rush to the dental college and be matriculated without the slightest opposition. And here they are, without as much breadth of character or education as the ordinary school boy of fifteen, taking a course of lectures, which in less than two years will entitle them to call themselves Doctors of Dental Surgery, and to claim a position in society which ought only to be awarded to the thoroughly educated man.

Let us see what the student must do in order to obtain this degree: His first year is spent in mastering the dental nomenclature, filling teeth, and making artificial sets. Being unable to understand the first course of lectures for want of preliminary instruction, almost his entire professional education is acquired in the last year, which is so divided between mechanical and operative work as to leave him no time to do justice to either. Judging by the proficiency of the average dental graduate, it is quite evident that each one of the courses just referred to should receive two full years of undivided work and perseverance. Then let each student, as he completes each course, receive his diploma as either a mechanical or operative dentist. Were this plan followed the young graduate would be spared much shame and anguish, while the moral tone of the ejaculations which are forced from his unfortunate patients would be considerably improved.

The medical colleges, with few, and, let us hope, ever lessening exceptions, require that a student, before entering their institutions, shall pass such preliminary examinations as may prove him to be fairly educated. The medical student of to-day gives the closest attention to his studies for two full years, and, in many colleges, three or four years. He does not have his studies continually interrupted by being forced to run off every now and then and learn to make wooden legs. See how different their condition is from that of our unfortunate brothers. When I reflect

upon the unprepared condition of the dental student as he enters the college, of the multitudinous branches which are thrust upon him, and of the utter inadequacy of the time afforded in which to become proficient in them, I wonder that the dental profession is as much respected as it is. For as matters rest now the first few years of a dentist's professional life find him neither fish, flesh nor fowl, but an incongruous mix of all three.

If these are facts, and that they are such no experienced dentist can deny, it is evident that a three fold improvement should be made in dental education.

First, that we shall have entrance examinations to our colleges. Second, that operative and mechanical dentistry shall be made two separate branches. Third, that the courses of instruction shall be doubled in length.

Dedicating this article to the further advancement of the Dental Profession, Sir, I remain

Your most obedient servant,

SILAS DEAN.

THE BUSINESS QUALIFICATIONS OF PROFESSIONAL MEN.

BY L. ASHLEY FAUGHT, D.D.S.

Since the publication of my article on the above subject in the February and March numbers of the DENTAL PRACTITIONER, there have appeared, in other journals, criticisms on one point, couched in language so improper that the writers, in most instances, seem to have been ashamed to append their signatures.

One who writes for the public does not expect all to agree with everything he says, and if some one cries "not so!" reserves to himself the possibility that the non-agreement of the critic may be a reflection on the critic's judgment rather than on his own opinion; and, trusting the good sense of the general public to

discriminate, passes the disagreement over in silence.

Any further communication, therefore, from me on the above subject is not intended as a reply to any criticism, or as notice taken of anonymous writers; but simply to place before my readers the contents of a private letter received by

me.

No reasons were given in my original article for assertions made except where it was thought necessary. It appearing, after publication, that a few seemed not sufficiently conversant with the principles underlying the construction of society to comprehend one of these plain assertions, I deemed it best to write more extendedly at some future time, on that particular point. While such article was in course of preparation the letter referred to came to hand, and as it fully covered the ground, with the advantage of being the work of one older and more experienced than myself, I requested the writer to allow its publication. It is appended without further comment.

S 106 N. 11th St., Phila., Pa.,
Aug. 4th, 1883.

MY DEAR DR. FAUGHT:-I have read your article on the need for business qualifications among dentists, and, naturally, have had my attention particularly directed to that which has seemed to some to be an objectionable position, viz., the advised declination of servants as patients. I wish to say that I consider your views in this matter as practically correct.

I am sure that no one would more willingly or more kindly relieve anyone in suffering than yourself, and that the question of rich or poor, white or black, or even that of compensation would never be a factor in the doing of the work, therefore the criticisms are very unjust to the spirit of your remarks; but the main position, that of the non-advisability, or even propriety of permitting a mingling of

classes widely distinct in every country and under all social organizations, is that which is tacitly assumed by dentists generally, and I think it cannot be denied that the inflexibility of the rule is just in proportion to the high grade (socially and intellectually) of the large majority of one's patients.

It is recognized that all classes have "rights," and that these should be respected, and that one of the "rights" of those who occupy what are designated and usually regarded as the "better" positions. in society is an exemption from unwonted contact in such intimate association as is necessarily entailed by visits to the dental office; thus it is that kindness toward the many, rather than any unkindness toward the few, who might occasionally ask for services, is the incentive which dictates as "proper" the refusal to give long sittings or to do elaborate operations for others than those whom each one regards as his " regular class" of patients.

With kind regards I am truly yours,
J. FOSTER FLAGG.

The

PROLONGED anæsthesia seems to have been produced by M. Bert very simply indeed. A mask and two caoutchouc bags are all the apparatus necessary. new method he has tried on animals is to cause anesthesia, first with the pure protoxide of nitrogen, then with a mixture of the protoxide and oxygen (when the blood recovers the oxygen necessary to it), and, finally, the administration of the pure protoxide again. In this way he says he kept a dog insensible half an hour, and both asphyxia and a return to consciousness appear to be obviated while the patient is under the operation.

STYPTIC AND ANTISEPTIC COTTON.. Tannic acid, 5 parts; carbolic acid, 4 parts; alcohol, 50 parts; purified cotton, a sufficient quantity to soak up the solution dry, and preserve air-tight.

FORM AND NATURE OF ACCIDENTS OCCASIONED BY THE ERUPTION OF WISDOM TEETH.

BY DR. E. MAGITOT, PARIS.

Considered in a general manner, the accidents occasioned by the eruption of a wisdom tooth are very numerous.

A methodical division of the phenomena is not an easy thing, and very often an accident of a certain nature at the first appearance modifies itself to pass into and through other successive forms.

However, as a classification is necessary to the description, we have adopted the following:

1. Inflammatory accidents, subdivided into accidents of the mucous membrane, and accidents of the bony structures.

2. Nervous accidents, pain in the nerves, troubles in organs of some special sense, and reflex phenomena.

3. Organic accidents, which include the follicular cysts of the wisdom teeth, the odontomata, and new formations.

First, inflammatory accidents.

Mucous accidents.-The mucous accidents connected with the eruption of wisdom teeth are extremely frequent. They commence with a simple irritation of the gums and finish with an abscess, ulceration or gangrene. Sometimes, however, the local accident is isolated, sometimes there is a complication of disturbances of the neighboring parts more or less intense.

pain, and the tooth shortly overcoming this obstacle, appears above the gum in the midst of some shreds having about the aspect of proud flesh. The pressure of these shreds, which remain for some time on the chewing surface of the tooth, causes invariably the formation of certain pouches, which become filled with foreign matter and debris of food, and thus become true centres of the production of caries.

It is by this process that they cause so premature injuries to wisdom teeth to such a degree that some inattentive observers have asserted that wisdom teeth often erupt in a carious condition.

In a more pronounced stage of the inflammation of the gums, the portions of mucous membrane lying upon the tooth are the seat of a true abscess, at the centre of which the tooth itself is found, which remains thus imprisoned without communication with the exterior. It is to this form of accident that Chassaignac has given the name, encystment of the wisdom tooth, to distinguish it from the preceding form, which he calls encasing.

This distinction, which seems a little too fine, is in other respects wholly artificial; for the first form ordinarily blends with the other, when, after the spontaneous or intentional opening of the abscess, the enclosed tooth finds itself in communication with the outside.

The phlegmonous form consists of a true follicular abscess, and in this case the local accident most commonly extends itself to the neighboring parts. Sometimes it is an inflammation of the gums, which extends forward along the border of the gums and sometimes even to the median line. Sometimes it is an inflam. mation of a gland, whose particular character is that of extreme persistency as long as the cause remains unknown. Toirac mentions a very remarkable observation concerning it by Dr. Fiard. From the glands, the inflammatory process ex

tends itself to the soft palate and to the pharynx, giving place to an equally obstinate inflammation.

Be it as it may, this form of accidents is altogether peculiar for the inferior and superior wisdom teeth.

For the inferior jaw, the simple eruption of a tooth, otherwise normal as to volume and direction, may be its cause, while in the upper jaw it produces only that condition when the wisdom tooth is. directed abnormally either outside toward the cheek or backwards toward the anterior part of the palate. It is, moreover, generally to this form that the troubles confine themselves, as we have remarked. To the phlegmonous form which we were indicating, and now and then also to a simple inflammation of the gums, the ulcerous state often succeeds. One sees them on a level with the torn shreds of the mucous membrane, or, as a consequence of the opening of the follicular abscess, some irregular ulcerations with grayish bottom, covered with shreds of epithelium, which give the aspect described under the name of ulcero-croupous stomatitis.

In

The seat of these ulcerations is the region of the border of the gum around it, quite often it is the mucous membrane of the cheek; more rarely the seat of the ulceration is on the tongue, when the wisdom tooth has a direction inwards. every case the ulcerous variety is that which we have indicated elsewhere in speaking of the inflammation of the gums properly, as representing for a certain number of authors, and for ourselves, the true nature of ulcero-croupous stomatitis as occurring among the soldiers, and in general among young subjects at the age of the eruption of the wisdom teeth.

The mucous accidents of wisdom teeth comprise, then, as one sees, three varieties: the simple inflammation of the gums, the phlegmonous inflammation of the gums, and the ulcerous variety.

But this is not all. In these three varieties, more especially in the last two, there are produced ordinarily some complications in the neighboring parts. The most frequent is the inflammation of the sub-maxillary gland. It appears almost infallibly when the local inflammatory phenomena take a notable intensity of a certain duration. This adenitis, particularly persistent in the ulcero-croupous form which has been described as occurring among young soldiers as the consequence of the pressure of the collar, or other special cause, appears in our opinion as belonging to the series of accidents of the wisdom teeth. This glandular inflammation, considered as a complication of an accident of the mucous membrane, will have, nevertheless, for its exclusive seat, the sub-maxillary glands for the inferior jaw and the parotidal glands for the superior. The cervical glands themselves become swollen only when the morbid phenomena have invaded the bony tissues of the jaws. From glandular swelling to inflammation properly there is only one step, and this new complication is very frequent.

Here the inflammation appears under the different forms which we have designated as simple oedema, circumscribed abscess, and diffused abscess, according to the extent of the original injury. We may say that in an accident of the mucous membrane the oedematious inflammation is the most common complication.

The phlegmonous form belongs to the cases of severe inflammation of the mucous membrane, or to those particular cases in which an inferior wisdom tooth finds itself enclosed in the soft parts of the cheek, where it determines ulcerations, indurations and fungous growths, in the midst of which the tooth may be found encased. Le Progress Dentaire. [L. B. BROOKS, BROOKS, - New England Journal of Dentistry.

DANGER-CARELESSNESS.

As the nature, extent, and influence of disease germs becomes more and better understood, does the responsibility of the dentist, as well as that of the general surgeon, become more apparent, in respect to the cleanliness and purity of his instruments and appliances of every kind. All are familiar with facts that ought, if at all considered, strongly impress the subject upon the mind of every one. For in stance, an amount of small-pox virus, so small as to be scarcely visible when put upon a little scratch or abrasion in the skin, is sufficient to produce that dread disease throughout the body.

Every one knows, or ought to know, what is accomplished by an exceedingly small amount of vaccine virus.

The sting or bite of an insect is usually attended with very unpleasant results, such as pain, inflammation, and sickness; the former two sometimes extending so as to involve other structures and organs, and sometimes these conditions are of

long continuance. In many instances

death has occurred from these accidents.

Now, in such cases, these results occur, usually, from an amount of poison invisible to the ordinary, unassisted eye. The poison from the knife of the dissector or surgeon, though not apparent upon the instrument, in many instances produces disastrous results, in the way of blood poisoning; many valuable lives have been lost by this means.

With knowledge of these and similar facts, how exceedingly cautious is the prudent surgeon, not only with reference to himself, but especially with his patients; careful in reference to the purity of his instruments, his hands, and every appliance used; and so important is this principle now regarded that the condition of the atmosphere receives special attention, hence the general use of disinfectants and antiseptics, that shall apply not only to

the instruments and appliances, but pervade and purify the surrounding atmosphere. If all this is important so far as the general surgeon is concerned, is it not equally important that the dentist should employ the same care and precaution? To the dentist, this should come with as much if not more impressiveness than to the general surgeon; for the instruments and appliances of the dentist are passing in rapid succession from the diseased and wounded mouth of one patient to another, and it requires no special effort of the imagination to perceive that poison may thus be readily conveyed from one person to another, in the form of dead blood, decomposing pus, and other putrefying organic matter.

But is it possible that anybody is thus careless? Yes. In many offices there is a manifest want of cleanliness, which is shown by blood, pus, calculus, and other debris on the instruments-blood on the forceps, debris of decay, and other things on the excavators, comminuted dentine in the burs and drills, a spittoon with offensive, fetid blood, and soiled napkins. Such condition of things should not be tolerated nor exist.

In the dental office too great care cannot be exercised in respect to cleanliness. All instruments used in the mouth should be thoroughly cleaned after use for each patient. This may be done by thorough washing in pure water and soap, then wipe with a cloth or chamois skin, slightly moistened with some disinfectant-a solution of salicylic acid. A very good solution for this purpose may be made as follows: One ounce water; twenty grains borax, and twenty grains salicylic acid. This can be used without offensive taste or odor. The common sense of refinement, it would seem, should dictate to everyone the importance of absolute cleanliness. But this, in a general way, is not enough; attention should constantly be given to the fact that harmful agents are