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Writer's pictureFibonacciMD
Aug 28

“Gentlemen this is no humbug” - The First Use of General Anesthesia in Surgery and the Battle for Recognition that Ensued

The Ether Dome and the Dawn of Anesthesia


A quick dive into the history of anesthesia with a look at the Ether Dome and the first public demonstration of surgical anesthesia. Learn about the key players, the debates surrounding the discovery, and the lasting legacy of this medical milestone.

Medical Trivia

Photo of the first surgical use of ether in the Ether Dome - 1846
Photo of the first surgical use of ether in the Ether Dome - 1846

October 16, 1846 in Massachusetts General Hospital’s (MGH) surgical amphitheater, now known as the Ether Dome, the first recognized surgery using general anesthesia was performed. 


In 1844, Hartford, Connecticut dentist Horace Wells became aware of the painkilling effects of nitrous oxide.  He attended an event where volunteers inhaled the gas and noticed that one of them injured his leg without realizing it.  He started using nitrous oxide in his practice with some success and in 1845 he attempted to demonstrate it in a dental extraction at MGH but the demonstration went badly and he was ridiculed.  After that, he continued to successfully use nitrous oxide in his dental practice.  His partner, William T.G. Morton, who later practiced in Boston, learned of ether from Charles T. Jackson, a professor of chemistry at Harvard.  Morton and Jackson used ether successfully for a dental extraction and then Morton persuaded MGH co-founder and surgeon John Collins Warren to allow him to try his technique on a surgical patient.  On October 16, 1846, a patient who had a vascular neck tumor was operated on with ether anesthesia.  Morton used a newly developed apparatus he later called the “Morton Etherizer” to administer the ether while Warren did the surgery.  The procedure was successful and the patient announced that he had felt a scratching sensation, but no pain.  Warren then turned to the observers in the amphitheater and proclaimed; “Gentlemen, this is no humbug.”


Wells, Jackson, and Morton all claimed to have been the one to first discover anesthesia.   There was a battle in the court of public opinion about who was the discoverer of ether and also a race to try to capitalize on the discovery.  Jackson and Morton together obtained a patent on ether as Letheon, a mixture of ether and oil of orange.  As it was soon realized, the active ingredient in Letheon was ether, an already discovered compound, the patent was worthless.  


Morton later submitted a request to Congress for $100,000 for the army’s battlefield use of ether which was unsuccessful. There were also bills in Congress to appropriate $200,000 to the discoverers of ether anesthesia, but none passed.  Morton ended up a bitter man.  Despite his many efforts and litigation to try to cash in on ether, he received fame and some medals but did not make much money for being the “discoverer” of ether.  


Jackson, who had previously claimed that Samuel Morse has stolen the idea of the telegraph from him, ended up in an asylum in his later years.    


In 1848, at age 32, Wells moved his dental practice to New York City wanting to establish himself there before sending for his wife and son.  Being lonely and depressed, he started abusing chloroform.  His mental status deteriorated and he was arrested after throwing acid on some women.  He was incarcerated in the Tombs prison and while there committed suicide.  Wells eventually did get some credit for his use of nitrous oxide, as in 1864 he was recognized as the discoverer of anesthesia by the American Dental Association and in 1870 by the American Medical Association. 


Ironically, it turned out none of the participants in the Ether Dome procedure had actually been the first to use ether anesthesia in surgery.  A small-town Georgia doctor named Dr. Crawford Williamson Long had started performing operations using ether in 1842, but he didn’t publish his results until 1849, and therefore received little credit for the innovation.


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