Ether Dome
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Ether Dome, Massachusetts General Hospital
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The inside of the dome as viewed from the surgical theatre.
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| Location | Boston, Massachusetts |
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| Coordinates | 42°21′48.70″N 71°4′4.30″W / 42.3635278°N 71.0678611°WCoordinates: 42°21′48.70″N 71°4′4.30″W / 42.3635278°N 71.0678611°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1846 |
| Architect | Charles Bulfinch; George Perkins; Alexander Parris |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| NRHP Reference # | 66000366 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated NHL | January 12, 1965 |
The Ether Dome is a surgical operating amphitheater in the Bulfinch Building at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. It served as the hospital's operating room from its opening in 1821 until 1867. It was the site of the first public demonstration of the use of inhaled ether as a surgical anesthetic on October 16, 1846, otherwise known as Ether Day. Crawford Long, a surgeon in Georgia, had previously administered sulfuric ether in 1842, but this went unpublished until 1849. The Ether Dome event occurred when William Thomas Green Morton, a local dentist, used ether to anesthetize Edward Gilbert Abbott. John Collins Warren, the first dean of Harvard Medical School, then painlessly removed part of a tumor from Abbott's neck. After Warren had finished, and Abbott regained consciousness, Warren asked the patient how he felt. Reportedly, Abbott said, "Feels as if my neck's been scratched". Warren then turned to his medical audience and uttered "Gentlemen, this is no Humbug". This was presumably a reference to the unsuccessful demonstration of nitrous oxide anesthesia by Horace Wells in the same theater the previous year, which was ended by cries of "Humbug!" after the patient groaned with pain.
In 1844, Hartford dentist Horace Wells noticed the painkilling effects of nitrous oxide at an event where volunteers inhaled the gas and then stumbled around and acted silly. Such affairs were known as “frolics.”
Wells used nitrous oxide in his dental practice for the painless extraction of teeth. In 1845 he attempted to demonstrate his discovery in Boston. The test failed, probably because the dose was inadequate. Soundly ridiculed, Wells became deeply discouraged.
William T.G. Morton, a partner in Wells’ practice, learned the technique and began experimenting on his own. Morton’s interest in using the method for surgical anesthesia was inspired by Wells, but he also benefited from conversations with Charles T. Jackson, a professor of chemistry at Harvard, who advised him to use a higher grade of sulphuric ether. Jackson seemed to know that the gas could be effective in surgery, but he made no effort to apply his knowledge.
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