For the same reason it is also used as a component of the fuel mixture for carbureted compression ignition model engines.

[19] Since ether is heavier than air it can collect low to the ground and the vapour may travel considerable distances to ignition sources.

Other possible ignition sources include – but are not limited to – hot plates, steam pipes, heaters, and electrical arcs created by switches or outlets.

[citation needed] Ether is sensitive to light and air, tending to form explosive peroxides.

[19] Commercial diethyl ether is typically supplied with trace amounts of the antioxidant butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), which reduces the formation of peroxides.

Water and peroxides can be removed by either distillation from sodium and benzophenone, or by passing through a column of activated alumina.

[22][23] It was synthesised in 1540 by Valerius Cordus, who called it "sweet oil of vitriol" (oleum dulce vitrioli) – the name reflects the fact that it is obtained by distilling a mixture of ethanol and sulfuric acid (then known as oil of vitriol) – and noted some of its medicinal properties.

Morton had called his ether preparation, with aromatic oils to conceal its smell, "Letheon" after the Lethe River (Λήθη, meaning "forgetfulness, oblivion").

[27][28][29] British doctors were aware of the anesthetic properties of ether as early as 1840 where it was widely prescribed in conjunction with opium.

[31] Diethyl ether does not depress the myocardium but rather it stimulates the sympathetic nervous system leading to hypertension and tachycardia.

[32] Its minimal effect on myocardial depression and respiratory drive, as well as its low cost and high therapeutic index allows it to see continued use in developing countries.

In the United States this concoction was removed from the Pharmacopeia at some point prior to June 1917,[37] as a study published by William Procter, Jr. in the American Journal of Pharmacy as early as 1852 showed that there were differences in formulation to be found between commercial manufacturers, between international pharmacopoeia, and from Hoffman's original recipe.

Long, as well as fellow dentists Horace Wells, William Edward Clarke and William T. G. Morton observed that during these gatherings, people would often experience minor injuries but appear to show no reaction to the injury, nor memory that it had happened, demonstrating ether's anaesthetic effects.

[42] It is usually consumed in a small quantity (kropka, or "dot") poured over milk, sugar water, or orange juice in a shot glass.