Humphrey Davy discovered Laughing Gas in 1797, this reduced the sense of pain. Laughing gas helped when operating because it gave the surgeon more time to operate on the patient. His discovery led to dentists using it for teeth extractions in 1839.
Dr Morton discovered Ether in 1846. Morton used Ether on a patient in the USA to anaethetise him/her. This was effective which caused the news to spread
J.R.Liston used Ether in 1847 in an operation for amputation which was succesful. Hoewever there was a couple of problems with Ether, it caused irritation of the lungs and it was flammable.
James Simpson was searching with his friends for an alternative to ether. In 1847 they came across chloroform, which he used successfully on women in childbirth. However following several unexplained deaths during chloroform anesthesia, many surgeons preferred to return to ether, despite its side effects.
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