Before the middle of the nineteenth century, surgery was usually a terrifying, painful ordeal.

Because anesthesia did not exist yet, the only painkiller available for surgical patients was whiskey.

The pain of surgical procedures could be so severe that many people were willing to die rather than have surgery.

In 1846, one of the hospitals in Boston gave ether to a patient before he had surgery.

The patient, who had a large tumor on his neck, slept peacefully as doctors removed it.