The Ether Monument Revisited – Public Garden, Boston, Massachusetts

The Ether Monument, also known as The Good Samaritan, is a statue and fountain near the northwest corner of Boston’s Public Garden, near the intersection of Arlington Street and Beacon Street. It commemorates the first public demonstration of ether anesthesia, which occurred on October 16, 1846. Massachusetts General Hospital, where this procedure took place, is located about a 15-minute walk from the site of the monument

The statue depicts a medical doctor in medieval Moorish-Spanish robe and turban – representing a Good Samaritan – who holds the drooping body of an almost naked man on his left knee. The doctor holds in his left hand a cloth, suggesting the use of ether that would be developed in centuries to come. The anachronistic use of a Moorish doctor was probably intentional and served to avoid choosing sides in a debate that was raging at the time over who should receive credit for the first use of ether as an anesthetic. Erected in 1867, the monument is 40 feet (12 m) tall and is the oldest monument in the Public Garden.

At the base of the statue are inscriptions explaining the significance of the discovery of the use of ether as an anesthetic. There are four inscriptions, which include biblical quotations:


"To commemorate that the inhaling of ether causes insensibility to pain. First proved to the world at the Mass. General Hospital in Boston, October A.D. MDCCCXLVI"

"This also cometh forth from the Lord of Hosts which is wonderful and excellent in working." Isaiah 28:29

"In gratitude for the relief of human suffering by the inhaling of ether a citizen of Boston has erected this monument A.D. MDCCCLXVII."

"Neither shall there be any more pain." Revelation 21:4