In 1846 the dentist William T Morton first publicly demonstrated the use of inhaled ether as a surgical anesthetic at the Massachusetts General Hospital. At the end of the procedure, the surgeon famously said: “Gentlemen, this is no humbug.” Very soon anesthesia became universally used in surgery.
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| The first use of ether in dental surgery, 1846. Oil painting by Ernest Board. c. 1912. Credit: Wellcome Collection. (CC BY 4.0) |
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