Ether Dome

The inside of the cathedral seen from the surgery room from

The ether - Dom (English: ether dome) is a hall in the Bulfinch Building in Boston, which is part of the Massachusetts General Hospital. In this room, an operation under general anesthesia using diethyl ether was posted on October 16, 1846 for the first time in medical history publicly demonstrated.

The dentist William Thomas Green Morton, who had already used in his practice ether, turned to the surgical Professor John Collins Warren with a request for a showing. Then, one patient was on Friday, October 16, 1846 anesthetized with ether to remove him a tumor on the left side of the neck below the mandible. The operation was a success and is regarded as the birth of modern anesthesia, although in 1842 was used by Dr. Crawford Long ether as an anesthetic. Since the use of Dr. Long, however, was not presented publicity, generally applies to the use in the ether dome as the first successful surgery under general anesthesia.

The Bulfinch Building was built in 1821. The operating theater in the middle of the building is modeled after the style of ancient Greece, with large pillars, an Apollo statue at the entrance and a distinctive dome. Since 1846, the hall is called the ether dome. The relatively small hall is now used for medical conferences and presentations and is open to the public. It contains a contemporary painting of the historic event as well as a small collection of mummies and other artifacts and relics.

Since 1965, the ether dome is registered as a National Historic Landmark.