Introduction
Nitrous oxide (gas). No. Laughing gas. The gas is slightly soluble in water.
Mind
Became so violent in dentist’s chair, could hardly hold her.
Unusual exaltation of mind, the most agreeable sensations and fancies; had an involuntary desire to laugh (after one hour).
“The principal feeling was a total difficulty of restraining my feelings, both corporeal and mental; or, in other words, not having any command over myself. Begged me to give her something to kill her or else make her better. Mental torture beyond endurance. It was a nightmare of the mind, pure and simple, in which no earthly objects took part. He was like Blake, or any other madman you might name, trying in that exquisitely painful moment to solve the insoluble and grasp the illimitable; he was now endeavoring to conceive what lay beyond all space, and now trying to realize the condition of nothing. Then came a spiral winding from an infinite distance into a point, when he exclaimed to himself, “I can bear it on longer; I am going mad,” and at that instant awoke. “Inhaling the gas, I felt as if every nerve was gently agitated with a lively enjoyment. Soon found his nervous system agitated by the highest sensations of pleasure, but which were difficult of description. When the bags were exhausted and taken from him, he suddenly started from his chair, and vociferating with pleasure, made towards those than were present, as he wished they should participate in his feelings. He struck gently at Davy, and a stranger entering the room at the same moment, he made towards him and gave him several blows; but, he adds, it was more in the spirit of good humor than in that of anger. He then ran through different rooms in the house, and at last returned to the laboratory somewhat more composed, although his spirits continued more elevated for some hours after the experiment; he felt, however, no subsequent effects either in the evening or day following. Upon another occasion, he states that his sensation were superior to anything he ever before experienced; his step was firm, and all his muscular power increased. His nerves were more alive to every surrounding impression; he threw himself into several theatrical attitudes, and traversed the laboratory with a quick step, while his mind was elevated to a most sublime height; he says that it is giving by a faint idea of his feelings to say that they resembled those produced by a representation of a heroic scene on the stage, or by reading a sublime passage in poetry, when circumstances contribute to awaken the finest sympathies of the soul. The influence, however, of this inspiring agent appears to have been as transitory as its effects were vivid; for he afterwards observes, “I have seldom lately experienced vivid sensations. The pleasure produced by the gas is slight and tranquil, and I rarely feel sublime emotions or increased muscular power.” First, there was noticed a pleasant sensation of exhilaration or general stimulation, on which the thoughts ran rapidly through the brain, and soon it appeared to me that I was dreaming; then the head felt full, giddiness supervened, and a humming of buzzing sensation, together with a feeling as though I was gradually being elevated up into the air and passing away. A peculiar tingling sensation in the finer nerves of the extremities was observed, somewhat analogous to that which is felt when experiencing that feeling which is commonly expressed by the term “hand or foot being asleep,” caused by pressure on the main nerve-trunk of the part, and similar to that I noticed over the whole body when I was suffering from an attack of “spotted fever” or typhus petechialis. The last impressions were that I was laughing, while at the same time I was flying through the air, and my feet were trembling and going up and down as though pressing upon a treadle that propelled the imaginary machinery that was conveying me through the air, while everything around was fast becoming dim; complete unconsciousness then ensued. The return from this state was sudden, as if arousing from a sound sleep, and the first objects that attracted my attention were the five or six gentlemen who were in the room, violently convulsed with laughter, while I myself was seized with a hearty convulsion of laughter, which I could not in any manner control. It produced the usual pleasurable effects, and slight muscular motion. I continued exhilarated for some minutes afterwards; but in half an hour found myself neither more nor less exhausted than before in experiment. I had a great propensity to sleep. I repeated the experiment four or five times during the following week with similar effects. My susceptibility was certainly not diminished; I even thought that I was more affected than formerly by equal doses. For three minutes I experienced no alternation in my sensations, though immediately after the introduction of the Nitrous oxide, the smell and taste of it were very evident. In four minutes I began to feel a slight glow in the cheeks, and a generally diffused warmth over the chest, though the temperature of the box was not quite 50*. I had neglected to feel my pulse before I went in; at this time it was 104 and hard; the animal heat was 98*. In ten minutes the animal heat was near 99*; in a quarter of an hour, 99.5*, when the pulse was 102, and fuller than before. At this period twenty quarts more of Nitrous oxide were thrown into the box, and well mingled with the mass of air by agitation. In twenty-five minutes the animal heat was 100*, pulse 124. In thirty minutes twenty quarts more of gas were introduced. My sensations were now pleasant; I had a generally diffused warmth, without the slightest moisture of the skin; a sense of exhilaration similar to that produced by a small dose of wine, and a disposition to muscular motion and to merriment. In three-quarters of an hour the pulse was 104, and animal heat not 99.5*; the temperature of the chamber was 64*. The pleasurable feelings continued to increase, the pulse became fuller and slower, till in about an hour it was 88, when the animal heat was 99*. Twenty quarts more of air were admitted. I had now a great disposition to laugh, luminous points seemed frequently to pass before my eyes, my hearing was certainly more acute, and I felt a pleasant lightness and power of exertion in my muscles. In a short time th symptoms became stationary; breathing was rather oppressed, and on account of the great desire of action, rest was painful. I now came out of the box, having been in precisely an hour and a quarter. The moment after, I began to respire twenty quarts of unmingled Nitrous oxide. A thrilling, extending from the chest to the extremities, was almost immediately produced. I felt a sense of tangible extension, highly pleasurable, in every limb; my visible impressions were dazzling and apparently magnified; I heard distinctly every sound in the room, and was perfectly aware of my situation. By degrees, as the pleasurable sensations increased, I lost all connection with external things; trains of vivid visible images rapidly passed through my mind, and were connected with words in such a manner as to produce perceptions perfectly novel. I excited in a world on newly connected and newly modified ideas. I theorized; I imagined that I made discoveries. When I was awakened from this semi-delirious trance by Dr. Kinglake, who took the bag from my mouth, indignation and pride were the first feeling produced by the sight of the persons about me. My emotions were enthusiastic and sublime, and for a minute I walked round the room perfectly regardless of what was said to me. As I recovered my former state of mind, I felt an inclination to communicated the discoveries I had made during the experiment. I endeavored to recall the ideas; they were feeble and indistinct; on collection of terms, however, p-resented itself, and with the most intense belief and prophetic manner, I exclaimed to Dr. Kinglake, “Nothing exists but thoughts! The universe is composed of impressions, ideas, pleasures, and pains!” About three minutes and a half only had elapsed during this experiment, though the time, as measured by the relative vividness of the recollected ideas, appeared to me much longer. Not more than half of the Nitrous oxide was consumed. After a minute, before the thrilling of the extremities had disappeared, I breathed the remainder. Similar sensations were again produced; I was quickly thrown into the pleasurable trance, and continued in it longer than before. For many minutes after the experiment, I experienced the thrilling in the extremities; the exhilaration continued nearly two hours. For a much longer time I experienced the mild enjoyment before described connected with indolence; no depression or feebleness followed. I ate my;dinner with great appetite, and found myself lively and disposed to action immediately afterwards. I passed the evening in executing experiments. At night, I found myself unusually cheerful and active, and the hours between 11 and 2 were spent in copying the foregoing detail from the commonplace book, and in arranging the experiments. In bed, I enjoyed profound repose. When I awoke in the morning, it was with consciousness of pleasurable existence, and this consciousness, more or less, continued through the day. A few seconds after the commencement of the inhalation the pulse began to grow firmer and less compressible, and to decrease in frequency, falling from 85 to 75 in the course of the first minute. In less than a minute the breathing became quicker and almost of a blowing character.
Born in 1837in Westminster, Vermont. . He was an orthodox doctor who converted to homeopathy
Dr. Allen compiled the Encyclopedia of Pure Materia Medica over the course of 10 years.
In 1881 Allen published A Critical Revision of the Encyclopedia of Pure Materia Medica.