A small skylit operating theatre on the top floor of the Bulfinch Building at Massachusetts General Hospital, where ether was first publicly demonstrated as a surgical anaesthetic in October 1846. Before that day, surgery was performed on screaming, fully conscious patients held down by orderlies; after it, the world changed.
The dome is preserved much as it was, with a steep amphitheatre of wooden benches looking down on the operating table at the centre. On the walls are anatomical engravings, surgical kits from the period, and an Egyptian mummy named Padihershef that was donated to the hospital in 1823 (and which presided over the original ether operation). A modest exhibit at the back covers the rivals — dentist Horace Wells, Morton's mentor, who used nitrous oxide first but failed in his demonstration — and the long bitter dispute over who deserved credit.
The room is still in active use as a meeting space, so check ahead. Entry is free during weekday hours; ask at the main hospital information desk.