The Sleep of Life Author:Richard Gordon From jacket flyleaf — The year is 1846. The great surgeon, Robert Liston, is about to perform an operation for breast cancer on a young woman. The cut will be deep, but all Liston has to ease the pain is a bottle of liquor and his own skill and speed--hardly enough to spare the woman untold agony, Still, the operation must happe... more »n; the pain must be borne.
Or must it? Reports have reached high medical circles in both England and America of drugs or chemicals which render a person insensitive to pain. Indeed, in Salem, Massachusetts, for example, a group of youngsters have taken to sniffing a substance called ether, have injured themselves under its influence, yet have reported feeling no pain. What if such a substance could be controlled and used for medical purposes. Imagine the benefits to doctors. Imagine the suffering that could be relieved!« less