nt, discovered that the
inhalation of nitrous-oxide gas produces anaesthesia. He was a dentist.
He gave it to his patients, and was able to perform dental operations
without causing pain. Thus we may see how the case stands. Long produced
anaesthesia in 1842; that is to say, he caused his patients to inhale
sulphuric ether in that year, whenever he had a painful operation to
perform, and in each case the operation was painless.

In 1846, when the surgeons of the Massachusetts General Hospital
performed painless operations on patients, after administering to them
Morton's patented "Letheon," which was his name for sulphuric ether,
there came about a great war of pamphlets, and it ended tragically.
Long had never made any secret of the substance which he used. He gave
information of it to all the surgeons and doctors with whom he came in
contact; and he was not in any way concerned in the conflict that was
carried on by Jackson, Morton, and Wells. He simply gathered together
the facts of his discovery, proved that he was the first physician to
perform painless operations in surgery, and that was the end of it so
far as he was concerned.

Wells became insane, and committed suicide in New York in 1848. Morton
died in New York City of congestion of the brain. Jackson ended his days
in an insane asylum.

In Boston a monument has been erected to the discoverer of anaesthesia.
The name of Crawford W. Long should stand first upon it, and should be
followed by the names of Wells, Morton, and Jackson.

[Illustration: Early Progress of the State 181]

THE EARLY PROGRESS OF THE STATE.

After the invention of the cotton gin, the progress of the people
and the development of the agriculture of the State went forward very
rapidly. The population began to increase. The movement of families from
Virginia and North Carolina grew constantly larger. In Virginia, and
in settled portions of North Carolina, it was found that the soil
and climate were not favorable to the growth of the cotton plant:
consequently hundreds of families left their homes in these States, and
came to Georgia.

When Oglethorpe settled the Colony, the charter under which he acted
prohibited the introduction and use of negro slaves in the Colony. It
is hard to say at this late day whether this portion of the charter was
dictated by feelings of humanity, especially when we remember that
in those days, and in most of the Colonies, there were many white
peop