The South has probably contributed as much to the development of surgery as any other section of the nation. Before the introduction of antisepsis and asepsis and the availability of anesthetic agents, performance of surgical procedures was attended with considerable risk and tremendous suffering. Although the South cannot claim credit for the development of asepsis, ether anesthetization, use of which makes an operation painless, was first used in the South and marks one of the really great milestones in the progress of surgery. Although ether had been synthesized in 1540 and its effects were known to be similar to those of nitrous oxide, it was not until March 30, 1842, that ether was first used for surgical anesthesia when Crawford W. Long at Jefferson, Ga., in Jackson County, removed a tumor from the neck of James W. Venable. However, P. A. Wilhite, of Anderson, S. C., was the first to