Before anesthesia, surgery was synonymous with torture. Patients were often restrained or given alcohol as the only relief. The 1846 demonstration by dentist William Morton, using sulfuric ether, was a watershed. Witnessed by Boston's leading surgeons, it proved a patient could undergo major surgery without pain or memory of the event. This allowed for longer, more complex operations, drastically improving survival rates. However, its adoption faced resistance from some religious figures who int

Dr James Barry lived a double life to become one of historys most pioneering surgeons. | The History Archives