Following Priestley's discovery, Humphry Davy of the Pneumatic Institute in Bristol, England, experimented with the physiological properties of the gas, such as its effects upon respiration. He even administered the gas to visitors to the institute, and after watching the amusing effects on people who inhaled it, coined the term 'laughing gas'!

However, despite this observation, for the next 40 years or so the primary use of N2O was for recreational enjoyment and public shows. So called nitrous oxide capers took place in travelling medicine shows and carnivals, where the public would pay a small price to inhale a minute's worth of the gas. People would laugh and act silly until the effect of the drug came to its abrupt end, when they would stand about in confusion. Many famous people (of their time) and dignitaries from Clifton and Bristol came to inhale Davy's purified nitrous oxide for recreational purposes.

Inhalant effects

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a dissociative drug that can cause analgesia, depersonalization, derealization, dizziness, euphoria, sound distortion and slight hallucinations.

Since the earliest uses of nitrous oxide for medical or dental purposes, it has also been used recreationally as an inhalant, because it causes euphoria and slight hallucinations. Only a small number of recreational users (such as dental office workers or medical gas technicians) have legal access to pure nitrous oxide canisters that are intended for medical or dental use.