The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1898-10-01
A FAMOUS DENTIST.
The Late G. Q. Colfon First Used "Lau~A-
ing Cas- in Practice.

ing Cas- in Practice.
DR.. Gardner Quincy Cotton, late of
New York city, to whom belongs in
part the credit of anesthesia by largh-
ing gas, died recently in Rotterdam at
the age Of 81: Besides being : den
list; DR.: Cotton was physician, lee
turer;a critiG;ar electrician and at one
time gold prospector, having gone to
California with the argonauts Of ~,
both to search for gold and to practise
medicine among his fellow adventur-
ers. There is good grol1td for tbe be-
lief that he invented the first electric
motor ever run, but it never get be-
yond the model state, though the little
machine which be built worked per-
fectly:
Born in Vermont; the twelfth child
.6f poor parents; lie was able to get
only common school education before
being set to the trade of chairmaking.
All his spare moments were given to
reading and study and with such
good results that when be came to this
city at the age Of q; in 1885; he added
considerably to his means by writing
for the newspapers, until he had saved
enough money to achieve the first great
ambition of his life, course in the
College of Physicians and Surgeons.
After graduation he studied III the CT
flee of DR.. William Parker and two
years later set out upon d lecture
tour, speaking on philosophical and
chemical subjects. His favorite lee
ture was one dealing with electrical
phenomena and the peculiar effects
upon the brain Of nitrous oxide gas,
which he called laughing gas because
of ridiculous performances of persons
unller its influence. These lectures
he supplemented by experiments. In
1914 be lectured in Hartford, and,
among those on the stage was DR.:
Horace Wells. A young man having
inhaled nitrous oxide gas barked his
shins upon d chair; but felt no pain
until the effects of the gas wore Oh.
This struck DR.. Wells 80 forcibly that
he determined to have tooth out,
while under the influence Of the gas,
and the experiment was SO successful
that be published the result of it.
For long time other dentists scofed
at it, but when it's efficacy was proved
beyond doubt two other physicians,
Morton and Jackson, put forth claims
to the discovery which was to render
painless the most distressing f,rm Of
dentistry. The controversy which
followed was bitter in its progress and
tragic in its end, for it drove Drs.
Wells and Morton to suicide and !; Dr..
jackson to an insane asylum. There
after the use of nitrous oxide fell
awas but DIR. Coitou,-reviteS lit some
years later, giving full credis for the
: discovery to DR.. Wells.
In 1849, to illustrate the practica-
bility of electricity as motive power.
DR.. Cotton built small electrical To-
comotive, which drew train Of toy
cars around a circular track. This
was put away when the inventor went
west in 1849 and never resurre"tel
until wears afterward. In an impor-
tant patent suit the doctor was called
as witness and fshed it out of an old
trunk where it hal been for about 40
years. Withia little tinkering it ran
as we'll as ever. DR.. Coltons testi-
mony had a vital effect upon the case
on trial, and photographs OF the model
were taken and are now in the Smith
sonian institution in Washington. AS
a gold digger DR.. Cotton was moder-
ate success only, but as one of the very
few physicians among the argona'l's
he made good thing out of his vea-
ture. In 1850 Governor Riley AZ
pointed him the first justice of the
peace in California. Returning eat
shortly after he resumed his lee ure
tours, and early iu the Civil war he
got out the Cotton war maps. In 1873
he established the Cotton Dental as
sociation, and it is sail that he and
his assistants have pulled from the
painful mouths of sufferers more than
a million undesirable teeth. DR.. Col
ton published many pamphlets upon
literary, philosophical and theological
subjects, the best known of which is
his monograph on "Shakespeare and
the Bible" He left large fortune.