William T. G. Morton

One of Boston's great moments in the history of medicine happened on October 16, 1846, as one of the most famous surgical operations in history-the first public demonstration of the use of ether as an anesthetic-was performed at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Dr. John Collins Warren removed a small tumor from the neck of Gilbert Abbott after an anesthetic agent provided by William T. G. Morton had been employed. Described in his diary as just "an interesting operation," Warren was quick to see the remarkable advantages to both surgeon and patient.

He championed the cause of etherization through his work and publications and in his own account of the event, printed a few weeks later in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, John Collins Warren said of his patient, "Being asked immediately afterwards whether he had suffered much, he said that he had felt as if his neck had been scratched; but subsequently, when inquired of by me, his statement was, that he did not experience pain at the time, although aware that the operation was proceeding."

Many books, pamphlets, artifacts, letters, and other items from the first days of the employment of ether anesthesia comprise another rich subject area at the Countway Library in Boston. A great portion of this documentation concerns the ether controversy. This controversy was the debate over who really was entitled to claim the discovery of anesthesia, and includes a unique set of court testimonies of John Collins Warren and other eyewitnesses to the 1846 procedure.