Controversy has long surrounded the question of who deserves credit for developing surgical anesthetics, but it was clearly William Thomas Green Morton’s successful demonstration of ether in an operation that brought the attention of the medical professions to the possibilities of anesthetics.
On October 16, 1846, William Thomas Green Morton, a Boston dentist, gave the first public demonstration of the successful use of surgical anesthesia in the Massachusetts General Hospital, Although surgery had made considerable progress during the previous two centuries as anatomists had gradually delineated the major outlines of gross anatomy, surgery patients still faced excruciating pain and the near certainty of contracting secondary infections. Without the use of anesthetics, the agonies of the patients forced surgeons to operate as quickly as possible, and the shock and pain that the patients endured often proved disastrous. Dreaded diseases,
Among the many discoveries in the history of medicine, few have provoked so much controversy as that of anesthesia. No fewer than four American claimants to the honor of introducing this benevolent contribution to humanity vied for recognition during their lifetimes. The controversy also later acquired an international flavor. Simultaneous events in England further blurred the claim to discovery. The argument quickly focused on the comparative merits ether and chloroform. The debate has since been carried on by historians. The American contest, however, now rests largely between Crawford Williamson Long
By 1840, the stage was set for the advent of anesthesia. Surgeons, who were as deeply troubled by the agonies of their patients as they were by the difficult logistics of operating on screaming, writhing patients, were eager for help. A growing humanitarian spirit, with its acute sensitivity to human suffering, made the public more receptive to innovations in this field. However, it was the rapid development of dentistry
The first professional person to see the possible significance of these chemical agents in relieving pain was Crawford W. Long
Meanwhile, a Boston dentist, Horace Wells
Meanwhile, William Morton, another Boston dentist, was investigating the problem of surgical anesthesia. At the suggestion of Charles Thomas Jackson
The three main claimants to the title of discoverer of modern anesthesia.
Ironically, misery was the lot of the three medical professionals chiefly responsible for the introduction of anesthesia. Wells
News of Morton’s demonstration of painless surgery spread rapidly throughout the world, and the use of anesthesia, a term suggested by Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes
As a result of the use of anesthesia, surgery eventually became a healthier and relatively painless procedure for patients. The successful use of anesthesia also permitted the development of better surgical techniques and a more advanced understanding of anatomy. Nevertheless, as knowledge of anesthesia and bacteriology steadily widened, the way was being prepared for making the twentieth century the age of the surgeon.
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Boland, Frank Kells. The First Anesthetic: The Story of Crawford Long. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1950. Scholarly work that leaves little doubt that Long was the first person to use ether as an anesthetic. -
Duncum, Barbara M. The Development of Inhalation Anaesthesia with Special Reference to the Years 1846-1900. London: Oxford University Press, 1947. The definitive work dealing with the background and controversy over surgical anesthesia, and its later development during the late nineteenth century. Includes a survey of political and social attitudes in various countries during the nineteenth century and illustrates how they influenced the study of anesthesia. -
Fenster, Julie M. Ether Day: The Strange Tale of America’s Greatest Medical Discovery and the Haunted Men Who Made It. New York: HarperCollins, 2001. Engagingly written narrative of the bizarre careers of the three men most responsible for introducing modern anesthetics. -
Keys, Thomas E. The History of Surgical Anesthesia. New York: Schuman’s, 1945. Traces the earliest attempts to relieve pain. Focuses on the broadening of the field of anesthesia during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including such topics as local, regional, and spinal anesthesia; rectal anesthesia; “twilight sleep”; and other anesthetic techniques. -
Ludovici, L. J. Cone of Oblivion: A Vendetta in Science. London: Max Parrish, 1961. Centers on the anesthesia controversies that raged between 1840 and 1860. -
MacQuitty, Betty. The Battle for Oblivion: The Discovery of Anesthesia. London: George S. Harrap, 1969. Follows Morton’s struggle for recognition; includes some beautiful photographs. -
Shryock, Richard Harrison. Medicine and Society in America, 1660-1860. New York: New York University Press, 1960. This classic general history of U.S. medicine emphasizes the role of U.S. dentistry in the discovery of anesthesia. -
Sykes, W. Stanley. Essays on the First Hundred Years of Anaesthesia. Edinburgh: E. & S. Livingstone, 1960. Includes a rich variety of illustrations and photographs. Establishes the political and social issues that were a part of the Victorian Age and serve as a background to the development of practical anesthetic procedures. -
Wolfe, Richard J. Tarnished Idol: William Thomas Green Morton and the Introduction of Surgical Anesthesia: A Chronicle of the Ether Controversy. San Anselmo, Calif.: Norman, 2001. Meticulously researched biography of Morton. Wolfe acknowledges that Morton conducted the first successful public demonstration of anesthesia but credits him with contributing little else to the discovery and development of anesthesia.
Wakley Introduces The Lancet
Semmelweis Develops Antiseptic Procedures
Nightingale Takes Charge of Nursing in the Crimea
Lister Publishes His Theory on Antiseptic Surgery
Behring Discovers the Diphtheria Antitoxin
“Aspirin” Is Registered as a Trade Name
Sir Humphry Davy; Oliver Wendell Holmes; Joseph Lister; William Thomas Green Morton; Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis.