Overview

Crawford Williamson Long (November 1, 1815 - June 16, 1878) was an American physician and pharmacist best known for his early use of diethyl ether as an anesthetic.

Long was born in Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia and received his M.D. degree at the University of Pennsylvania in 1839. After observing that diethyl ether ("ether") had the same physiological effects as nitrous oxide (described by Humphry Davy in 1800), Long used ether on March 30, 1842 to remove a neck tumor from a patient, James M. Venable, in Jefferson, Georgia. Long subsequently removed a second tumor from Venable and used ether as an anesthetic in amputations and in childbirth. The results of these trials were published in 1848 in the Southern Medical and Surgical Journal. An original copy of this publication is held in the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

References

Crawford Long - wikipedia