First Publication of the Gilbert Abbott Operation

Henry Jacob Bigelow (1818-1890)
“Insensibility during Surgical Operations Produced by Inhalation,”
from the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, volume 35, November 18, 1846
From the Collections of the Boston Medical Library

This article, reprinting Bigelow’s presentation to the Boston Society for Medical Improvement, is the first formal announcement of the ether discovery. 

The passage displayed recounts the first and second operations at Massachusetts General Hospital, where “No doubt, I think, existed, in the minds of those who saw this operation, that the unconsciousness was real; nor could the imagination be accused of any share in the production of these remarkable phenomena.”