Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: William Morton

  • Ghosts from the Ether Dome

    Isabel Legarda Belmont, Massachusetts, United States   The ether dome today. Author photo. On October 16, 1846, dentist William Morton successfully demonstrated the use of ether as an anesthetic inside Massachusetts General Hospital’s Bulfinch Pavilion. That day, now passed down to us as “Ether Day,” is often seen as a turning point for surgery both…

  • What November may bring: The first 37 days of surgical anesthesia

    A.J. WrightBirmingham, Alabama, United States In medical history October 16 is known as “Ether Day” to commemorate dentist William Morton’s 1846 demonstration of ether inhalation for a surgical patient of Dr. John Collins Warren. The event is often described as the first public ether anesthetic because it took place before an audience of physicians and…