1 00:00:02,560 --> 00:00:07,040 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. We recently talked about Humphrey Davy, including his 2 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:09,559 Speaker 1: work with nitrous oxide, and we talked about how it 3 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:13,200 Speaker 1: wasn't until later that people really started using nitrous oxide 4 00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:17,840 Speaker 1: for medical purposes rather than for recreation. Prior hosts talked 5 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:20,720 Speaker 1: about the shift to more medical use in their episode 6 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:23,800 Speaker 1: called Horace Wells and the Gas War, and that originally 7 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:27,480 Speaker 1: came out April thirtieth, twenty twelve. Of course, that means 8 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:31,840 Speaker 1: this episode includes some references to medical and dental experiments 9 00:00:31,880 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: and procedures that were being done without any kind of anesthesis, 10 00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:38,479 Speaker 1: So if you're squeamish about that, heads up. And there 11 00:00:38,479 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: are some references to some unethical experimentation. Also. The later 12 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:47,160 Speaker 1: part of Wells's story involves drug misuse on his part 13 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:50,520 Speaker 1: and a violent attack that he made against two sex 14 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: workers while under the influence. Welcome to Stuff You Missed 15 00:00:56,920 --> 00:01:13,840 Speaker 1: in History Class, a production of iHeartRadio. 16 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:08,480 Speaker 2: Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm to Blaine and 17 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:12,040 Speaker 2: Chucker Boarding and I'm faird douty. And it always surprised 18 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:14,400 Speaker 2: me when I was growing up that going to the 19 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:18,880 Speaker 2: dentist was characterized as such a dreaded event until that 20 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:21,199 Speaker 2: is I got my first cavity a few years ago. 21 00:01:21,319 --> 00:01:23,520 Speaker 2: I mean, I mean, you remember this, like waking up 22 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:25,760 Speaker 2: and watching Saturday morning cartoons and it seemed like all 23 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 2: the little kid characters hated going to the dentists. I 24 00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:30,600 Speaker 2: never got that. But then when I got my first cavity, 25 00:01:30,959 --> 00:01:34,360 Speaker 2: I was like, Okay, yeah, this sucks. The drilling, the tugging. 26 00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:37,039 Speaker 2: Even though you can't really feel the pain while it's 27 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:39,160 Speaker 2: going on, it's still just so uncomfortable. 28 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:42,720 Speaker 3: I actually haven't had a cavity yet, so ut I mean, 29 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:44,720 Speaker 3: knock on wood here, I don't want to tell yeah. 30 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:46,840 Speaker 2: In the pod you're still yeah, it could happen. 31 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:49,600 Speaker 3: But yeah, I mean I agree with your old perspective. 32 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:51,360 Speaker 3: Going to the dentist. Isn't that bad. 33 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:54,880 Speaker 2: Yeah, you get treats, you know, you get free toothpaste 34 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:58,400 Speaker 2: or whatever. People are nice to you. It's fine. So 35 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:00,800 Speaker 2: many of you, like me have probably experience some of 36 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:03,720 Speaker 2: those the darker side of dental procedures, And I mean 37 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:05,440 Speaker 2: I didn't even experience the worst of it. I can 38 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:09,000 Speaker 2: only imagine what having a tooth pulled would be like, 39 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:11,640 Speaker 2: And in researching today's subject, I not only had to 40 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:14,000 Speaker 2: imagine what that would be like, I had to imagine 41 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:16,959 Speaker 2: what it would be like without the glorious numbing effects 42 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:19,760 Speaker 2: of anesthesia, because in the time we're going back to, 43 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:23,480 Speaker 2: which is the early eighteen hundreds, anesthesia and its applications 44 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:27,359 Speaker 2: and medical procedures had not been discovered yet. Our subject. 45 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:29,720 Speaker 2: Horse Wells was one of the first to realize that 46 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:34,120 Speaker 2: certain substances nitrous oxide in particular, which were used at 47 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:37,679 Speaker 2: the time for recreation and entertainment, could actually be applied 48 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:40,720 Speaker 2: to the medical arena, and the first he was the 49 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:43,880 Speaker 2: first to really try to convince the medical community of such. 50 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:46,800 Speaker 3: But things didn't really quite turn out quite as he 51 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:50,040 Speaker 3: had hoped, and it led to a bitter competition for 52 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:54,440 Speaker 3: notoriety with his contemporaries that his wife dubbed the gas War. 53 00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:57,360 Speaker 3: So we're going to look at the build up too 54 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,519 Speaker 3: and the fallout from this so called gas war, as 55 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:04,640 Speaker 3: well as Welles's tragic later life that some people believe 56 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:08,640 Speaker 3: made him the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's Doctor Juckyll 57 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:09,799 Speaker 3: and mister Hyde. 58 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:12,120 Speaker 2: Before we get into Well's story, though, we need to 59 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:15,600 Speaker 2: point out that while he's often credited as the discoverer 60 00:03:15,639 --> 00:03:20,000 Speaker 2: of anesthesia, Inhalaesian anesthesia specifically. There were a lot of 61 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:23,760 Speaker 2: people who played a part in this discovery. English chemist 62 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:27,520 Speaker 2: and natural philosopher Joseph Priestley, for example, first discovered nitrous 63 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:31,600 Speaker 2: oxide gas in seventeen seventy two. Later that century, British 64 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:34,800 Speaker 2: scientist Sir Humphrey Davey started experimenting with it, and he 65 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:39,080 Speaker 2: realized that inhaling it made him burst out into waves 66 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:41,560 Speaker 2: of laughter, hence how it got to be known as 67 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:46,360 Speaker 2: laughing gas. It also brought on a euphoric state. Michael Faraday, 68 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:51,480 Speaker 2: Davy's associate, found in eighteen fifteen that ether produced similar effects. 69 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:54,920 Speaker 3: So by eighteen hundred or so, Davey had realized that 70 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:59,440 Speaker 3: nitrous oxide's promise as a painkiller was really there, and 71 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:04,120 Speaker 3: it's medical applications where they are too, and he included 72 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 3: those thoughts in some of his writings. But for some reason, 73 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:10,920 Speaker 3: the medical community didn't really do anything with this information 74 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:14,720 Speaker 3: at the time, and instead nitrous oxide and sometimes ether 75 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:17,920 Speaker 3: two became a huge hit with the upper class, who 76 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:21,640 Speaker 3: would throw these laughing gas parties where guests would use 77 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:26,279 Speaker 3: the gas recreationally for those euphoric effects that Dublina just mentioned. 78 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:29,920 Speaker 3: They would suck the gas out of balloons and laughing 79 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:33,440 Speaker 3: gus also became a form of entertainment for the masses too. 80 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 3: Traveling shows would charge admission and allow volunteers to try 81 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:39,840 Speaker 3: some of the gas out, and then the rest of 82 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:43,320 Speaker 3: the audience would just watch this volunteer stumble around and 83 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:44,760 Speaker 3: act all funny and weird. 84 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:48,839 Speaker 2: It could be that because nitrous oxide was associated with 85 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:52,840 Speaker 2: this silliness, the medical community didn't really take it seriously 86 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:55,240 Speaker 2: of the sideshow act, right, and that might be one 87 00:04:55,279 --> 00:04:59,600 Speaker 2: explanation for why it wasn't used in medical applications at 88 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:04,000 Speaker 2: this time. Meanwhile, surgeries and dental procedures, though like tooth extraction, 89 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:09,120 Speaker 2: continued to be carried out without any anesthesia. Patients would 90 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:13,159 Speaker 2: sometimes get a swig of alcohol or opium or mandrake maybe, 91 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:16,279 Speaker 2: but these weren't really great solutions because they often just 92 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:19,280 Speaker 2: made patients even harder to handle, and if you gave 93 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:20,880 Speaker 2: them too much, it could kill them. 94 00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:23,360 Speaker 3: A good example of this from a recent episode would 95 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 3: be poorled mister Bronte with his eye surgery, and how 96 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:29,880 Speaker 3: I just imagine how horrific something like that would be 97 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:32,279 Speaker 3: without any kind of sedative. 98 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:36,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, I also read an account in The New Republic 99 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:40,400 Speaker 2: of a nineteenth century surgery, and it mentioned how a 100 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:43,520 Speaker 2: patient was having tongue cancer removed, and so, you know, 101 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:45,800 Speaker 2: he had to be held down and restrained because you 102 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:47,880 Speaker 2: know that you're completely aware of what's going on, and 103 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:51,560 Speaker 2: you're completely you want to get away, you know, the 104 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:53,960 Speaker 2: surgeon just had to cut the tongue off as quickly 105 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:56,320 Speaker 2: as possible, and then the guy sort of got away, 106 00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:58,919 Speaker 2: he got out of his restraints and it had to 107 00:05:58,920 --> 00:06:01,960 Speaker 2: be chased down so that they could cauterize the wound, 108 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:04,560 Speaker 2: and ended up burning his lip in the process. And 109 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:07,880 Speaker 2: it was kind of a mess. And that's why for 110 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:11,000 Speaker 2: surgeons speed was really a virtue at the time. It 111 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:14,000 Speaker 2: was hard to make a lot of advancements in surgery, though, 112 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:16,640 Speaker 2: because you were just trying to get things done as quickly. 113 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:18,320 Speaker 3: As possible for your patient escapes. 114 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:18,640 Speaker 1: Right. 115 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:21,640 Speaker 2: So this was the state of the medical community when 116 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:24,760 Speaker 2: Horace Wells came onto the scene. He was born January 117 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:28,000 Speaker 2: twenty first, eighteen fifteen, in Hartford, Vermont, into a well 118 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:30,839 Speaker 2: to do family. He was descended from old school New 119 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:34,600 Speaker 2: England aristocrats. His grandfather had even served in the American Revolution, 120 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:37,640 Speaker 2: and as wealthy landowner, as Well's parents were able to 121 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:40,920 Speaker 2: give him pretty much everything that he needed while growing up. 122 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:43,600 Speaker 2: He went to private schools in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, 123 00:06:43,839 --> 00:06:46,400 Speaker 2: and according to an article by Peter H. Jacobson and 124 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:50,720 Speaker 2: Anesthesia Progress, Wells proved to be intelligent and inventive at 125 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:51,839 Speaker 2: a very early age. 126 00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:54,560 Speaker 3: So in eighteen thirty four, when Wells was about nineteen 127 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:57,760 Speaker 3: years old, he started training as a dentist in Boston 128 00:06:58,279 --> 00:07:00,359 Speaker 3: by a way of what was known then as the 129 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:03,640 Speaker 3: preceptor system. That basically meant that he learned by being 130 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:06,839 Speaker 3: an apprentice to another dentist. We may have discussed this 131 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:08,680 Speaker 3: in the McCullough interview a little bit. 132 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:09,080 Speaker 2: We did. 133 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:11,800 Speaker 3: There weren't any dental schools at the time, and the 134 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:15,000 Speaker 3: first one didn't open until eighteen forty in Baltimore, so 135 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:18,320 Speaker 3: this was really the only way you could learn a 136 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:19,160 Speaker 3: profession like this. 137 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:22,680 Speaker 2: In eighteen thirty six, Wells moved to Hartford, Connecticut, and 138 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:26,920 Speaker 2: he opened a practice there which became really successful, really quickly. 139 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:29,480 Speaker 2: He was considered one of the best dentists in town, 140 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:33,360 Speaker 2: and his patients included people like the governor and his family, 141 00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:37,920 Speaker 2: several other politicians, and some elite businessmen as well. He 142 00:07:37,960 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 2: married Elizabeth Wales in eighteen thirty eight and they had 143 00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:44,880 Speaker 2: one son in eighteen thirty nine. He also had students 144 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:47,160 Speaker 2: who worked with him pretty early on, even though he 145 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:49,800 Speaker 2: was a young dentist himself. Two of these students were 146 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:53,720 Speaker 2: John M. Riggs and William T. G. Morton, who become 147 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:57,040 Speaker 2: major characters later on in this story. Riggs ended up 148 00:07:57,040 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 2: practicing in Hartford, right near Wells, and Morton moved on 149 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:01,200 Speaker 2: to practice in Boston. 150 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:04,400 Speaker 3: So at twenty three years old, Wells wrote a small 151 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:08,080 Speaker 3: book called An Essay on Teeth that talked about oral 152 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:10,600 Speaker 3: diseases and how to treat them, as well as more 153 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:14,800 Speaker 3: general oral hygiene, tooth development, preventative care, you know, sort 154 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:18,720 Speaker 3: of dental basics, and he was really passionate about preventative 155 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:22,080 Speaker 3: dentistry and children's dentistry too. I mean, I would imagine 156 00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:24,200 Speaker 3: if you're seeing all these things, you try to think 157 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:27,240 Speaker 3: of ways to avoid them. But the main thing Wells 158 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:31,320 Speaker 3: did in his practice was, unfortunately, extract teeth, and he 159 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:34,160 Speaker 3: was always really troubled by the amount of pain his 160 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:37,240 Speaker 3: patients would have to go through to have a tooth pulled, 161 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:39,160 Speaker 3: so he was always trying to think of ways to 162 00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:42,280 Speaker 3: help that situation make it a little bit better. And 163 00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:45,240 Speaker 3: as mentioned, he had a very inventive mind. He invented 164 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:48,360 Speaker 3: and made his own instrument, so it's not too surprising 165 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:52,160 Speaker 3: that this problem would eventually set the wheels in his 166 00:08:52,240 --> 00:09:01,120 Speaker 3: head turning. 167 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:06,120 Speaker 2: According to Jacobson's article, in about eighteen forty, Wells told 168 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:10,079 Speaker 2: Hartford physician Linus P. Brocket that he was quote deeply 169 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:13,120 Speaker 2: impressed with the idea that some discovery would yet be 170 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:16,760 Speaker 2: made by which dental and other operations might be performed 171 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:19,880 Speaker 2: without pain. But Wells hadn't come up with any sort 172 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:24,320 Speaker 2: of solution himself yet when on December tenth, eighteen forty four, 173 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:26,720 Speaker 2: he read in the Hertford Current that there would be 174 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:30,319 Speaker 2: laughing gas exhibition, the kind of the kind that we mentioned. 175 00:09:30,040 --> 00:09:30,760 Speaker 3: A little earlier. 176 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:33,199 Speaker 2: That's fun, right, So it was going to be put 177 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:36,400 Speaker 2: on that evening in the city by Gardner Q. Colton. 178 00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:39,800 Speaker 2: It was billed as quote a grand exhibition of the 179 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:45,400 Speaker 2: effects produced by inhaling nitrous oxide exhilarating or laughing gas. 180 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:49,120 Speaker 2: And I have that Hartford Current article here, a little 181 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:50,880 Speaker 2: piece from it, and I just wanted to kind of 182 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:53,719 Speaker 2: read a little description of this event and see you 183 00:09:53,760 --> 00:09:56,280 Speaker 2: can decide if you would have been enticed by it 184 00:09:56,760 --> 00:10:00,679 Speaker 2: to come to this. What it says after the introduction, 185 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:03,320 Speaker 2: where it kind of says a grand exhibition of the 186 00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:07,880 Speaker 2: effects produced by inhaling nitrosoxide is forty gallons of gas 187 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:11,199 Speaker 2: will be prepared and administered to all in the audience 188 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:15,280 Speaker 2: who desire to inhale it. Twelve young men have volunteered 189 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:19,360 Speaker 2: to inhale the gas to commence the entertainment, Eight strong 190 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:23,079 Speaker 2: men are engaged to occupy the front seats to protect 191 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:26,400 Speaker 2: those under the influence of the gas from injuring themselves 192 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:30,880 Speaker 2: or others. This course is adopted so that no apprehension 193 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:34,680 Speaker 2: of danger may be entertained. Probably no one will attempt 194 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:37,640 Speaker 2: to fight. The effect of the gas is to make 195 00:10:37,679 --> 00:10:42,000 Speaker 2: those who inhale it either laugh, sing, dance, speak, or fight, 196 00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:46,679 Speaker 2: and etc. Etc. According to the leading trait of their character. 197 00:10:47,360 --> 00:10:50,120 Speaker 2: They seem to remain conscious enough not to say or 198 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:53,719 Speaker 2: do that which they would have occasion to regret. Oh, 199 00:10:53,720 --> 00:10:57,600 Speaker 2: I would so be there, Oh totally so. Colton would 200 00:10:57,600 --> 00:11:00,760 Speaker 2: travel around to various cities putting on these ships. Most 201 00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:03,040 Speaker 2: sources say that he had been a med student one 202 00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:05,640 Speaker 2: time and that's how he got introduced to nitrous oxide 203 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:06,360 Speaker 2: in the first place. 204 00:11:06,880 --> 00:11:10,480 Speaker 3: So Wells did decide he had the same opinion we did. 205 00:11:10,520 --> 00:11:12,560 Speaker 3: He decided to go, and he took his wife to 206 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:15,440 Speaker 3: the event that evening too, and they witnessed what was 207 00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:18,520 Speaker 3: probably pretty typical for one of these exhibitions. According to 208 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:22,520 Speaker 3: an article by Henry Wood Irving, probably a talk later 209 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:26,079 Speaker 3: printed in the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, Culton 210 00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:30,239 Speaker 3: started off by giving a brief lecture about nitrous oxide 211 00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:32,720 Speaker 3: and its properties, you know, a little bit of science talk, 212 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:35,760 Speaker 3: and then he took the first dose of the gas himself, 213 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:38,720 Speaker 3: something that he always did, maybe to reassure the audience 214 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:41,319 Speaker 3: nothing too bad was going to happen. The gas he 215 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:44,560 Speaker 3: used was contained in a rubber bag, and he'd administer 216 00:11:44,679 --> 00:11:48,240 Speaker 3: it through a kind of wooden faucet. Irving actually compared 217 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:51,559 Speaker 3: it to what might be used in country cider barrels. 218 00:11:51,640 --> 00:11:55,080 Speaker 3: But after Coulton had exhibited the effects of the gas 219 00:11:55,120 --> 00:11:58,280 Speaker 3: for everybody to see, he would invite up those volunteers 220 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:00,760 Speaker 3: onto the stage to get their fix. One of the 221 00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:04,599 Speaker 3: volunteers that evening, the evening that Wells was there was 222 00:12:04,679 --> 00:12:09,360 Speaker 3: a young drugstore clerk named Sam Cooley, who happened to 223 00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:11,360 Speaker 3: be sitting right near Wells. 224 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:13,640 Speaker 2: What happened to Cooley when he took the gas turned 225 00:12:13,679 --> 00:12:17,559 Speaker 2: out to be particularly interesting. He of course, started behaving 226 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:21,520 Speaker 2: really erratically, and, according to Irving, suddenly zeroed in on 227 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:25,240 Speaker 2: an audience member and mistook him for some imaginary enemy 228 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:27,160 Speaker 2: that he had made up in his head. He ate 229 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:31,080 Speaker 2: strong men exactly. Cooley then jumped the ropes and started 230 00:12:31,120 --> 00:12:34,280 Speaker 2: chasing the sky around the exhibition hall. At one point 231 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:37,120 Speaker 2: he even leapt over a settee after him, and then 232 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:41,240 Speaker 2: finally came to his sensus. Eventually, when Cooley sat back down, 233 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:44,080 Speaker 2: Wells noticed him sort of roll up his pant leg 234 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:48,640 Speaker 2: and reveal an injured and bleeding wound. When Wells questioned 235 00:12:48,679 --> 00:12:51,080 Speaker 2: him about it, Cooley said that he hadn't noticed it 236 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:53,439 Speaker 2: happened at all. He had felt no pain until the 237 00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:55,920 Speaker 2: nitrous oxide wore off, and then he sort of realized like, 238 00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:58,800 Speaker 2: oh that kind of risli, Yeah, what happened, and then 239 00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:01,000 Speaker 2: he rolled up his pant leg and saw it. That's 240 00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:04,560 Speaker 2: when Wells had his light bulb moment, realizing what nitrous 241 00:13:04,559 --> 00:13:07,960 Speaker 2: oxide could mean for the dental and medical professions. According 242 00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:12,720 Speaker 2: to Jacobson's article, Wells approached Coulton after the show and said, quote, 243 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:15,840 Speaker 2: why cannot a man have a tooth extracted and not 244 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:19,040 Speaker 2: feel it under the effects of the gas? Colton said 245 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:22,200 Speaker 2: he didn't know, to which Wells replied, quote, well, I 246 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:25,080 Speaker 2: believe it can be done. Of course, he still had 247 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:26,800 Speaker 2: to put that theory to the test. 248 00:13:26,679 --> 00:13:29,440 Speaker 3: But Wells didn't really waste any time in doing that. 249 00:13:29,520 --> 00:13:32,320 Speaker 3: He arranged for Colton to meet him the next morning 250 00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:35,720 Speaker 3: at his office with some nitrous oxide, and he also 251 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:39,600 Speaker 3: told his colleague and former student Rigs, who he mentioned earlier, 252 00:13:39,679 --> 00:13:42,960 Speaker 3: about this idea and recruited him to come help out 253 00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:46,680 Speaker 3: with the procedure. Finding a test subject wasn't really tough 254 00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:50,520 Speaker 3: at all, because Wells himself had a decaying wisdom tooth 255 00:13:50,559 --> 00:13:53,880 Speaker 3: that was really bothering him, and he proposed that he 256 00:13:53,880 --> 00:13:57,480 Speaker 3: would inhale the nitrous oxide and then have Rigs pull 257 00:13:57,520 --> 00:13:59,960 Speaker 3: out the tooth. So they all met up at Wells' 258 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:03,480 Speaker 3: office next morning as planned, the morning of December eleventh, 259 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:07,720 Speaker 3: eighteen forty four. Wells riggs Colton in this bag of gas. 260 00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:09,240 Speaker 3: I mean, it sounds like it's going to be a joke, 261 00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:12,640 Speaker 3: set up or something. Cooley was there too, since he 262 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:15,280 Speaker 3: was sort of the guy who had set this whole 263 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:18,400 Speaker 3: thing off, And when Wells sat down in the dental chair, 264 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:21,440 Speaker 3: he inhaled the nitrous oxide from Colton's bag, and then, 265 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:25,760 Speaker 3: according to Irving's article, it was more than anybody had 266 00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:29,960 Speaker 3: inhaled before, but not quite enough to make him totally unconscious. 267 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:31,880 Speaker 3: He wanted to really test this theory out. 268 00:14:32,040 --> 00:14:35,360 Speaker 2: Once he was under the influence, Riggs extracted the wisdom tooth, 269 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:38,520 Speaker 2: which he later said took great force to extract. So 270 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:41,880 Speaker 2: it's not like he was pulling any punches here. It's 271 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:43,400 Speaker 2: not like it was a ye had to put life 272 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:48,320 Speaker 2: procedure right. And Wells didn't exhibit any discomfort at all 273 00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:51,800 Speaker 2: throughout the whole thing. He stayed pretty much doped up 274 00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:53,960 Speaker 2: for a little while after the procedure, but when he 275 00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:57,760 Speaker 2: finally came to Wells is said to have exclaimed, quote, 276 00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:00,920 Speaker 2: it is the greatest discovery ever made. I didn't feel 277 00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:03,720 Speaker 2: so much as the prick of a pin. A new 278 00:15:03,800 --> 00:15:05,120 Speaker 2: era in tooth pulling. 279 00:15:05,640 --> 00:15:08,400 Speaker 3: So after this, Rigs and Wells devoted most of their 280 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:12,000 Speaker 3: time to testing out nitrous oxide on at least twelve 281 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:16,720 Speaker 3: to fifteen other patients. And according to Jacobson's article, Wells 282 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:20,000 Speaker 3: also administered the gas for two Hertford doctors who used 283 00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:23,440 Speaker 3: it during operation. So the use of gas worked in 284 00:15:23,560 --> 00:15:26,800 Speaker 3: all of these trial cases, it seemed like it was 285 00:15:26,920 --> 00:15:29,280 Speaker 3: really going to be a great new innovation. 286 00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:33,000 Speaker 2: Wells said later that they experimented with other gases too, 287 00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:36,520 Speaker 2: including ether, but after consulting with a local physician, he 288 00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:38,920 Speaker 2: decided to stick with the nitrous oxide because it was 289 00:15:38,920 --> 00:15:43,360 Speaker 2: considered safer. After these additional tests, so to speak, Wells 290 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:45,440 Speaker 2: decided that it was time to share what he'd found 291 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:48,840 Speaker 2: with the medical community at large. He later wrote, quote 292 00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:52,440 Speaker 2: on making this discovery, I was so elated respecting it 293 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:55,280 Speaker 2: that I expended my money freely and devoted my whole 294 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:57,440 Speaker 2: time for several weeks in order to present it to 295 00:15:57,480 --> 00:16:00,160 Speaker 2: those who were best qualified to investigate and decide upon 296 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:04,480 Speaker 2: its merits, not asking or expecting anything from my services. 297 00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:07,680 Speaker 2: Well assured that it was a valuable discovery. I was 298 00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:10,320 Speaker 2: desirous that it should be as free as the air 299 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:13,120 Speaker 2: we breathe. And that's important to remember that he said that, 300 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:16,280 Speaker 2: because it kind of sets him apart from some of 301 00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:19,880 Speaker 2: the other people who claimed the discovery. Later attagonists, yes, 302 00:16:20,520 --> 00:16:23,680 Speaker 2: so he looked into making a presentation in Boston, which 303 00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:26,960 Speaker 2: was the important hub in the US at the time, 304 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:30,480 Speaker 2: the Medical Hub Medical Hub exactly. In doing so, he 305 00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:34,040 Speaker 2: reconnected with his old student and colleague Morton, who'd been 306 00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:37,160 Speaker 2: studying medicine, who had just begun studying medicine at Harvard. 307 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:41,240 Speaker 3: So Wells told Morton about his discovery, and Morton helped 308 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:44,160 Speaker 3: put him in contact with one of his chemistry professors, 309 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:47,360 Speaker 3: a guy named Charles Jackson, who wasn't really much help 310 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:50,400 Speaker 3: because he was so skeptical of this whole thing. Then 311 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:53,120 Speaker 3: he put him in touch with doctor John Collins Warren, 312 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:56,960 Speaker 3: who was a professor of surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. 313 00:16:57,400 --> 00:16:59,880 Speaker 3: Warren was pretty skeptical too, but he still agreed to 314 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:03,120 Speaker 3: let Wells demonstrate his method in front of a room 315 00:17:03,160 --> 00:17:06,720 Speaker 3: full of senior medical students. Which This demonstration took place 316 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:10,760 Speaker 3: January twentieth, eighteen forty five, and Wells was supposed to 317 00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:13,760 Speaker 3: administer nitrous oxide to a patient who was scheduled to 318 00:17:14,080 --> 00:17:17,760 Speaker 3: have an amputation, but the surgery ended up being canceled, 319 00:17:17,880 --> 00:17:21,639 Speaker 3: so Wells instead proposed, well, let's do a tooth extraction, 320 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:24,920 Speaker 3: and there was a student present who stepped up as 321 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:26,800 Speaker 3: a volunteer. It's kind of hard to imagine now, a 322 00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:29,200 Speaker 3: medical student being like, you can work on me because 323 00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:31,080 Speaker 3: I have this tooth that needs to come out. But 324 00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:34,520 Speaker 3: that's what happened. He had a willing patient there, so. 325 00:17:34,560 --> 00:17:36,840 Speaker 2: Wells had the student inhale the gas, and when he 326 00:17:36,880 --> 00:17:39,480 Speaker 2: thought he was ready, he started to extract the tooth. 327 00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:42,919 Speaker 2: The student seemed okay at first, but then he cried 328 00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:45,440 Speaker 2: out at some point during the extraction, and the whole 329 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:48,760 Speaker 2: thing was considered a failure and called, quote a humbug affair. 330 00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:52,560 Speaker 2: Wells was literally booed off stage and he went back 331 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:57,040 Speaker 2: to Hartford just devastated. Wells theorized later that he'd taken 332 00:17:57,080 --> 00:17:59,400 Speaker 2: away the gas applied to early and that the student 333 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:02,760 Speaker 2: hadn't been completely under its influence during the procedure, and 334 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:05,440 Speaker 2: that's why maybe he felt something, though not as much 335 00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:10,240 Speaker 2: as he would have felt if he hadn't had anything. Interestingly, though, 336 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:13,520 Speaker 2: according to an article by Stuart Finder in Anesthesia Progress, 337 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:17,200 Speaker 2: the student later admitted that he didn't feel the tooth 338 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:18,280 Speaker 2: being pulled. 339 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:21,440 Speaker 3: So he just cried out, maybe because something else, I 340 00:18:21,480 --> 00:18:25,200 Speaker 3: don't know. Regardless, though Wells took the whole thing really 341 00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:27,760 Speaker 3: pretty hard, and he gave up his dental practice for 342 00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:30,880 Speaker 3: a while, and by spring of eighteen forty five he 343 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:34,000 Speaker 3: was referring all of his patients to Riggs. He said 344 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:37,440 Speaker 3: his experience in Boston brought on quote an illness from 345 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:40,920 Speaker 3: which I did not recover for many months. He finally 346 00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:45,240 Speaker 3: started practicing dentistry again sporadically later in the year. He 347 00:18:45,359 --> 00:18:49,199 Speaker 3: continued to use nitrous oxides successfully during procedures. I mean 348 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:52,439 Speaker 3: interesting that he's still so sure that it works, but 349 00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:56,040 Speaker 3: he takes it so hard this fiasco in Boston. He 350 00:18:56,119 --> 00:18:59,200 Speaker 3: did other stuff too, though, and according to Jacobson's article, 351 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:04,240 Speaker 3: he arranged a natural history exhibition in Hartford called Panorama 352 00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:07,639 Speaker 3: of Nature, and he also patented a new kind of 353 00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:08,520 Speaker 3: shower bath. 354 00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:20,120 Speaker 2: In the meantime, though, others had begun to share Well's 355 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:25,280 Speaker 2: interest in Inhalaitian anesthesia, namely his old buddy Morton. In 356 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:29,040 Speaker 2: eighteen forty six, Morton announced his discovery of ether as 357 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:33,440 Speaker 2: an anesthetic, saying that he'd tested it successfully on many patients, 358 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:37,400 Speaker 2: and according to an article by UCLA professor fa Caranza 359 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:41,480 Speaker 2: on the discovery of anesthesia, it was Morton's old mentor, Jackson, 360 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:44,520 Speaker 2: who'd actually suggested that Morton use ether in place of 361 00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:48,520 Speaker 2: nitrous oxide in his experiments. On October tenth of that year, 362 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:52,600 Speaker 2: Morton demonstrated his technique at Massachusetts General Hospital during an 363 00:19:52,640 --> 00:19:55,919 Speaker 2: operation in which doctor Warren removed a tumor from a 364 00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:59,159 Speaker 2: patient's neck. It was a scenario that was very similar, 365 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:01,960 Speaker 2: of course, to the Wells had faced before, but it 366 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:05,399 Speaker 2: was considered a success, and the entire medical community was 367 00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:07,439 Speaker 2: paying attention to what Morton was doing. 368 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:11,399 Speaker 3: Still though, it almost immediately kicked off a controversy about 369 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:15,680 Speaker 3: who deserved credit for the discovery of anesthesia, and Wells 370 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:19,240 Speaker 3: wrote a calm collected letter to the Hartford Current in 371 00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:23,560 Speaker 3: December of eighteen forty six, basically outlying his previous experiments 372 00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:26,960 Speaker 3: with nitrous oxide, the events surrounding his visit to Boston, 373 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:29,200 Speaker 3: and he also pointed out some of the things we've 374 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:32,280 Speaker 3: already discussed, you know, why his demonstration didn't work, and 375 00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:35,040 Speaker 3: also the fact that he'd used ether in the past 376 00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:38,119 Speaker 3: but really preferred to work with nitrous oxide. You know, 377 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:40,600 Speaker 3: he hadn't been completely clueless about ether. 378 00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:42,800 Speaker 2: Yeah, because that was one of the points that was 379 00:20:43,640 --> 00:20:46,239 Speaker 2: probably being great at the time, is that, oh, it 380 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:48,320 Speaker 2: was ether that works and not nitrous oxide, and you 381 00:20:48,359 --> 00:20:50,880 Speaker 2: were working with the wrong thing. When he's like, well, actually, yeah, 382 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:53,159 Speaker 2: I have worked with these other things too, but I 383 00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:56,159 Speaker 2: just decided this was the better way to go. But 384 00:20:56,280 --> 00:20:59,200 Speaker 2: Wells and Morton weren't the only ones competing for credit here. 385 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:02,119 Speaker 2: Jackson all so stepped up to the challenge since he 386 00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:05,000 Speaker 2: had suggested ether to Morton, he said, the whole thing 387 00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:07,440 Speaker 2: was really his idea. Even though if you'll remember when 388 00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:11,000 Speaker 2: Wells wanted to do this demonstration, it's we're skeptical, very 389 00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:14,719 Speaker 2: skeptical of the whole thing. Another doctor, one that we 390 00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:17,960 Speaker 2: know the name of well being living in Georgia, doctor 391 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:21,320 Speaker 2: Crawford Long of Georgia, also came forward around this time, 392 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:24,280 Speaker 2: and he claimed that he'd used ether during surgeries for 393 00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:27,000 Speaker 2: anesthetic purposes as far back as eighteen forty two, so 394 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:30,840 Speaker 2: a few years before, a couple of years before Wells 395 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:33,119 Speaker 2: had started experimenting with it. 396 00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:36,359 Speaker 3: It's Crawford Long's name that I've always heard connected to 397 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:37,920 Speaker 3: this whole subject, So there you go. 398 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:41,800 Speaker 2: But Long, for whatever reason, never demonstrated this to the 399 00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:46,000 Speaker 2: public or communicated it to the medical community until after 400 00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:47,720 Speaker 2: Morton's success became public. 401 00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:51,679 Speaker 3: So all of this back and forth. All of this 402 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:55,879 Speaker 3: battling kicked off what Wells's wife later called the Gas 403 00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:59,439 Speaker 3: War according to Jacobson's article, and Wells really made it 404 00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:02,600 Speaker 3: his mission and after that to prove his claim to 405 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:06,080 Speaker 3: the discovery, he traveled to Europe in late eighteen forty six, which, 406 00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:08,639 Speaker 3: as we've discussed in the past, was kind of the 407 00:22:08,640 --> 00:22:11,960 Speaker 3: center of medical innovation at the time. He gave some 408 00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:16,560 Speaker 3: demonstrations at medical institutions in Paris and petitioned the Academy 409 00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:19,760 Speaker 3: of Medicine and the French Academy of Sciences and the 410 00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:24,080 Speaker 3: Parisian Medical Society with his claim by February eighteen forty seven, 411 00:22:24,119 --> 00:22:26,359 Speaker 3: you know, really trying to get his name out there. 412 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:29,240 Speaker 3: After that little European tour, he came back to the 413 00:22:29,359 --> 00:22:32,919 Speaker 3: United States and published a pamphlet called History of the 414 00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:37,320 Speaker 3: Discovery of the Application of Nitrous oxide, gas, ether and 415 00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:41,760 Speaker 3: other vapors to Surgical operations, which also asserted that he 416 00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:44,640 Speaker 3: deserved the credit for the discovery of anesthesia. 417 00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:48,600 Speaker 2: In the meantime, Wells also started experimenting more with ether 418 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:51,680 Speaker 2: and chloroforms forms of fantasthesia. He moved to New York 419 00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:55,160 Speaker 2: City actually in January eighteen forty eight, where he continued 420 00:22:55,200 --> 00:23:00,680 Speaker 2: sporadically practicing dentistry and administering anesthesia and experimenting on the side. 421 00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:04,240 Speaker 2: Along the way, though, he became addicted to the chloroform 422 00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:06,800 Speaker 2: that he was experimenting with, and on the evening of 423 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:10,040 Speaker 2: January twenty first, eighteen forty eight, which was his thirty 424 00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:13,960 Speaker 2: third birthday, while under the influence of chloroform, Wells took 425 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:16,880 Speaker 2: some sulphuric acid from his office and threw it on 426 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:21,840 Speaker 2: to prostitutes, burning one of their necks. After this, he 427 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:24,640 Speaker 2: was jailed in Tombs prison. He was allowed to get 428 00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:27,200 Speaker 2: a few things from home though before getting locked up, 429 00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:29,200 Speaker 2: and two of the things he brought with him were 430 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:31,639 Speaker 2: some chloroform and a razor. 431 00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:35,240 Speaker 3: On January twenty fourth, eighteen forty eight, he inhaled some 432 00:23:35,359 --> 00:23:38,880 Speaker 3: chloroform while in his cell and then committed suicide by 433 00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:43,000 Speaker 3: slashing his left femoral artery. Twelve days or so before 434 00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:46,520 Speaker 3: he died, the Parisian Medical Society voted that he was 435 00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:49,760 Speaker 3: quote do all the honors of having first discovered and 436 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:54,680 Speaker 3: successfully applied the use of vapors or gases, whereby surgical 437 00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:58,000 Speaker 3: operations could be performed without pain. So he got that 438 00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:01,280 Speaker 3: recognition that he was trying to get. It also gave 439 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:04,600 Speaker 3: him an honorary MD and made him an honorary member 440 00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:08,080 Speaker 3: of the society. But of course Wells didn't learn about 441 00:24:08,119 --> 00:24:10,000 Speaker 3: any of this before his death. 442 00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:12,720 Speaker 2: So it was a sad end for a guy who 443 00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:16,240 Speaker 2: was really passionate about his career and about reducing patient's pain. 444 00:24:16,359 --> 00:24:19,359 Speaker 2: Ultimately that's what he wanted. But it was that decline 445 00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:23,240 Speaker 2: towards the end that some say influenced the Doctor Jekyl 446 00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:26,159 Speaker 2: and mister Hyde's story. So I don't know if there 447 00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:28,280 Speaker 2: are some literary buffs out there who can make the 448 00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:31,040 Speaker 2: connections and want to. I've read the book, but I 449 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:32,880 Speaker 2: read it a long time ago, so here. 450 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:36,240 Speaker 3: But I mean, I can see the connection between self experimenting, 451 00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:38,639 Speaker 3: which I know is a common thing in the medical 452 00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:42,160 Speaker 3: world at this time, but sure making yourself into from 453 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:47,200 Speaker 3: somebody who's respectable and innovative into somebody who is burning 454 00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:49,560 Speaker 3: prostitutes with selfioric as. 455 00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:52,119 Speaker 2: A little bit of a monster. He continued to receive 456 00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:55,200 Speaker 2: honors even after his death, though in eighteen sixty four 457 00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:59,119 Speaker 2: and eighteen seventy respectively, the American Dental Association in the 458 00:24:59,119 --> 00:25:03,920 Speaker 2: American medical asociation both recognize Wells as the discoverer of anesthesia. 459 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:06,760 Speaker 2: Of course, as we mentioned earlier in this podcast, this 460 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:10,280 Speaker 2: is still sort of a debated point, since others such 461 00:25:10,280 --> 00:25:14,480 Speaker 2: as Long, may have used inhalation agents earlier than Wells did. 462 00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:17,240 Speaker 2: And as you mentioned, I mean, that's who you think 463 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:19,399 Speaker 2: of when you think of the discovery of anesthesia. For 464 00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:23,440 Speaker 2: other people, it might be Morton. So there are a 465 00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:26,480 Speaker 2: lot of people that could lay claim to this, but 466 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:29,080 Speaker 2: it's Wells who really recognize the true potential of what 467 00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:31,800 Speaker 2: he'd found and sought to get the word out about 468 00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:35,280 Speaker 2: it with apparently no desire for profit. And it's that 469 00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:38,760 Speaker 2: point again that we come back to because Morton handled 470 00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:39,760 Speaker 2: it differently he did. 471 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:42,040 Speaker 3: I mean, Morton, on the other hand, did appear to 472 00:25:42,119 --> 00:25:45,600 Speaker 3: have personal gain in mind when it came to anesthesia, 473 00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:48,000 Speaker 3: and at first he tried to keep the type of 474 00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:51,720 Speaker 3: gas he was using secret. He called it letheon and 475 00:25:51,840 --> 00:25:55,119 Speaker 3: tried to disguise it scent. He wanted to try to 476 00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:58,560 Speaker 3: make it a patented gas because of course everybody was 477 00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:01,360 Speaker 3: interested in using it at this point, But it eventually 478 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:03,200 Speaker 3: came out that it was just ether. You know, it's 479 00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:06,240 Speaker 3: something that anybody could get a hold of and hospitals 480 00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:10,359 Speaker 3: and other institutions were allowed to use it as they wished. 481 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:13,160 Speaker 3: It wasn't under any one individual's control. 482 00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:16,080 Speaker 2: And after that, Morton still tried to get a patent. 483 00:26:16,119 --> 00:26:17,879 Speaker 2: He tried to pat and he's like, Okay, if I 484 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:21,200 Speaker 2: can't patent the gas itself, maybe I can patent its 485 00:26:21,280 --> 00:26:24,320 Speaker 2: method of use. He seemed determined to try to make 486 00:26:24,359 --> 00:26:27,440 Speaker 2: money off of this discovery, and even after Well's death, 487 00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:30,639 Speaker 2: Morton and Jackson continued their little gas war. They continued 488 00:26:30,680 --> 00:26:33,680 Speaker 2: to compete to be recognized as the true discoverer of anesthesia, 489 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:37,080 Speaker 2: and they both pursued a one hundred thousand dollars award 490 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:40,439 Speaker 2: for the honor from US Congress. Morton even tried to 491 00:26:40,520 --> 00:26:44,960 Speaker 2: bribe people like Rigs and even Well's widow to lobby 492 00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:48,520 Speaker 2: for him in this respect, but ultimately neither I've ever 493 00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:49,240 Speaker 2: got the cash. 494 00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:52,280 Speaker 3: Sounds like it got pretty pretty dirty at the end there, 495 00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:56,720 Speaker 3: so Wells the supporters continued to defend him. And if 496 00:26:56,760 --> 00:26:59,360 Speaker 3: there was truly a winner in the gas war, I mean, 497 00:26:59,359 --> 00:27:01,560 Speaker 3: it sounds like just a lot of tragedy came out 498 00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:04,320 Speaker 3: of it. If there was a winner, it was probably 499 00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:07,280 Speaker 3: just society at large. You know that you wouldn't have 500 00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:10,520 Speaker 3: to get your eye surgery like mister Bronte, or get 501 00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:14,720 Speaker 3: your wisdom tooth yanked out without something delling the pain. 502 00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:17,439 Speaker 2: Yeah, going to the dentist could be a pleasure for 503 00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:21,720 Speaker 2: people everywhere rather than just something that you dread. And 504 00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:24,560 Speaker 2: the use of anesthesia was of course adopted all over 505 00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:27,800 Speaker 2: the world, although there was some resistance to this along 506 00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:30,520 Speaker 2: the way. Today we know that there are many different 507 00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:33,760 Speaker 2: types of anesthesia that have allowed for all sorts of 508 00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:38,240 Speaker 2: medical innovations. And so you know, no matter who we 509 00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:44,520 Speaker 2: can give total credit to for discovering anesthesia, probably all 510 00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:48,359 Speaker 2: of these people. There's no doubt that it did good. 511 00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:50,479 Speaker 3: And I feel like there's one more person we have 512 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:54,400 Speaker 3: to mention outside of this gas Wars fiasco. But Queen 513 00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:59,480 Speaker 3: Victoria helped really popularize the use of anesthesia because she 514 00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:02,560 Speaker 3: used it, I think and maybe her last or maybe 515 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:06,760 Speaker 3: even her last two pregnancies or her childbirth, and it 516 00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:09,679 Speaker 3: helped send the message that this was something okay, it 517 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:12,040 Speaker 3: was safe. If the Queen was using it, you're good 518 00:28:12,080 --> 00:28:12,439 Speaker 3: to go to. 519 00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:13,120 Speaker 1: Yeah. 520 00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:15,520 Speaker 2: Also, from a moral standpoint, I think one of the 521 00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:20,359 Speaker 2: reasons people were opposed to using it is because a 522 00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:23,399 Speaker 2: lot of religious institutions, for example, thought that you were 523 00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:27,280 Speaker 2: supposed to, especially during childbirth, you're supposed to feel that pain. 524 00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:31,280 Speaker 2: And her using it in childbirth for one of her children, 525 00:28:31,359 --> 00:28:33,840 Speaker 2: I think just sort of made it, like you said, 526 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:36,520 Speaker 2: it made it a little better, made it okay for 527 00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:39,840 Speaker 2: more people. And of course we couldn't get out without 528 00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:45,600 Speaker 2: making a Queen Victoria reference, the Queen of podcast cameos, 529 00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:46,880 Speaker 2: I know, name dropping. 530 00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:55,480 Speaker 1: Thanks so much for joining us on this Saturday. Since 531 00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:57,520 Speaker 1: this episode is out of the archive, if you heard 532 00:28:57,560 --> 00:29:00,400 Speaker 1: an email address or a Facebook RL or something similar 533 00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:03,320 Speaker 1: over the course of the show, that could be obsolete now. 534 00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:09,480 Speaker 1: Our current email address is History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. 535 00:29:09,880 --> 00:29:13,200 Speaker 1: You can find us all over social media at missed Inhistory, 536 00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:16,520 Speaker 1: and you can subscribe to our show on Apple podcasts, 537 00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:20,120 Speaker 1: Google podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, and wherever else you listen 538 00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:25,320 Speaker 1: to podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History Class is a 539 00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:29,720 Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio. 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