Horace Wells (1815-1848) studied dentistry in Boston prior to establishing his practice in Hartford in 1836. Eight years later he attended a nitrous oxide exhibition and noticed that a participant had cut his leg, but feeling no pain, was unaware of it. He immediately grasped the implications of his observation and was determined to explore the possibilities of nitrous oxide.
Wells invited colleagues to administer nitrous oxide to him prior to extracting a tooth. Under the influence of the gas, he felt no pain during the procedure. After this, Wells used nitrous oxide frequently to painlessly extract teeth. In 1845, he traveled to Massachusetts to demonstrate the use of nitrous oxide in a surgical operation. Unfortunately, the patient cried out, the audience booed and jeered, and Wells departed disheartened.
Shortly thereafter, Dr. William Morton, who had been associated with Wells for a short time, began working with Dr. Charles Jackson to manufacture an anesthesia that combined nitrous oxide and ether. This formula was successfully used in operations at Massachusetts General and the two sought to establish themselves as the discoverers of the principle of anesthesia.
Meanwhile Wells traveled to Paris where his claims to the discovery and his intent to give it to the world without monetary benefit were recognized. Upon his return to the U. S., he found that Morton and Jackson had placed patents on their product with the intent to create a monopoly. Wells disclaimed their rights to the patents on the grounds that their product was nothing more than his original nitrous oxide compound.
In New York on January 21, 1848, his 33rd birthday, Wells was arrested for throwing acid at two women while under the influence of chloroform and was taken to the Tombs. The next day he was permitted to return home to retrieve a razor and other personal necessities. He also retrieved a bottle of chloroform. After attending church services in the Tombs, he self-administered the chloroform and cut the major artery in his leg, thus, committing suicide.
Although the debate surrounding the beginnings of anesthesia continued after his death, Horace Wells was recognized for discovering the principle of anesthesia by the American Dental Society in 1864 and the American Medical Association in 1870.
