributions from the Department of
Anesthesia at the Massachusetts General
Hospital and the Edward Mallinckrodt, Jr.
Foundation were accepted by the Harvard
Corporation to endow the "Edward
Mallinckrodt, Jr. Professorship of Pharma­
cology to be Located in the Department of
Anesthesia at the Massachusetts General
Hospital." Keith Wyatt Miller, D.Phil.,
M.A. , B. A. was appointed the Edward
Mallinckrodt, Jr. Professor in 1983.
23
The "Reginald Jenney Professorship of
Anesthesia" was established by Mr. Jenney,
a grateful patient, in recognition for sav­
ing his life in the Respiratory Intensive
Care Unit of the Anesthesia Department
at the Massachusetts General Hospital.
Henning Pontoppidan, M.D., Director of
the Respiratory Intensive Care Unit, be­
came the first incumbent in 1988. Warren
Myron Zapol, M.D., M.A. assumed this
professorship in 1991 upon Dr.
Pontoppidan's retirement.
Funds raised in honor of Leroy D.
Vandam, Ph.B., M.D., A.M. and Benjamin
G. Covino, Ph.D., M.D. were co-mingled
as the "Vandam/Covino Professorship of
Anesthesia." Simon Gelman, Ph.D., M.D.
was appointed to the Vandam/Covino chair
in 1991.
In recognition for over 30 years of dis­
tinguished service to the Department of
Anesthesia at Massachusetts General and
Harvard Medical School, the "Richard J.
Kitz Professorship of Anesthesia Research"
was endowed. Clifford J. Woolf, M.B.,
B.Ch., Ph.D. was appointed the first Kitz
Professor in 1997.
The "Edward Lowenstein Chair of An­
esthesia" was established in 1998. Funds
were donated by the Department of Anes­
thesia and Critical Care of Beth Israel Dea­
coness Medical Center in recognition of Dr.
service
Lowenstein's
as
Anesthetist-in-Chief of their Department
as well as his contributions to Harvard
Medical School and the Department of
Anesthesia at Massachusetts General Hos­
pital. A world search to name the first in­
cumbent is currently in progress.
Epilogue
It is appropriate to complete this report
by again quoting Harvard's past president,
Charles W. Elliott: "Of all university en­
dowments the most fundamental and per­
manently valuable are endowed professor­
ships; for they secure good teaching gen­
eration after generation, so far as security
can be predicted of any human contrivance
which depends on the perpetuity of civili­
zation." It is clear that not only did Dr.
Henry Isaiah Dorr share this belief, but that
he acted to make it a reality. There is no
doubt that the chair that bears his name
was one of the principal energies that con­
ferred on the specialty of anesthesia the
substance and trappings of professionalism
and scholarship which now allows it a com­
fortable seat at the high table of academe.
24
BULLETIN OF ANESTHESIA HISTORY
From the Literature
by A.J. Wright, M.L.S.
Department ofAnesthesiology Librmy, University ofAlabama at Birmingham
Books
B arr AM, Boulton TB, Wilkinson DJ, eds.
Essays on the HistOlY ofAnaesthesia. London: Royal
Society of Medicine Press, 1996 [rev. Cope DK.
Bull Hist Med 72:777-778, 1998]
B ergman NA. The Genesis of Surgical Anes­
thesia. Park Ridge, Illinois: Wood Library-Mu­
seum of Anesthesiology, 1998. [rev. Vandam LD.
AnesthAnalg 86:501, 1998]
Niesiolowska-Zagorowska K. P(JWstanie i
I'Ozwoj anestezjologii w regione Slaskiej Akademii
Medyczne. Katowice: S laska Akademia
Medyczna, 1996.
Young TM. A Short HistOlY ofthe Section of
Anaethetics of the Royal SociefJI of Medicine and
the SociefJI ofAnaesthetists. London: Royal Soci­
ety of Medicine Press, 1998. [rev. Corall 1M. Br
J Anaesth 81:833, 1998; Hall-Davies G. Anaes­
thesia 53:1139, 1998]
Articles and Book Chapters
B acon DR. Richard Ament, M.D., 19191998: 'leader, mentor friend.' ASA Newsletter
62(5):33, May 1998 [portrait]
B oschung U. History of "right iliac fossa
pain" : from internal to surgical treatment-with
special reference to the evolution in Switzerland.
In: Acute Appendicitis: Standard Treatment or
Laparoscopic Surgery. Progress in Surgety 25:19, 1998
Carter AJ. Dwale: an anaesthetic from old
England. Br Med J 319:1623-1626, December
Bulletin of Anesthesia History
Doris K Cope, M.D., Editor
UPMC Shadyside
5230 Centre Avenue, 1 South
Pittsburgh, PA 1 5232 U . S .A.
18-25, 1999
Engel BT. An historical and critical review
of the articles on blood pressure published in
Psychosomatic Medicine between 1939 and
1997. PsychosO/1l Med 60:682-696, 1998
Goerig M, Nemes C. Aloys Martin and the
S ociety of German Physicians in Paris.
Anasthesiol Intetzsivmed Not/alImed Schmerzthet·
33(2):96-104, February 1998 [German]
Greene NM. Gwenifer Wilson, MD., 19161998: author, historian, laureate. Anesth Analg
88:690, 1999
Hill AJ, The Guide to Anesthesia: Making the
Right Choices. New York: Kensington Books,
1999 [incl. brief chapter "Historical Interlude:
Surgery Before the Modern Era," pp 15-18]
Hull CJ, Anaesthetic risk. Medico-Legal J
66(pt 2):49-59, 1998
Jeske AH. Xylocaine: 50 years of clinical ser­
vice to dentistry. Texas Dent J 115(5):9-13, May
1998 [4 tables, 17 refs.]
Koetter KP, Maleck WH. Janos Balassa and
Rudolf Eisenmenger: forgotten pioneers of re­
suscitation. Anesthesiology 90: 1490-1491, 1999
[10 refs., correspondence; response by Juvin P,
Desmonts JM.Anesthesiologv 90: 1491, 1999]
Lear E. Richard H. Stein, MD.:1928-2000.
ASA Newsletter 64(2):27, February 2000 [por­
trait; obituary]
Nagai M. History of autologous blood trans­
fusion in neurosurgical operations. No Shinkei
Geka 26:1117-1122, 1998 [Japanese]
Paneth N, Vinten-Johansen P, Brody H, Rip
M. A rivalry of foulness: official and unofficial
investigations of the London cholera epidemic
of l854. AmJ Public Health 88:1545-1553, 1998
[covers investigations by John Snow and oth­
ers; 6 illus., 40 endnotes]
Payne JP. The criminal use of chloroform.
Anaesthesia 53:685-690, 1998 [12 refs.]
Peter K. On the 70th birthday of Afred
Doenicke. Anaesthesist 47:627-628, 1998
Polushin IuS, Bogomolov BN. The 40th an­
niversary of the Department of Anesthesiology
and Resuscitation of the Military Medical Acad­
emy. voen Med Zh 319(7):83-85, July 1998 [Rus­
sian]
Russo E. Cannabis for migraine treatment:
the once and future prescription? An historical
and scientific review. Pain 76:3-8, 1998
Sim P. Mesmeric anesthesia: the case of
Madam Plantin. RegAnesth PainMed 23(3):289291, 1998 [1 illus., 8 refs]
Todd EM. Pain: historical perspectives. In:
Aronoff GM, ed. Evaluation and 'Heatment of
Chronic Pain. 3rd ed. Baltimore: Williams and
Wilkins, 1998, pp 3-10 [24 refs.]
Winnie AP. The proximal end of the tube.
Middle EastJ Anesthesiol I5(2):121-134, 1999
[memoir]