he influence were entertained by the participants, and admission fees were usually charged. An invitation to such an event is shown below. Also, private parties would be held where people would experiment with the effects of nitrous oxide, as illustrated in two of the pictures below. The participants were not aware of the potential long-term health consequences (7).
While modern knowledge of nitrous oxide has advanced significantly from the early 19th century, “its cellular mechanism of action is still not understood” (8). It is a powerful and useful gas with some significant health risks such as brain damage and even death if not used carefully and under the supervision of trained professionals. N2O’s groundbreaking potential for use as anesthesia for surgery was not fully realized until the American dentist Horace Wells (1815-1848) tried to use it as an anesthetic agent in a dental operation in 1845 (9).
Graham tried nitrous oxide on two occasions. A man who is said to be a travelling exhibitionist of chemical experiments stopped in Abingdon, VA while Graham was living there. After Graham inhaled nitrous oxide, “the sensations it produced were of the most delightful character, while inhaling it, leaving an impression like the taste of Cinnamon on the tongue” (1). Clearly it was not against societal norms to experiment with these types of substances and the subject is treated with a light, anecdotal tone.
In the early 19th century, public demonstrations of nitrous oxide’s effects on humans were common in the US. The noted businessman P.T. Barnum, among others, did nitrous oxide shows early on in his career. And when Samuel Colt, who patented the revolver in 1836, needed to raise money to fund production of his new invention, he produced nitrous oxide and, according to historian A.J. Wright, “traveled the Northeast charging 25 cents to people who wanted to see their fellow citizens make fools of themselves under the influence of laughing gas” (3).
By: Lucas Andersen
1. William Alexander Graham, “A Narrative  of Graham’s Journeys, Medical Training and Career 1816-1819 in Lexington, Va., Abingdon, Va., and Philadelphia,” pp. 1-3, Washington and Lee University Library, Special Collections.
2. Davy, H. Researches, chemical and philosophical; chiefly concerning nitrous oxide: or dephlogisticated nitrous air, and its respiration, 1st ed.; Biggs and Cottil: London, 1800. http://books.google.com/books/about/Researches_chemical_and_philosophical_ch.html?id=jhUAAAAAQAAJ (accessed May 14, 2012).
3. Wright, A.J. Nitrous Oxide Demos Fueled Fortunes Of Two 19th-Century Capitalists. Anesthesiology News. 2011, 37, 10. http://www.anesthesiologynews.com/ViewArticle.aspx?d=PRN&d_id=21&i=October+2011&i_id=768&a_id=19201 (accessed May 15, 2012).
4. Penn University Archives & Records Center. Penn Biographies: Robert Hare. http://www.archives.upenn.edu/people/1700s/hare_robt.html (accessed May 15, 2012).
5. Hare, Robert. Dictionary of Scientific Biography, 1st ed.; American Council of Learned Societies: New York, 1972; Vol. VI, pp. 114-115.
6. Hare, Robert. A Biographical Dictionary of Scientists, 3rd ed.; John Wiley & Sons: New York, 1982; pp. 242-243.
7. Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland. Ether Frolics and Nitrous Oxide Parties Information and Anecdotes. http://www.aagbi.org/sites/default/files/PRESS %20RELEASE_Misuse%20of%20Anaesthesia%205%20Oct.pdf (accessed May 15, 2012).
8. Mennerick, S.; Jevtovic-Todorovic, V.; Todorovic, S.M.; Weixing, S.; Olney, J.W.; Zorumski, C.F. Effect of Nitrous Oxide on Excitatory and Inhibitory Synaptic Transmission in Hippocampal Cultures. The Journal of Neuroscience. 1998, 18, 23, 9716–9726.
9. Shaw, A.D.S.; Morgan, M. Nitrous oxide: time to stop laughing? Anaesthesia. 1998, 53, 3, 213-215.