An Interactive Annotated World Bibliography of Printed and Digital Works in the History of Medicine and the Life Sciences from Circa 2000 BCE to 2022 by Fielding H. Garrison (1870-1935), Leslie T. Morton (1907-2004), and Jeremy M. Norman (1945- ) Traditionally Known as “Garrison-Morton”

15961 entries, 13944 authors and 1935 subjects. Updated: March 22, 2024

BOOTT, Francis

1 entries
  • 7882

Surgical operations performed during insensibility, produced by the inhalation of sulphuric ether.

Lancet, 1, 5-8, 16-17, 1847.

The first use of ether as an anesthetic in Britain (for a dental procedure) was conducted in Boott's house at 24 Gower Street on 19 December 1846. Boott issued the second announcement of ether anesthesia published in Britain in The Lancet on January 2, 1847. Jacob Bigelow, the father of Henry Jacob Bigelow, wrote on 28 November to Francis Boott of telling him of Morton's discovery  and enclosing the text of his son's communication as it had appeared in the Boston Daily Advertiser. Boott forwarded Jacob Bigelow's letter and H. J. Bigelow's paper to The Lancet which published them both in their number for 2 January 1847. Appended to the reprint was a letter from Robert Liston to Dr. Boott dated 21 December 1846 saying that on that day he had successfully used ether during an amputation at the knee, thus recording the first surgical operation under ether anesthesia in Europe.  Digital facsimile from the John Snow Archive and Research Companion at this link.



Subjects: ANESTHESIA › Ether