Edward Gilbert Abbott (1825–1855) was the patient upon whom
William T. G. Morton
William Thomas Green Morton (August 9, 1819 – July 15, 1868) was an American dentist and physician who first publicly demonstrated the use of inhaled ether as a surgical anesthetic in 1846. The promotion of his questionable claim to have been t ...
first publicly demonstrated the use of
ether
In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group—an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups. They have the general formula , where R and R′ represent the alkyl or aryl groups. Ethers can again ...
as a surgical
anesthetic. The operation was done in an amphitheater at the
Massachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...
now known as the
Ether Dome
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 demonstra ...
on 16 October 1846. After Morton administered the ether, surgeon
John Collins Warren
John Collins Warren (August 1, 1778 – May 4, 1856) was an American surgeon. In 1846 he gave permission to William T.G. Morton to provide ether anesthesia while Warren performed a minor surgical procedure. News of this first public demonstrati ...
removed a portion of a
tumor
A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...
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.
[Horace Wells]
. Retrieved 2010-11-02.
References
External links
Edward Gilbert Abbott: Enigmatic Figure of the Ether DemonstrationThe Day Pain Died
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbott, Edward Gilbert
1825 births
1855 deaths
History of anesthesia