Obstetric and Other Uses of Ether Before Ether Day, According to the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal of 1828-1846

From the inception of the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal in 1828 until the prominent public demonstration of surgical anesthesia on Ether Day of 1846, ether was often mentioned in the journal. Many of the examples were related to obstetrics. Because molecular structures were not available in the early 1800s, diverse volatile liquids were termed ethers. In addition to sulphuric ether, so-called ethers included cyanide-releasing propionitrile and ethanolic solutions of chloroform and of the potent vasodilator ethyl nitrite. Familiarity with anesthetically unsuitable ethers may have long deterred consideration of inhaled sulphuric ether for analgesia and anesthesia.