The Red and Black

Issue date: 4/3/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Courtesy Crawford Long Museum This diorama, drawn from eyewitness accounts, depicts University alumnus Crawford Long's 1842 breakthrough of anesthesia in Jefferson, Ga. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Courtesy Crawford Long Museum This statue in Danielsville is a copy of the one at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. [Click to enlarge]

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is part of an ongoing series that reflects on the people and events that shaped University history. This week, The Red & Black takes a look at Crawford Long, a 19th-century University alumnus who discovered anesthesia.

It all started with a Georgia graduate, a cyst and a bottle of diethyl ether.

James Venable, inhaling the fumes of an ether-soaked towel, bent his head downward and slipped into unconsciousness as Crawford Long carefully removed a cyst from the back of his neck. Witnesses watched in shock as the scalpel skillfully maneuvered around Venable's head - he felt no pain.

One hundred and sixty-seven years later, people around the world still rely on Long's discovery by receiving an inhalant or intravenous therapy (an IV) before surgical procedures.

This week marks the anniversary of Long's breakthrough - the first documented use of anesthesia - on March 30, 1842, in Jefferson, Ga.

"It's hard to imagine that people underwent procedures without any means to decrease pain," said Barbara Schuster, campus dean of the planned Medical College of Georgia and University of Georgia Medical Partnership Campus. "The discovery of anesthesia opened up the field of surgery."

Long, a University alumnus and roommate to Alexander Stephens - vice president of the Confederate States of America - did not seek credit for his work. In fact, many textbooks credit William Thomas Morton, a Massachusetts dentist as the founder of anesthesia in 1846.

"I credit Long - he clearly did it first and did it within a specific intellectual framework," said William Hammonds, professor of anesthesiology and perioperative medicine at the Medical College of Georgia. "Long's motivation was to prevent pain, while Morton's was to make money."

Hammonds said that Morton popularized the use of anesthesia because of his visibility at a large hospital, but Long's small-town practice was the first to use the method - with the witnesses and affidavits to prove it.

Roger Thomas, University psychology professor emeritus, said because Long waited seven years to publish his findings, the scientific community credited Morton and never gave Long the respect he deserved.

"Since the opportunity for surgeries in rural Georgia was less common at the time, Long wanted to be sure of his results by conducting more research with ether," Thomas said. "It took him several years to get enough cases to feel confident in publishing his findings."

Thomas, who teaches a graduate psychology course, said anesthesia has affected many fields of study.

Morton's efforts to disguise diethyl ether's odor and color revealed his motives to make a profit, he said.

"Morton wanted to change the appearance of ether, name it 'Letheon' and patent it," Thomas said. "To patent ether would be like patenting salt."

Today, Long's legacy is seen in the monuments and buildings named after him. Most notably, his statue at the U.S. Capitol serves as an addition to the statue in his hometown of Danielsville, Ga. The Crawford W. Long Museum in Jefferson also pays tribute, and displays various artifacts from his practice.

Anesthesia's role has grown, with anesthesiology now established as an academic discipline. Because diethyl ether is flammable, researchers have developed safer, more effective forms.

"When I started studying anesthesiology 35 years ago, we were still using ether," Hammonds said. "It's changed so much in my lifetime ... it's difficult to say where the field will be in the future."

Hammonds said new health care programs may discourage people from entering the field if the government eliminates insurance reimbursements for fields such as anesthesiology. He said the average anesthesiologist administers the substance in more than 1,000 cases during his or her lifetime.

Hammonds, Thomas and Schuster all said Long possessed the passion to help people. Hammonds said Long's dedication followed him to his death - he suffered a fatal stroke while helping a woman give birth.

"What impressed me the most was the fact that so many medical discoveries come through the power of observation," Schuster said. "Crawford Long's willingness to help people and ability to observe brought change to the world - students should constantly observe in order to learn."

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