- Horace Wells
Horace Wells (
January 21 ,1815 –January 24 ,1848 ) was an Americandentist who pioneered the use ofanaesthesia in dentistry, specificallynitrous oxide (or laughing gas).Life
Born in
Vermont , Wells was educated inWalpole, New Hampshire before studying dentistry in Boston. After obtaining a degree, Wells set up a practice in Hartford,Connecticut , with an associate namedWilliam T.G. Morton , who would become famous for his use of ether as an anesthesia onOctober 18 ,1846 .Wells first bore witness to the effects of laughing gas in 1844 when he volunteered to have it demonstrated on him by
Gardner Quincy Colton , a member of a travellingcircus . Wells felt nothing, and began utilising it on his own patients. He did not attempt to patent the discovery because he stated that pain relief should be 'as free as the air'.He gave a demonstration to medical students at the
Massachusetts General Hospital inBoston in 1845. However, the gas was improperly administered and the patient cried out inpain . The audience of students jeered at Wells and left the theatre chanting "Humbug! Humbug!" Because of this embarrassment, Wells was discredited in the medical community. Later, however, Wells successfully had one of his own teeth removed while using inhalant anesthesia, proving its uses.cite web|url=http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object.cfm?key=35&objkey=113|title=Miniature Portrait of Horace Wells|publisher=National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution|accessdate=2008-06-30]After this disgrace, Wells gave up dentistry and became a travelling
sales man for the next two years, wandering Connecticut and selling canaries,shower baths and other household items. In 1847, he left forParis after being given a demonstration on anesthesia by his prosperous former partnerWilliam Morton .While in Europe, selling anesthesia for Morton and acting as a European expert on the subject, Wells became addicted to
chloroform . In January 1848, Wells self-experimented with chloroform for a week. He became increasingly deranged. One day, delirious, Wells rushed out into the street and threwsulfuric acid over the clothing of twoprostitute s. He was committed to New York's infamous Tombs Prison. As the influence of the drug waned, Wells' mind started to clear. In despair, he realised the horror of what he had done. Wells then committedsuicide , slitting an artery in his leg with a razor after inhaling an analgesic dose of chloroform to blot out the pain.Wells is buried at
Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford, Connecticut.Recognition
The
American Dental Association honored Wells, posthumously in 1864, as the discoverer of modern anesthesia, and theAmerican Medical Association recognized his achievement in 1870. [ [http://www.nndb.com/people/322/000161836/ Horace Wells] ]ee also
*
James Young Simpson
*Dental Anesthesiology References
External links
* [http://www.general-anaesthesia.com/images/horace-wells.html Dr Horace Wells (1815-1848)] Accessed:
2008-06-17 * [http://www.horacewells.piczo.com Horace Wells website]
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