| This MGM short, part of John Nesbitt's Passing Parade series, tells the story of Dr. Ephraim McDowell. In Danville, Kentucky in 1809 McDowell wanted to perform surgery on a woman, Jane Crawford, with a large tumor. He was threatened with being thrown out of the medical profession if he operated, something that did not exist at the time. The townspeople felt opening up a living human being was against the will of God and were quite prepared to stop him by force if need be. The operation however was a success and surgery became acceptable. // The famous surgery took place on December 25, 1809 without benefit of antisepsis or anesthesia - both unknown to medicine at the time. The ovarian tumor weighed 22.5 pounds (10.2 kg) and the whole procedure took 25 minutes. Mrs. Crawford, the patient, would live another 32 years. |
