March 30, 2021 • 11 mins
Crawford Long, a doctor in Georgia, became the first to use inhaled ether anesthesia in surgery on this day in 1842. / On this day in 1791, the French National Assembly accepted a proposal by the French Academy of Sciences to define the meter.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, everyone, it's Eves checking in here to let you
know that you're going to be hearing two different events
in history in this episode. They're both good if I
do say so myself. On with the show. Hey, I'm Eves,
and welcome to this Day in History Class, a show
that uncovers history one day at a time. The day
(00:25):
was in March eighteen forty two. Dr Crawford Long used
ether as a general anesthetic for the first time ever,
laying the groundwork for a new standard in surgery. Surgery
today can be a nerve wracking experience, even with all
the medical technology we've developed in the last two centuries,
(00:46):
but in the mid eighteen hundreds, surgery could still be
a terribly painful process as patients weren't sedated. Doctors were
often using rudimentary means to calm patients before surgery, like alcohol, hypnotism,
and restraint. Just imagine being fully conscious and having to
receive an invasive surgery. Patients would ride around and scream
(01:09):
during operations and often died from blood loss. Many doctors
did whatever they could to avoid having to resort to surgery,
but over the course of the late nineteenth century that
would change. While Crawford Williamson Long was a medical student
at Transylvania College in Kentucky and the University of Pennsylvania
in Philadelphia. He observed and participated in several surgeries. During
(01:34):
this time, Long saw people using nitrous oxide or laughing
gas recreationally, and he went to laughing gas parties and
eat their frolics where people inhaled nitrous oxide or sulfuric
ether just for its euphoric effects. Long used ether himself too,
and he noticed that people who used sulfuric ether could
(01:57):
fall or run into things but not feel any pain,
and they would forget what they've done while indebriated after
the effects of the substances were off. In eighteen thirty nine,
Long received his medical degree, and in eighteen forty one
he started a medical practice in Jefferson, Georgia, a small
rural community. Once he had his own practice, he began
(02:19):
experimenting with sulphuric ether, and on March thirtieth, eighteen forty two,
he administered ether to James M. Venable, a patient who
attended ether parties and had postponed his surgery several times
due to fear of pain. Long removed two tumors from
the back of Vinable's neck. He charged the patient two
(02:39):
dollars for the surgery. Long continued to use anesthesia in
his surgeries after that. He even gave ether analgesia to
his wife during labor pains. Friends, colleagues, and critics knew
about his discovery and practice, but Long didn't publish his
findings until eighteen forty nine. Long had it to gather
(03:00):
more evidence and be sure of his discovery, but by
then dentists Horace Wells and William T. G. Morton, as
well as physician Charles T. Jackson, had already claimed they
discovered anesthesia. Long said it had taken so long for
him to publish his results because of his isolated rural
environment and because he was super busy and he wanted
(03:21):
recognition for first using ether anesthesia during surgery. Unfortunately, Long
didn't get much recognition during his life. Regardless, the other
three doctors did make contributions to the development of anesthesia.
Wells first used nitrous oxide for pain relief during dental surgery.
Morton was the first to publicly demonstrate ether anesthesia and
(03:43):
publicize its efficacy, and Jackson suggested to more in that
ether be used as an anesthetic. There was lots of
debate over who really pioneered the use of anesthesia, but
Long is considered the official discoverer of inhaled anesthesia, and
away there was now an effective method to sedate patients
during surgery, so there was no thrashing around and excruciating
(04:07):
pain during operation. But that did not mean that anesthesia
was perfect. It made surgery a breeze. The quality of
either was an issue. It could be so weak that
a patient wouldn't go under or would regain consciousness during surgery,
or it could be so strong that a person would
die from overdosing. Also, germs were a problem. Germ theory
(04:28):
wasn't fully accepted in medicine until the late eighteen hundreds,
and doctors had some pretty dangerous habits at the time,
like entering surgery wearing bloody frocks, without wearing masks, and
without washing their hands and tools thoroughly. Since patients weren't
protected from germs, they were getting infection and dying. On
(04:48):
top of this, the new process of operating on an
unconscious patient was just foreign to doctors who were used
to conversing with the people they were operating on, and
plenty of medical nationals just weren't convinced about its benefits.
There were people who protested anesthesia because they believed it
simply went against the natural order of people feeling pain.
(05:11):
There were others who thought that either was an evil drug.
Anesthesia had its champions, but it definitely was not widely
accepted at first. Once people learned more about how Germ's work,
sterilization became the norm and drugs had federally mandated standards,
anesthesia became an essential part of surgery and medicine. Long
(05:33):
died in June seventy eight, and a year later the
National Eclectic Medical Association declared him the discoverer of anesthesia.
Doctor's Day, a day to recognize physicians contributions to society,
is now celebrated on March thirty in honor of Crawford
Long's discovery. I'm Eave Deathcote and hopefully you know a
(05:56):
little more about history today than you did yesterday. And
if you're so inclined, you can follow us at T
D i h C Podcasts, on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
We'll be back with more history tomorrow. Hey everyone, it's
(06:21):
Eves and welcome to another episode of This Day and
History Class, a podcast that brings you a little nugget
of history every single day. The day was March the
French National Assembly accepted a proposal by the French Academy
(06:44):
of Sciences to define the meter. In the centuries leading
up to this event, many different units of length were
used throughout Europe. The confusion this cost made it clear
just how necessary it was to have standard units of measurement.
The French Academy in British Royal Society worked together to
figure out what phenomena they could base standards on. They
(07:06):
turned to the Earth's meridian and the seconds pendulum, or
a pendulum that takes a second to swing in one
direction and a second to swing in the other, making
its period exactly two seconds. Scientists believed that they would
soon be able to measure the seconds pendulum and the
meridian accurately enough to base units on them, but that
(07:28):
was not the case. In fact, in eighteenth century France,
there were somewhere around two hundred and fifty thousand different
units of measurement and use. Those included the point, the line,
the inch, the foot, the fathom, the rod, and too
many other units to list. National and international markets were expanding.
(07:50):
The construction and maintenance of machines required precise measurements, and
scientists were also having difficulty getting good, consistent measurement because
of the lack of a standard one. Many people in
France were frustrated with their existing systems of measurement and
wanted uniform standards, so in August of seventeen eighty nine,
(08:13):
during the French Revolution, a member of the French Academy
proposed petitioning the National Assembly to establish a standard for
weights and measures. They chose Charlot Maurice to tal Iran
Perry Gore as the National Assembly member who would be
a spokesperson for their cause. Tal Iran presented a proposal
to the National Assembly in seventeen ninety. The National Assembly
(08:37):
and King Louis the sixteenth approved his proposal, which called
for the creation of a standard based on an quote
invariable model found in nature. The King then sent Talleyran's
proposal to the Academy for consideration. In March of seventeen
a committee in the Academy decided that the basic unit
(08:57):
of length would be one ten mill length of the
distance between the North pole and equator along the Paris Meridian.
The Academy decided on the name meter for the basic
unit of length. The name came from the Greek word metron,
which meant measure. A decimal system of length measure would
be based on divisions and multiples of the meter. Capacity
(09:19):
units would be based on cubing the length measure, and
weight units would be based on filling capacity units with
distilled water. Tal Iran presented this plan to the National
Assembly and on marcht the Assembly approved it. But this
new system required an expedition to measure the meridian arc,
(09:39):
since the distance of one quadrant of Earth's meridian was
not known the expedition. It took seven years, and even
then its results were inaccurate. Still. When the expedition ended
in sevent a platinum meter bar was constructed based on
calculations done from the expedition. It became the official stand
(10:00):
a meter measurement and was placed in the national archives.
It wasn't until eighty seven when France abolished non metric units.
After the metric system was standardized in France, other countries
began to adopt it. Today, a meter is defined as
the length of the path traveled by light and vacuum
(10:20):
during a time interval of one two of a second.
I'm Eve Jeff Coote and hopefully you know a little
more about history today than you did yesterday. If you
want to reach us on social media, you can hit
us up on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram at t d
(10:40):
i h C Podcast. You can also send us an
email at this Day at I heart media dot com.
Thanks again for listening to the show and we'll see
you tomorrow. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit
the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
(11:02):
listen to your favorite shows.
Hello, everyone, it's Eves checking in here to let you
know that you're going to be hearing two different events
in history in this episode. They're both good if I
do say so myself. On with the show. Hey, I'm Eves,
and welcome to this Day in History Class, a show
that uncovers history one day at a time. The day
(00:25):
was in March eighteen forty two. Dr Crawford Long used
ether as a general anesthetic for the first time ever,
laying the groundwork for a new standard in surgery. Surgery
today can be a nerve wracking experience, even with all
the medical technology we've developed in the last two centuries,
(00:46):
but in the mid eighteen hundreds, surgery could still be
a terribly painful process as patients weren't sedated. Doctors were
often using rudimentary means to calm patients before surgery, like alcohol, hypnotism,
and restraint. Just imagine being fully conscious and having to
receive an invasive surgery. Patients would ride around and scream
(01:09):
during operations and often died from blood loss. Many doctors
did whatever they could to avoid having to resort to surgery,
but over the course of the late nineteenth century that
would change. While Crawford Williamson Long was a medical student
at Transylvania College in Kentucky and the University of Pennsylvania
in Philadelphia. He observed and participated in several surgeries. During
(01:34):
this time, Long saw people using nitrous oxide or laughing
gas recreationally, and he went to laughing gas parties and
eat their frolics where people inhaled nitrous oxide or sulfuric
ether just for its euphoric effects. Long used ether himself too,
and he noticed that people who used sulfuric ether could
(01:57):
fall or run into things but not feel any pain,
and they would forget what they've done while indebriated after
the effects of the substances were off. In eighteen thirty nine,
Long received his medical degree, and in eighteen forty one
he started a medical practice in Jefferson, Georgia, a small
rural community. Once he had his own practice, he began
(02:19):
experimenting with sulphuric ether, and on March thirtieth, eighteen forty two,
he administered ether to James M. Venable, a patient who
attended ether parties and had postponed his surgery several times
due to fear of pain. Long removed two tumors from
the back of Vinable's neck. He charged the patient two
(02:39):
dollars for the surgery. Long continued to use anesthesia in
his surgeries after that. He even gave ether analgesia to
his wife during labor pains. Friends, colleagues, and critics knew
about his discovery and practice, but Long didn't publish his
findings until eighteen forty nine. Long had it to gather
(03:00):
more evidence and be sure of his discovery, but by
then dentists Horace Wells and William T. G. Morton, as
well as physician Charles T. Jackson, had already claimed they
discovered anesthesia. Long said it had taken so long for
him to publish his results because of his isolated rural
environment and because he was super busy and he wanted
(03:21):
recognition for first using ether anesthesia during surgery. Unfortunately, Long
didn't get much recognition during his life. Regardless, the other
three doctors did make contributions to the development of anesthesia.
Wells first used nitrous oxide for pain relief during dental surgery.
Morton was the first to publicly demonstrate ether anesthesia and
(03:43):
publicize its efficacy, and Jackson suggested to more in that
ether be used as an anesthetic. There was lots of
debate over who really pioneered the use of anesthesia, but
Long is considered the official discoverer of inhaled anesthesia, and
away there was now an effective method to sedate patients
during surgery, so there was no thrashing around and excruciating
(04:07):
pain during operation. But that did not mean that anesthesia
was perfect. It made surgery a breeze. The quality of
either was an issue. It could be so weak that
a patient wouldn't go under or would regain consciousness during surgery,
or it could be so strong that a person would
die from overdosing. Also, germs were a problem. Germ theory
(04:28):
wasn't fully accepted in medicine until the late eighteen hundreds,
and doctors had some pretty dangerous habits at the time,
like entering surgery wearing bloody frocks, without wearing masks, and
without washing their hands and tools thoroughly. Since patients weren't
protected from germs, they were getting infection and dying. On
(04:48):
top of this, the new process of operating on an
unconscious patient was just foreign to doctors who were used
to conversing with the people they were operating on, and
plenty of medical nationals just weren't convinced about its benefits.
There were people who protested anesthesia because they believed it
simply went against the natural order of people feeling pain.
(05:11):
There were others who thought that either was an evil drug.
Anesthesia had its champions, but it definitely was not widely
accepted at first. Once people learned more about how Germ's work,
sterilization became the norm and drugs had federally mandated standards,
anesthesia became an essential part of surgery and medicine. Long
(05:33):
died in June seventy eight, and a year later the
National Eclectic Medical Association declared him the discoverer of anesthesia.
Doctor's Day, a day to recognize physicians contributions to society,
is now celebrated on March thirty in honor of Crawford
Long's discovery. I'm Eave Deathcote and hopefully you know a
(05:56):
little more about history today than you did yesterday. And
if you're so inclined, you can follow us at T
D i h C Podcasts, on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
We'll be back with more history tomorrow. Hey everyone, it's
(06:21):
Eves and welcome to another episode of This Day and
History Class, a podcast that brings you a little nugget
of history every single day. The day was March the
French National Assembly accepted a proposal by the French Academy
(06:44):
of Sciences to define the meter. In the centuries leading
up to this event, many different units of length were
used throughout Europe. The confusion this cost made it clear
just how necessary it was to have standard units of measurement.
The French Academy in British Royal Society worked together to
figure out what phenomena they could base standards on. They
(07:06):
turned to the Earth's meridian and the seconds pendulum, or
a pendulum that takes a second to swing in one
direction and a second to swing in the other, making
its period exactly two seconds. Scientists believed that they would
soon be able to measure the seconds pendulum and the
meridian accurately enough to base units on them, but that
(07:28):
was not the case. In fact, in eighteenth century France,
there were somewhere around two hundred and fifty thousand different
units of measurement and use. Those included the point, the line,
the inch, the foot, the fathom, the rod, and too
many other units to list. National and international markets were expanding.
(07:50):
The construction and maintenance of machines required precise measurements, and
scientists were also having difficulty getting good, consistent measurement because
of the lack of a standard one. Many people in
France were frustrated with their existing systems of measurement and
wanted uniform standards, so in August of seventeen eighty nine,
(08:13):
during the French Revolution, a member of the French Academy
proposed petitioning the National Assembly to establish a standard for
weights and measures. They chose Charlot Maurice to tal Iran
Perry Gore as the National Assembly member who would be
a spokesperson for their cause. Tal Iran presented a proposal
to the National Assembly in seventeen ninety. The National Assembly
(08:37):
and King Louis the sixteenth approved his proposal, which called
for the creation of a standard based on an quote
invariable model found in nature. The King then sent Talleyran's
proposal to the Academy for consideration. In March of seventeen
a committee in the Academy decided that the basic unit
(08:57):
of length would be one ten mill length of the
distance between the North pole and equator along the Paris Meridian.
The Academy decided on the name meter for the basic
unit of length. The name came from the Greek word metron,
which meant measure. A decimal system of length measure would
be based on divisions and multiples of the meter. Capacity
(09:19):
units would be based on cubing the length measure, and
weight units would be based on filling capacity units with
distilled water. Tal Iran presented this plan to the National
Assembly and on marcht the Assembly approved it. But this
new system required an expedition to measure the meridian arc,
(09:39):
since the distance of one quadrant of Earth's meridian was
not known the expedition. It took seven years, and even
then its results were inaccurate. Still. When the expedition ended
in sevent a platinum meter bar was constructed based on
calculations done from the expedition. It became the official stand
(10:00):
a meter measurement and was placed in the national archives.
It wasn't until eighty seven when France abolished non metric units.
After the metric system was standardized in France, other countries
began to adopt it. Today, a meter is defined as
the length of the path traveled by light and vacuum
(10:20):
during a time interval of one two of a second.
I'm Eve Jeff Coote and hopefully you know a little
more about history today than you did yesterday. If you
want to reach us on social media, you can hit
us up on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram at t d
(10:40):
i h C Podcast. You can also send us an
email at this Day at I heart media dot com.
Thanks again for listening to the show and we'll see
you tomorrow. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit
the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
(11:02):
listen to your favorite shows.
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