Show G GAS discovered BY ACCIDENT AND USED FOR QUEER EFFECTS it how ar moll avella of or hartford came caine to t alcover DI Il over cover the value of the tile Anist hetle for den dental t 1 oper Operation ti s He wa was tue the mirat ballent to try it nitrous oxide or laughing g gia is was first discovered by an english chemist named priestley in fri 1776 primarily it was used in exhibitions for the purpose of 0 producing the peculiar exhilarating effect which it has upon borne some natures n when inhaled in small quantities and which is the reason for its being known the tile world over as laughing gas sir humphrey davy suggested a century ngo ago that it might be used in lu surgical operations where there was wits no great effusion of blood but until 1811 i little if any further attention was paid I 1 to it on the of december t there was given at hartford an exhibition of the effects of lang laughing hing gas this exhibit tion was merely for the tile cake sake of making money and its promoters had not the remotest intention of enlightening the public on the scientific possibilities of nitrous oxide curiosity led dr horace wells a dentist residing in fit the city to go and see the tun fun after the tile exhibition dr wells and some of his friends inhaled the gas themselves one gentleman named cooly on being behig brought under its influence became unusually excited and arid performed a number of involuntary evolutions and gyrations which brought him 11 ini in contact with the be benches riches and floor in such a man ner as to bruie and otherwise injure him dr wells inquired if he buffered pain from hi his coundi wo cool y appeared surprised and was w as not aware that he had bad been hurt until lie ile saw the blood trickling down his legs it was at that moment the idea occurred to dr wells that a man could by inhaling a sufficient quantity of nitrous oxide gas be rendered sufficiently unconscious to have a tooth extracted without feeling any pain whatever putting his theory into practice the next day he himself inhaled sufficient gast gas to render orender him unconscious and permitted a brother dentist dr since deceased to extract a great molar on recovering consciousness wells ex claimed A new era in tooth pulling it did not hurt aa as much aa as the prick of a pin 11 this was the flat operation ever performed under the influence of nitrous ox ide or any other nnie previous to this time no person had ever yet inhaled a sufficient quantity to produce insensibility 1 having now shed the tact that alio gas could be safety used and arid teeth extracted d for or people under its influence drs wells wells and ciggs commenced using it in Il hartford artford and extracted thousands of 0 teeth without the slightest accident ever occurring in 1847 dr wells unfortunately di erected his attention to the study of chloroform and arid ether believing that they were better adapted for the purpose than thau nitrous oxide in the following year he lie fell ill from the effects of experimenting upon himself and died a martyr to science on the of january at thirty three ye beirs a rs of age when the medical world was abolia to pay him the honora honors his labors merited after h hi Is death the gas was not generally used for some years but was finally taken up by dentists and physicians all over 0 er the country and by others who through ignorance or recklessness were and are abusing it statistics show that there has never yet been a single death caused by the inhalation of pure nitrous oxide it would not be surprising it if the original discovery of the peculiar properties of nitrous oxide were purely accidental we can be absolutely certain however bov ever that iff application to the painless extraction of teeth was the result of accident in proof of this dr john M riggs wrote to dr Ilas hasbrouck brouck in 1873 1871 an account recount of the eghi which he be accompanied by dr horace wells witnessed when the idea first occurred to the latter gentleman that laughing gaa gas might be successfully used aed aa as an ant esthetic at that exhibition says dr riggs dr horace wells was present nt and then the n an and d there conceio ed il the ide idea i from an art acci dent lent that the tile gas could be used to extract teeth without pain then after describing how wells determined to have a tooth extracted under its influence he went on t to 0 say a y he be invited the party colton cooly and two others to come up and witness the operation I 1 was attending to a pa tient but was awaiting wells return when mien I 1 entered wells ells office the said party was there wells took his lis seat sent in fit the operating chair I 1 examined the tooth so as to be ready to operate without delay wells took the bag in his lap held the tube to his mouth and inhaled until insensibility lity relaxed the muscles of his arms his hands fell on ills ilia breast his lis head dropped on the head rest and I 1 instantly paced tha the forceps into the mouth on to the tooth and extracted it mr colton cooly and the two others stood by the open door ready to run out if wells jumped up from the chair and made any an hostile demonstrations you may ask why did he not get up briefly because he lie could not our agreement the night previous was to push the administration to a point hitherto unknown we knew not whether death or success confronted us ib it was w as a terra term incognito we were bound to explore the result is know known n to the world no one but wella wells and myself knew to what point the inhalation was w m to bo be carried the 1 he result was painfully problematical to us but the great law of nature hitherto un unknown known was kind to us and a grand di discovery ry was born into the world noldo vow do not understand me as claiming joint discovery with dr wells the great idea of was his that we elu elaborated borated it together was honor enough for me I 1 have no feel ing in this matter except in the interest of truth right and justice i for the credit of dr colton I 1 can say he made the gas gave a bag of it to D dr r wells to experiment with witnessed t the he operation of extracting the first tooth and went on his fits way to other cities with his grind exhibitions and eight strong men to make them laugh more than they have for the six months previous I 1 new york press |