Invention of Nitrous oxide Anesthetic(1800) laughing gas

 Davy's "laughing gas" proves an effective form of pain relief.

Anesthetic effects of nitrous oxide were first noted by Humphry Davy. The gas is colorless and almost odorless. while experimenting at the Pneumatic Institute in Bristol, England. Nitrous oxide caused Davy to laugh (creating the term "laughing gas") and relieved his toothache at the same time. He wrote in 1800 that the gas could "be used with advantage during a surgical operation." Following his observations, nitrous oxide became popular at fairground shows and laughing parties, but surgical use did not begin for forty years.

At one fair in the United States, Horace Wells, a Connecticut dentist, observed a man who gashed his leg while under the influence of nitrous oxide. He seemed to be pain-free, and wells immediately had one of his own teeth removed while breathing in the gad. In January 1845, Wells demonstrated the use of nitrous oxide in a dental extraction at the Harvard Medical school in Massachusetts. Unfortunately, insufficient gas was applied and the patient cried out in pain. As a result of the humiliation, Well lost his reputation as a dentist, and tragically, three years later, he committed suicide. Using nitrous oxide in surgery was then quickly caught in London and Paris the following year after dentist William Morton successfully used the gas during surgery to remove a tumor from a man's neck.

It is still used today in childbirth, dentistry, and some other medical procedures to reduce anxiety and provide some analgesia. Anesthetics have been successful despite chloroform being toxic and ether being explosive because it poses little danger.

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