On March 30, 1842, Dr. Crawford Williamson Long of Jefferson, Georgia, excised a small tumor from the neck of James Venable. Before the age of anesthetics, even so minor a surgery would have entailed horrible pain for the patient, but in this instance Dr. Long persuaded his friend to inhale ether from a cloth before surgery. When Long completed the operation, Venable refused to believe the surgery had taken place until he was shown the tumor. Two months later, he underwent a similar operation at Long’s hands for a second tumor, and was again astounded by the absence of pain.
Later that summer, Long wrote, “My third experiment in etherization was made on 3rd July, 1842, and was on a Negro boy, the property of Mrs. S. Hemphill, who resides nine miles from Jefferson. The boy had a disease of the toe, which rendered its amputation necessary, and the operation was performed without the boy evincing the least sign of pain.”
