From this demonstration, Wells realized the potential for the analgesic properties of nitrous oxide, and met with Colton about conducting trials. The following day, Wells conducted a trial on himself by inhaling nitrous oxide and having John Riggs extract a tooth. Upon a successful trial where he did not feel any pain, Wells went on to use nitrous oxide on at least 12 other patients in his office. In 1844, Hartford did not have a hospital, so Wells sought to demonstrate his new findings in either Boston or New York. In January 1845 he chose to go to Boston where he had previously studied dentistry, and also knew William Morton, his former student and associate. Wells and Morton's practice had been dissolved in October 1844, but they remained on friendly terms. Morton was enrolled in Harvard Medical School at the time and agreed to help Wells introduce his ideas, although Morton was skeptical about the use of nitrous oxide. He gave a demonstration to medical students at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston on January 20, 1845. However, the gas was improperly administered and the patient cried out in pain. The patient later admitted that although he cried out in pain, he remembered no pain and did not know when the tooth was extracted. It was later found that the gas is not as effective on both obese people and alcoholics—the patient was both. The audience of students in the surgical theatre jeered "humbug". After the embarrassment of his failed demonstration, Wells immediately returned home to Hartford the next day. Shortly after, he became ill and his dental practice became sporadic. On February 5, 1845, Wells advertised his home for rent. On April 7, 1845, Wells advertised in the Hartford Courant that he was going to dissolve his dental practice, and referred all his patients to Riggs, the man who had extracted his tooth. In October 1846, Morton gave a successful demonstration of ether anesthesia in Boston. Following Morton's demonstration, Wells published a letter accounting his successful trials in 1844 in an attempt to claim the discovery of anesthesia. His efforts in establishing his claim were mostly unsuccessful. Despite his advertisement for dissolving his practice in April 1845, Wells sporadically continued his practice, with his last daybook entry being on November 5, 1845. Later years Wells closed his office nine times and relocated six different times between 1836 and 1847.