Replica of Morton Inhaler
Catalog Record: Replica of Morton Inhaler
Access Key: aiml
Accession No.: 2010-07-27-1
Title: [Replica of the 1846 Morton ether inhaler].
Author: Morton, W. T. G. (William Thomas Green), 1819-1868.
Title variation: Alt Title
Title: Ayerst replica of the Morton inhaler.
Publisher: [S.l. : s.n., ca. 1965.]
Physical Description: 1 inhaler : glass, brass, leather ; 18 x 13 x 22 cm.
Subject: Ether, Ethyl.
Subject: Inhalers, Anesthesia.
Subject: Anesthesia, Inhalation.
Subject: Ether Controversy.
Subject: Morton, W. T. G. (William Thomas Green), 1819-1868.
Subject: Massachusetts General Hospital – history.
Note Type: General
Notes: Title from the WLM name for the replica.
Note Type: Physical Description
Notes: A glass inhaler consisting of a spherical glass body and brass accessories; A
natural sponge sits inside the spherical body; Protruding from different
sides of the sphere are two tubular openings; One opening is capped by a
removable brass cap, or stopper, approx. 3.5 cm in length; The other opening
is connected to a glass mouth-piece by a brass ‘tube’, approx. 6.5 cm in
length, that contains non-rebreathing-valves; The mouthpiece is approx. 7 cm
in length.
Note Type: Reproduction
Notes: Photographed by Mr. William Lyle, 7/27/2010.
Note Type: Historical
Notes: The first successful demonstration of ether anesthesia occurred with an
inhaler much like this one, at Massachusetts General Hospital on October 16,
1846. William Thomas Green Morton, a dentist in Boston Massachusetts,
administered the ether for the historic occasion. This inhaler is a replica
of the one he used that day. News of the event spread rapidly and within a
year of his demonstration scores of European inhalers had been invented and
patented. Morton did not patent this design. A booklet describing the replica
simply titled “The Morton Inhaler,” explains that this replica “was made
from the original description of its physical attributes … and of its
measurements as furnished by the courtesy of the Massachusetts General
Hospital. Reproduced by a modern instrument maker under the aegis of the Wood
Library-Museum of Anesthesiology, the project was made feasible by a
grant-in-aid from Ayerst Laboratories …”.
Note Type: Publication
Notes: Archer WH. Who Discovered General Anesthesia? J Am Dent Soc Anesthesiol.
1958;5(7):5-13.
Note Type: Publication
Notes: Haridas RP. William TG Morton’s early ether inhalers: a tale of three
inhalers and their inscriptions. Anaesth Intensive care. 2009;37(suppl
1):30-35.