Colton, Gardner Quincy

Gardner Quincy Colton, (born Feb. 7, 1814, Georgia, Vt., U.S.—died Aug. 9, 1898, Rotterdam, Neth.), American anesthetist and inventor who was among the first to utilize the anesthetic properties of nitrous oxide in medical practice. After a dentist suggested the use of the gas as an anesthetic, Colton safely used it in extracting thousands of teeth.

As he was studying medicine in New York (without taking a degree), Colton learned that the inhalation of nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, produced exhilaration. After a public demonstration of its effects in New York City proved to be a financial success, he began a lecture tour of other cities. On Dec. 10, 1844, at a Hartford, Conn., demonstration, Horace Wells, a dentist, asked Colton to extract one of his teeth while he was under the effects of the gas. Wells began using the gas in his dental practice and later made a controversial claim that he was the first to make practical use of the gas as an anesthetic, which Colton was always careful to acknowledge. Meeting at another lecture in 1863 in New Haven, Conn., J.H. Smith, a dentist, and Colton extracted more than a thousand teeth in less than a month while using the anesthetic.

Colton, with John Allen, established the Colton Dental Association, which was an immensely successful painless tooth-extraction service. The New York City-based organization opened branch offices in six other cities.

In addition to his work with anesthesia, Colton invented an electric motor, which was exhibited in 1847. After moving to California during the Gold Rush days, he practiced medicine there for a short time and was then appointed a justice of the peace in San Francisco.