Joseph Priestley (1733–1804), Humphry Davy (1778–1829), Horace Wells (1815–1848)
THE FIRST ANESTHETIC. During the early decades of the nineteenth century, shortly after its discovery, nitrous oxide was the featured recreational drug at “laughing gas parties” in England. English chemist Joseph Priestley discovered this gas in 1776, two years after his far more significant finding of “dephlogisticated air” (oxygen). In 1798, during the course of his studies of the “medical powers of factitious airs and gases,” the young chemist Humphry Davy sampled and, in the course of his studies, became addicted to the euphoric effects of nitrous oxide. Although he experienced the loss of sensation of pain (anesthesia) of a toothache after inhaling the gas, he failed to pursue its medical potential.
While attending an entertaining demonstration of laughing gas in Hartford, Connecticut, in December 1844, American dentist Horace Wells was astounded when an audience member, under its influence, fell and severely gashed his leg. Upon questioning by Wells, the man was apparently oblivious to pain. Seeing its possibilities, Wells had one of his own teeth painlessly extracted after inhaling the gas the following day.
Seeking a more prestigious audience to exhibit the phenomenon of anesthesia, Wells organized a demonstration at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital in January 1845. It ended in failure when his subject awakened prematurely as his tooth was being removed, screaming in pain. Disheartened by the negative response of his medical witnesses, Wells drifted from dentistry. He experimented with chloroform, became mentally deranged, was arrested after throwing acid on two New York City streetwalkers, and finally ended his misery by committing suicide in 1848. Within days of his death, the Medical Society of Paris honored him as the discoverer of anesthesia, as did the American Dental Association in 1864 and the American Medical Association in 1872.
Dental interest in nitrous oxide was renewed in the 1860s and has persisted to this day. It has a slightly sweet odor and taste, is quite safe, acts quickly, produces a feeling of euphoria, and induces anesthesia while the patient remains conscious. When used alone, “laughing gas” is insufficient for use in surgical operations but is adequate in childbirth and for minor operative procedures.
SEE ALSO Ether (1846), Chloroform (1847), Novocain (1905).
A statue of Horace Wells—a Hartford, Connecticut, dentist credited with discovering the anesthetic effects of nitrous oxide—was erected 30 years after his 1844 discovery.