William T. G. Morton publicly demonstrated ether during the first successful surgical anesthesia at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1846.
On October 16, 1846, Morton used inhaled ether to anesthetize Edward Abbott while surgeon John Collins Warren removed a tumor from Abbott’s neck. The demonstration took place in the hospital’s operating amphitheater, now known as the Ether Dome. Warren reportedly told observers that the patient appeared not to suffer during the operation.
Pain relief in surgery had previously depended on alcohol, opium, hypnosis, physical restraint, or brief experiments with other gases. Ether made longer and more controlled operations possible, helping surgery develop rapidly in the nineteenth century.
Morton was not the only person involved in ether’s history, and disputes over credit followed the demonstration. Ether is also different from nitrous oxide, which had been used earlier for amusement and some dental procedures but was less suitable for major surgery at that time.