Crawford Long, a rural Georgia physician, removed a tumor from a patient's neck under ether anesthesia on March 30, 1842, four years before William Morton's celebrated public demonstration, but did not publish his results until 1849. That delay is central to the priority dispute over the discovery of surgical anesthesia: Long's claim is the earliest by date, but Morton's public, promptly reported demonstration is what actually changed surgical practice.
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Crawford Long
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FAQs
Did Crawford Long use ether anesthesia before William Morton?
Yes by date: Long operated under ether on March 30, 1842, four years before Morton.
By date, yes. Crawford Long, a rural Georgia physician, removed a tumor from a patient's neck under ether anesthesia on March 30, 1842, four years before William Morton's celebrated public demonstration. But Long did not publish his results until 1849. That delay is central to the priority dispute over the discovery of surgical anesthesia.
Why is Morton usually credited with anesthesia if Long came first?
Morton's demonstration was public and promptly reported, and it changed surgical practice.
Long's claim is the earliest by date, but Morton's public, promptly reported demonstration is what actually changed surgical practice. Long's delay in publishing until 1849 is why the question of priority remains disputed.
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Held Differently
Anesthesia, Treatments Used ether surgically in 1842, four years before Morton, but did not publish until 1849.
Source The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of HumanityRoy Porter
Additional Source Crawford Long (Wikipedia)Article text
Anesthesia, Discoveries Used ether surgically in 1842, four years before Morton's public demonstration, but did not publish his results at the time.
Source A History of MedicineLois N. Magner
Long-Form Articles
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Also in Geography Atlas: the nationality of this subject.
Source Wikidata: Crawford Long
Sources
1. Wikidata: Crawford Long
- Wikidata Q248037, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)
- Wikidata P569 (w-bbfill-medicine3-0926)
View the Source2. The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of Humanity
Roy Porter, W. W. Norton and Company, 1997- Birth Date: 1815-11-01
- Death Year: 1878
- Death Date: 1878-06-16
Crawford Long (Wikipedia)
Legacy section
After reading about Morton's demonstration in the Medical Examiner, Long began asking his patients to submit affidavits corroborating his discovery.
Discoveries: Anesthesia, Article text
Long used ether on March 30, 1842, to remove a tumor from the neck of a patient, James M.
In Group: Clinical Physician-Scientists of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Introduction, sentence 1
Crawford Williamson Long (November 1, 1815, June 16, 1878) was an American surgeon and pharmacist best known for his first use of inhaled sulfuric ether as an anesthetic.
View the SourceA History of Medicine
Lois N. Magner, CRC PressDiscoveries: Anesthesia
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