Keeping Ether “En-Vogue”: The Role of Nathan Cooley Keep in the History of Ether Anesthesia

In this report, we explore the little known role of Dr Nathan Cooley Keep in the dissemination of ether anesthesia in Boston. Keep was a prominent Boston dentist who, for a short time, taught and employed both William Morton and Horace Wells. He used ether anesthesia for a variety of dental and other surgical procedures requiring pain control. Keep administered ether to anesthetize Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's wife during the delivery of their daughter. This was the first use of ether for obstetric anesthesia. Dr Keep was also the first Dean of the Harvard Dental School and convinced the Massachusetts General Hospital to appoint a dentist to the staff of the hospital for the first time.