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Massachusetts General Hospital is a world class institution
of medicine. The origin of MGH dates to 1799, when a $5,000 bequest was made for
the purpose of establishing a hospital at Boston. The original
building was opened in 1821. It was designed by the famous architect
Charles Bulfinch, and is constructed of fine Chelmsford granite. The
building is still used today, and houses specialized offices for the
hospital.
The dome atop the original building was an operating room and
gallery. More than 8,000 operations were performed in this theater
from 1821 to 1868. It is here that anesthetic was first used during an
operation. The operating room eventually became known as the "Ether
Dome" due to this very historic event. The following are excerpts from
descriptions at MGH about the famous operation:
In the operating theater, on the top floor of Massachusetts General
Hospital's Bulfinch Building, one of the greatest moments in medicine
occurred on October 16th, 1846. William T.G. Morton, a Boston dentist,
demonstrated the use of ether during surgery, ending the indescribable pain--and
overwhelming dread--that had been associated with the surgeon's knife.
Using a specially designed glass inhaler containing an ether soaked sponge,
Morton administered the anesthetic to Gilbert Abbott, a printer who had come
to the Massachusetts General Hospital for treatment of a vascular tumor in
his jaw. After several minutes, Abbott was rendered unconscious.
John Collins Warren MD, one of the most widely recognized surgeons of that
time, then removed the tumor. Upon awakening, Abbott informed the
curious and skeptical physicians and medical students in the theater, that he experienced no pain.
News of the discovery spread quickly, and within months it was
hailed as the greatest gift ever made to suffering humanity.
An item in the People's Journal in London reflected
the excitements; the biggest obstacle to surgery had been overtaken, and it was proclaimed, We Have
Conquered Pain.
A monument
commemorating this historic event is located in Boston Public Garden.
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