that etiology, the science of the causes of dental caries, had been almost wholly neglected by essayists who had contributed to the proceedings of the Association, and suggested to the Section embracing etiology, that a committee be appointed with the object of making a careful, systematic study of the causes which contribute to the existence of dental caries. Without definite knowledge as to what action this Section may have taken in reference to the very excellent suggestion of Prof. Peirce, I can only offer as an apology for bringing this matter before you so soon again, my firm conviction that there is no subject in the whole domain of the science of dentistry that could more profitably engage the earnest attention of this body; for when we consider that much the larger proportion of our time spent in actual practice is occupied in the treatment of lesions caused by the almost universally prevalent disease which we denominate dental caries, and that notwithstanding the subject has been extensively studied, the fact confronts us, that the efficient cause of dental caries is still a matter for speculation. It is noteworthy, as well as encouraging, that the subject received so large a share of attention before the section devoted to the consideration of diseases of the teeth at the International Medical Congress held in London last year. The papers read before the dental section relating to the underlying and specific causes of this morbid condition, enriched as they were by details of actual experiment and original investigation, were among the ablest and most valuable contributions to that scientific body. And in our own country the study of the minute structure of the several tissues of the teeth, and the investigations made in the direction of the pathology of dental caries by that group of earnest workers connected with the New York Odontological Society, under the lead of Carl Heitzmann, are indications that the dental profession are becoming more and more convinced that all methods of treatment based on any other than definite knowledge, in health and disease, of the tissues on which we work, are at best largely empirical. True dental science may include much more, but certainly it means no less than that when the specific disease which we denominate dental caries is recognized, the efficient causes producing the symptoms shall be known and demonstrable. Less than this is but half-knowledge, and indicates that the status of dentistry has not risen much above the level of an art.

With the view of stimulating investigation in this direction, I would respectfully suggest that this Association offer a prize to members of not less than $250, for the best paper, based upon

strictly original investigation, relating to the etiology of dental caries; the award to be made and announced at the annual meeting in 1884.

A reference to our printed Transactions will discover the fact, that the subject of dental education has received its full share of the time and attention of the Association. Our dental colleges, as Prof. McQuillen was pleased, on occasion, to remark, have been subject to an annual criticism. These strictures have usually been made in a friendly spirit, and no doubt have in a degree been potent in advancing the standard of dental educational institutions. Occasionally a spirit of impatience has been shown on the part of the "selfassured critic," that the defects which he thought he clearly saw, "did not flee at his bidding." It is to be feared that it was somewhat in this spirit that the resolution regarding dental colleges was adopted at the annual meeting in 1880. As might reasonably have been anticipated, the adoption of this resolution has called forth a protest on the part of some persons who are especially interested in the management of our professional schools, and in its essence the resolution is regarded by them, as well as by others of the profession, as having an "air of dictation not authorized by the power of this Association." This and similar strictures are made by men whose opinions we may not regard lightly, for they are among those who have labored long and efficiently in the cause of dental education in this country. The adoption, therefore, of a line of policy in reference to educational matters, methods of practice, or indeed in any direction that partakes in any degree of a dictatorial spirit, it must be evident, is unwise, and cannot but have a reactionary effect. The history of the attempt on the part of the American Society of Dental Surgeons to exercise the unwarrantable authority of dictating to members the modes of practice they should pursue, which had the effect to dissolve that organization, is fresh in the minds of most of us. Prescription in this instance meant proscription, and as a result death ensued. We may profit also by the experience of the American Medical Association in their numerous attempts during a period of thirty years or more to improve the system of medical education and elevate the standard of requirements for the medical degree, and all without any apparent good.

Dr. T. G. Richardson, in his admirable annual address before that representative body of American physicians in 1878, in reference to this very subject said: "The measures proposed from time to time were sufficiently incisive, and to all appearances admirably adapted

to the ends in view, but unfortunately there was no power in the association to carry them out, and they remain on the record as mere mementoes of the praiseworthy zeal of their authors. We have just now found out," he continues, "that the plan of making war directly upon the medical colleges, endeavoring to compel them to conform their practices to our theories, or else surrender the prerogatives to which they had been so long accustomed, was altogether a mistake, and probably deserved the partial defeat which it encountered. Indeed, I am not quite sure that the many blows which these institutions received at our hands served rather to compact them together, and thus to increase their power of resistance." These are certainly suggestive words, and in them we have an instance of history teaching by example.

Gradually there has been an improvement in the system of medical education. Step by step progress has been made in obedience to the inevitable laws which prevail alike in the world of matter and the world of man. "All things have a slant forward, but a gradual and a slight one," and the history of reform in medical education in this country is no exception to this law, as will be seen when I state that the first medical colleges were established before the war of the Revolution, and that now, after the lapse of more than a century, not more than half a dozen of the one hundred and upwards of medical schools have adopted the advanced or graded system of instruction and a three years' course of study as a requirement for the degree.

The whole system of dental education of to-day in the United States, as represented by the sixteen colleges or departments, situated in ten different States, with their eighty professors, aiding in the instruction of over eight hundred students, has been developed within a period of forty years. In this comparatively short time it is hardly to be expected that a uniform scheme of tuition or of time requirement should have been adopted in all the dental schools, especially when we recall the fact that not more than one-half of those who enter upon the practice of dentistry each year receive any other training than a limited pupilage with a private preceptor in a dental office. We are naturally impatient of results; are too apt to want the end without the means. And if, in our estimate of the status of dental education in this country, the facts I have mentioned, together with the other significant fact that a majority of those who are now in the practice of dentistry in the United States have no degree either in dentistry or medicine, are duly considered; then

we have every reason to congratulate ourselves that dental education occupies the advanced position which it does.

In bringing about these encouraging results, our social society organizations, local, state, and national, have been largely influential, and since our dental schools receive their material and moral support from the profession, it is of the highest importance that the power which this and similar organizations have in creating and directing professional sentiment, and indirectly in enlightening the people in regard to the necessity of thorough special training on the part of those who hold themselves out as competent to treat dental ailments, should be judiciously exercised.

The merits of the several systems of dental education now in vogue in this country are, very properly, subjects for discussion. But whether the education of dentists can best be accomplished in schools especially established for this object, or whether this special mode of making a living shall in future be taught in our universities in connection with other special modes of making a living; or, indeed, as has been proposed by the few in the profession, whether our special degree shall be abolished altogether, and the training essential to successfully practice dentistry shall be supplemental to the acquisition of the degree of M.D., which it is claimed is sufficient and should cover all departments of the healing art,-these are questions that may safely be left to time, the great arbiter of all things.

I

SECTION IV..

OPERATIVE DENTISTRY.

Some Thoughts on Regulating Teeth.

BY WM. N. MORRISON, OF THE SECTION.

HAVE been very forcibly reminded, lately, of the numerous errors continually committed by old and otherwise respected practitioners, and earnestly defended and imitated by their pupils or students, in the extraction of the sixth-year molars for so-called regulating purposes, it being claimed by them that complete success crowns their efforts in every instance. I very much lament that so much stupidity exists in the profession to-day, that the mistakes cannot be seen by looking at the articulation of any set of teeth, and the facial expression, where such extraction has been performed. It is a rare treat, at this day, to see a perfect arch with a correct articulation. These matters have become so much of a study with me, that when I see persons in the street I can nearly always tell when they have met with the irreparable loss referred to before looking into their mouths.

It is with joy that I welcome all helps to the correction of irregularity. In our text-books and journals there are complicated and labored diagrams and descriptions of appliances, but it is very obvious that "the gigantic intellect does not come to the rescue" in them.

It is the same with fillings. Many operators will put in a simple filling in the crown of a molar and grind down the cusps, and even the enamel ridges, to show off the filling to the best advantage; showing the work in a mirror to the simple-minded patient, who does not realize, until after years, the very serious damage he has sustained.

The idea that continual extraction has no hereditary influence is absurd and ridiculous, though some dentists, in order to convince and console patients for the loss of their teeth, or those of their