Jason Zhang

Paideia Research Paper

Mr.Belisle
December 18, 2017
Horace Wells: Modernizing Medical Care

Before anesthesia was discovered, doctors would use opium products or preparations

containing alcohol to sedate the patient before performing an operation (¨Anesthesia¨). Yet these

methods of pain relief were inconsistent at best. Anesthesia is a substance that reduces or prevents

pain and temporarily induces loss of sensation or awareness. Inhaled anesthesia was introduced to

the world by Horace Wells and his discovery of nitrous oxide or laughing gas. This gas provided

patients in Hartford with little to no discomfort during a dental procedure. However, after the word

of his discovery spread, Wells’ claim was challenged by two other professionals, William Morton

and Charles Jackson. Despite the conflict of who actually discovered inhaled anesthesia, its

discovery changed the lives of people for the better in the local community during the 19th century.

Horace Wells

Horace Wells, a dentist during the 19th century, was introduced to the effects of nitrous

oxide on a person. Horace Wells was born on January 21, 1815 in Hartford, Connecticut. In Boston,

he was educated in dentistry and began his practice back in Hartford, Connecticut at the age of 28.

In 1842, Wells took William Morton as his student, then eventually as his partner in dentistry

(“Horace Wells Discovers”). The partnership only lasted less than two weeks before Morton left

Wells (“Horace Wells Discovers”). Morton would return in the future to bring conflict to Wells

discovery. Horace and his wife, Elizabeth, went to a demonstration on nitrous oxide at Union Hall in

Hartford. During the show, a volunteer ingested the nitrous oxide gas and injured his leg. After the

demonstration, Wells informed the volunteer about his injury. He was unaware that he had hurt

himself since he experienced no pain. Wells, curious of the gas, asked Gardner Colton for some of
the nitrous oxide to take with him (“Horace Wells Discovers”). Wells then started experimenting

with the gas and attempted to figure out its effect on humans . In conclusion, Wells was introduced

to nitrous oxide gas and began experimenting with it.

Horace Wells brought the discovery of using nitrous oxide as anesthesia to Hartford,

Connecticut and attempted to spread the word of its capabilities. After Wells received the nitrous

oxide from Gardner Colton, he asked John Riggs to remove his wisdom teeth while under the

influence of the gas (“Horace Wells Discovers”). The procedure would normally be painful for the

patient but Wells experienced no discomfort. With this knowledge, Wells began using nitrous oxide

on his other patients to numb pain. He decided to demonstrate his discovery to the public by

performing a simple dental procedure to physicians in Boston (Haridas). It would determine how

many people would know about his discovery. Wells could of been very well known for being the

discoverer of effective anesthesia. Wells made a mistake by not giving the patient enough laughing

gas to eliminate all pain during the procedure (McCain 88). Because of this, the patient moaned as if

they were experiencing pain, and the physicians dismissed the gas as ¨a humbug.¨ To conclude,

Wells continued to work on his discovery and failed to present what the gas could do to the public.

Wells’ discovery of inhaled anesthesia was challenged by William Morton and Charles

Jackson. They had announced their own new anesthetic, Letheon (Bacon). It had similar effects to

nitrous oxide. They introduced it to the public and succeeded in a demonstration, an attempt Wells

had made but failed. The two were basically doing what Wells had tried to do before, but had more

success than him. Afterwards, they were seeking for a patent for inhaled anesthesia (McCain 89).

They were trying to beat Wells to his own discovery. After being informed about this, Wells started

fighting back for the credit for the discovery of inhaled anesthesia. He wrote and published ​History

of the Discovery of the Application of Nitrous Oxide gas, Ether and Other Vapors in Surgical Operations

in 1847. ​Wells was the first one to find the effects of the gas, but had a dispute with others that
believed that they were the first. Eventually, Horace Wells wanted the public to decide who

deserved the credit for the discovery (Gamsjager 25). Wells doing this shows that he strongly

believed that he was the one who really found it out before his competitors. In conclusion, Wells

faced conflict while trying to prove that nitrous oxide can be used for medical purposes.

The downfall of Horace Wells was caused by the poor decisions he made a few years after

he was introduced to nitrous oxide. Wells, suffering from depression, started inhaling chloroform

for exhilarating effect produced by it (McCain). The drug would cause him to think irrationally

shortly after. Wells threw a vial of sulfuric acid at two women while under the influence of

chloroform (“Horace Wells Discovers”). Doing something like this would put the person in serious

trouble. He was put in jail after the incident, and while there, Wells took a large dose of chloroform

that he had snuck in with him and used a razor to slash a major artery on his thigh which led to him

bleeding to death (“Horace Wells Discovers”). He should have taken the time to think about the

consequences before doing what he had done. To conclude, Horace Wells lost his life by making bad

decisions while under the influence of chloroform.

William Morton

William Morton was an influential person to the widespread knowledge of inhaled

anesthesia. Morton’s chemistry professor, Charles Jackson, suggested that he should experiment

with ether (Bacon). This caused Morton to dedicate his time to experimenting with the gas and its

use as an anesthetic. After Morton was confident with his findings, Jackson and him renamed the

gas to letheon. The gas would be less of Morton’s discovery if it was still called ether. He

approached John Collins Warren, Harvard's professor of surgery, and asked him for a chance to

publicly anesthetize a patient for an operation (Bacon). This relates to what Wells had attempted to

accomplish, but failed when the time came. Morton administered letheon to the patient, Gilbert

Abbott, through a glass inhaler, for the removal of a jaw tumor. The procedure would determine the
usefulness of letheon as a way of eliminating pain. This was his moment. After they had succeeded,

Morton and Jackson claimed to have discovered inhaled anesthesia and sought for a patent. This

caused the conflict between Wells and Morton. In conclusion, Morton’s discovery of letheon caused

more people to know about inhaled anesthesia.

Charles jackson

Charles Jackson influenced Morton’s discovery of letheon and how it was going to be

announced to the public. Jackson acknowledges that Morton made the discovery “in conjunction”

with himself in a paper (Gamsjager 20). Jackson wants to be included in the discovery since he

drove Morton in the right direction when experimenting with the gas. He wanted his name with

Morton’s in the discovery and even threatened that he was going to reveal what letheon really was

if Morton did not include him (Gamsjager 22). WIlliam Morton wanted the hide the identity of the

gas since he did not want the public to know that it was just ether. In summary, Charles Jackson

affected how William Morton was going to show his discovery to the people in the local community.

Lasting Impact

In the local community during the 19th century, the discovery of inhaled anesthesia

positively changed the lives of the people despite the conflict of who actually discovered it. Horace

Wells introduced nitrous oxide as an anesthetic for medical procedures but failed to publicly spread

its knowledge. Letheon was introduced by William Morton to the community and its findings were

acknowledged by other physicians. Assisting Morton, Charles Jackson first brought information of

ether to him and suggested that he analyse the gas. Their work has incorporated into modern

medical procedures, from a small scale to large. The discovery of inhaled anesthesia has influenced

the comfort of a patient while being operated on. Anesthesia gases are commonly used in the United

States and many other countries in the world.