Ether anestheticIn 1846, American dentist, Dr William T.G. Morton (9 Aug 1819 - 15 Jul 1868) made the first public demonstration of the administration of ether anesthetic, which the patient inhaled from a blown glass flask, during an operation performed by Dr. John Collins Warren (1778-1856) at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. The patient, Gilbert Abbott, age 20, had a small superficial tumor removed from beneath the left lower jaw. Two weeks before (30 Sep1846), Morton had privately made a painless tooth extraction for a patient. The suggestion to use ether came from the chemist Charles T. Jackson, (1860-1913). After the success of the public demonstration, the use of ether for painless operations spread quickly to other countries. |
