Anesthetic first used on a patient in 1842

ETHER

This volatile liquid was famously demonstrated at Massachusetts General Hospital and later became a key surgical aid—its name comes from the Greek for "upper air.

This clue refers to ether, the first chemical anesthetic successfully used in surgery. In 1842, Dr. Crawford Long administered it to a patient before removing a neck tumor, proving its effectiveness as a painkiller. The word "ether" here isn’t playing on alternate meanings—it’s a direct historical reference to the compound that revolutionized medicine. The date in the clue helps narrow it down from other early anesthetics.