Senat

1853 · 44417 — Washington DC 1853. <p>United States. Senate. 32nd Congress 2nd Session. H. R. 336 To accompany report no. 421. In the Senate of the United States. February 19 1853 . . . Amendment . . . 3pp. Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office 1853. 297 x 205 mm. Unbound. Some dampstaining edges a bit frayed but very good. Docketed.</p> <p> First Edition of this rare ether controversy document with no copies listed in OCLC. In January 1853 responding to renewed debate over who deserved credit for inventing ether anesthesia the U. S. Senate appointed a select committee to determine whether W. T. G. Morton Charles Jackson or Horace Wells had the best claim to the discovery. On February 19 Senator Isaac P. Walker the committee's chairman submitted an amendment to army appropriations bill H. R. 336 confirming the U. S. government's right to use and benefit from the discovery and proposing an award of $100000 to "the discoverer." The final version of the amendment which we are offering here also proposed that the issue of priority be decided in federal court with Morton Jackson and the representatives of Horace Wells appearing as defendants to prove the merits of their respective cases. The Senate ended up rejecting the amendment leaving the question of priority unsettled for the time. Wolfe Tarnished Idol pp. 316-17; 330-335. </p> . unknown