Researches, chemical and philosophical, chiefly concerning nitrous oxide.

Davy discovered the anesthetic properties of nitrous oxide and suggested its use during surgical operations. This suggestion was applied until 1844 when the American dentist Horace Wells volunteered to have the effects of nitrous oxide demonstrated on him by Gardner Quincy Colton, a member of a traveling circus. Wells felt nothing, and was the first patient to be operated on under anesthesia, having his tooth extracted later that year by his associate, John Riggs. See No. 5660. Digital facsimile of Davy's book from the Internet Archive at this link.