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A monument commemorating the first use
of ether as an anesthetic is located in Boston Public Garden. This
historic operation took place at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1846. The
ether monument is located in the Public Graden near the gate at Arlington
and Marlborough Streets:
On the thirteenth of March, 1866, Mr. Thomas Lee,
a retired merchant in Boston, sent a communication to the city government,
with the following munificent offer: "I propose to erect and present to the
city a monument in the form of a fountain, as an expression of gratitude for
the relief of human suffering occasioned by the discovery of the anesthetic
properties of sulphuric ether."
The offer was promptly accepted by the city government,
and an order was approved by the Mayor on the twenty-seventh of March, 1866,
"That whenever the Memorial Fountain, presented by Thomas Lee,
Esq., to the city, shall be completed and erected, the Water Board shall
cause the same to be supplied constantly with as much water as may be
necessary to give the fountain its proper effect." The monument was
completed and surrendered to the city on the twenty-seventh of June, 1868.
The monument was designed by Messrs. Ware & Van Brunt.
Its form is suggested by medieval types, as modified by the nature of the
material (white Concord granite) used in its construction. It is about
thirty feet in height, and arises from a square basin. Each vertical face of
its base has a niche, containing a spouting lion's head with sculptured aquatic
plants. A surbase sustains a die contained in a canopy, supported by eight
stunted shafts of red Gloucester granite. Above the canopy are mouldings,
and above these a grouped quadripartite shaft of polished red granite.
The capital is decorated with oak leaves, and bears on
its abacus a group setting forth the story of "the good Samaritan." The four
sides of the die contain bas-reliefs: (1) A patient under the influence of
ether undergoing a surgical operation. (2) The angel of mercy descending to
relieve suffering humanity. (3) A wounded soldier under the hands of
surgeons in a field hospital. (4) An allegory of the triumph of science.
The principle inscription is: "In gratitude for the
relief of human suffering by the inhaling of ether, a citizen of Boston has
erected this monument, A. MDCCCLXVII."
Read a detailed
story about events
that led
to the historic operation.
Return to
Ether Dome Page
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