Ether Dome

Inside Massachusetts General Hospital’s Bulfinch Building, the Ether Dome is a preserved 19th-century surgical amphitheater where ether anesthesia was publicly demonstrated during an operation in 1846. Its steep tiers of seats give you a sense of how students watched procedures, while historical photographs, maps and surgical instruments trace changes in medicine. Look for the teaching skeleton and the mummy and sarcophagus on display. The room is still used for teaching, so check access with hospital staff if you cannot find the entrance.

The 1846 operation

On October 16, 1846, William T. G. Morton demonstrated the use of ether during surgery in this amphitheater at Massachusetts General Hospital. The event helped establish anesthesia as part of surgery. The room is known as the Ether Dome for that moment, and its history is tied to a change in how operations could be performed.

The amphitheater served as the hospital’s operating room through the middle of the 19th century. More than 8,000 operations took place here between 1821 and 1868. The room later became a teaching amphitheater and remains in use for lectures.

What to look for inside

The steep rows of seats show how students could gather around an operation and observe from above. Some seats bear the names of people who attended lectures here. Take time to look at the historical photographs, maps and surgical instruments, which offer context for the room and the development of medicine.

A teaching skeleton is also on display, along with a mummy and sarcophagus. Signs around the room explain its history. The Ether Dome is in the Bulfinch Building at Massachusetts General Hospital; hospital staff can help if you have trouble locating the entrance.