Anesthesia - Hartford, CT
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 41° 43.406 W 072° 41.849
18T E 691518 N 4621631
Anesthesia is the theme of the Dr. Horace Wells monument. The monument is located in Cedar Hill Cemetery at 453 Fairfield Avenue, Hartford, CT.
Waymark Code: WM16AED
Location: Connecticut, United States
Date Posted: 06/14/2022
Views: 5
The Dr. Horace Wells monument contains three bronze works of art on the theme of anesthesia created by artist Louis Potter.
The front of the monument has a relief sculpture of an angel delivering anesthesia to a patient with the inscription THERE WILL BE NO PAIN and below is the inscription HORACE WELLS. On the sides of the monument are high relief sculpture of two women. Underneath the women are the inscriptions I SLEEP TO AWAKEN and I AWAKE TO GLORY.
The back of the monument has the inscription:
HORACE WELLS
1815 - 1848
DISCOVERER OF ANAESTHESIA
Dr. Horace Wells (1815-1848) was a dentist practicing in Hartford. He is credited with discovering anesthesia after experimenting upon himself with the use of nitrous oxide (laughing gas), N2O. Dr. Wells successfully demonstrated the anesthesia value of nitrous oxide by having his own tooth extracted by an associate, John Riggs. He then used the procedure on his patients. He refused to patent the discovery because he believed that pain relief should be in the public domain.
Unfortunately, when he attempted to demonstrate surgery under anesthesia at Massachusetts General Hospital to an audience of doctors, the nitrous oxide was improperly administered by the anesthesiologist and the patient cried out in pain. Thoroughly embarrassed, Wells returned to Hartford, began to shut down his practice, and committed suicide on January 24, 1848. He was 33 years old.