Horace Wells (1815 – 1848)

Born in Hartford, Vermont, he had become a dentist and was working in Hartford, Connecticut, when about 1840 he became interested in the possibility of using nitrous oxide (“laughing gas”) as a painkiller during tooth extration. In 1841 he formed a partnerhip with a Boston dentist, William T. G. Morton, who had been looking into ether as an anesthetic.

In December 1844, Wells had one of his own teeth extracted while under nitrous oxide and he extracted several more from patients without pain. However, when he attempted to demonstrate the gas’s efficacy for surgery at Harvard Medical School in 1845, it failed.

In 1846 Morton successfully demonstrated the use of ether first for tooth extraction and then for surgical operations at Massachusetts General Hospital. In December 1846, Wells published a claim in the Hartford Courant that he had discovered the anesthetic effect of both nitrous oxide and ether; in 1847 he elaborated his claims in a pamphlet. Morton, meanwhile, filed patent claims for ether, which was at once regarded as superior for protracted operations.

Wells moved to New York City, and continued his investigations into anesthetics. Jailed for creating a disturbance while under the influence of chloroform, he committed suicide.

2 RARE Vintage African American Magazines~1976-77 BLACK FORUM~Vol. I, Nos. 1 & 2 picture

2 RARE Vintage African American Magazines~1976-77 BLACK FORUM~Vol. I, Nos. 1 & 2

$175.00



Horace Henderson Signed 8 X 10 Jazz Photo Photograph picture

Horace Henderson Signed 8 X 10 Jazz Photo Photograph

$100.00



'The nigger' in the woodpile, Republican, antislavery, Horace Greeley Abolition picture

'The nigger' in the woodpile, Republican, antislavery, Horace Greeley Abolition

$9.99



Horace Greeley 1872 Presidential Election Match Safe picture

Horace Greeley 1872 Presidential Election Match Safe

$40.00



WW II Korean War Navy USS Horace A Bass APD 124 Steady As You Go Wall Plaque picture

WW II Korean War Navy USS Horace A Bass APD 124 Steady As You Go Wall Plaque

$50.00



Horace Greeley Presidental candidate in 1872 picture

Horace Greeley Presidental candidate in 1872

$100.00



1888 N79 Duke & Sons, History of Poor Boys - Horace CLAFLIN - SGC 1 picture

1888 N79 Duke & Sons, History of Poor Boys - Horace CLAFLIN - SGC 1

$95.00



Horace Slughorn Hourglass Mini, Harry Potter, RARE, Wizarding World, Geek Trunk picture

Horace Slughorn Hourglass Mini, Harry Potter, RARE, Wizarding World, Geek Trunk

$34.00



WALT DISNEY 1935 Horace Horsecollar SGC 2 GD Mickey Mouse's New Card Game *RARE* picture

WALT DISNEY 1935 Horace Horsecollar SGC 2 GD Mickey Mouse's New Card Game *RARE*

$179.00



RARE Horace Silver Song for my Father Signed Numbered Manuscript Jazz 1964 picture

RARE Horace Silver Song for my Father Signed Numbered Manuscript Jazz 1964

$450.00