He was in agony with the toothache, and begged the doctor to mesmerise him in the hope of getting some relief. The nerve was so sore, he said, that he could not summon up courage to have the tooth drawn. Morton, greatly excited, told his patient that he could do better for him than mesmerising him. He could take the tooth out without pain if he would consent. The sufferer agreed eagerly, and Morton, with two assistants, proceeded to operate. A handkerchief, saturated with ether, was applied to the mouth and nostrils, and unconsciousness was produced almost immediately. A tooth, a firmly-rooted bicuspid, was extracted without arousing the patient. Then followed a minute of intense fear. The man remained motionless, and Morton felt convinced he was dead. Seizing a glass of water he dashed it into the face of this first subject, who at once revived. “Are you ready to have your tooth drawn?” asked Morton. Rather hesitating assent was given, and then the extracted tooth was shown to the patient in the chair. His name, which ought to be recorded in the annals of surgery, was Eben Frost. On October 16, 1846, a tumour was removed from a patient at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. Morton administered the ether, and Dr. Collins Warren, the senior surgeon, operated. The patient made no sound, and after he recovered consciousness declared that he had experienced no pain. “Gentlemen, this is no humbug,” said Dr. Warren to the other surgeons who had witnessed the operation. Morton died in 1868.