Page 423 - My FlipBook

HISTOEY OF DE.X'J'AJ. SURGERY 383

upon a long line of experimental and therapeutical investigations, was pub-
lished in 1871; an American edition, translated by T. H. Chandler, appeared
m 1878.
The "Origin and Formation of the Dental Follicle," by Legros and Magi-
tot (1873), appeared in translation by il. S. Dean in 1880. Broca's (1867),
"Treatise on Odontomes," and MaureFs "Contributions on Dental Pathology
(1873) are among the foremost works of this period. The practical utility
and manipulative ingenuity which characterizes American dentistry, became
a distinguishing featiire of its literature during tliis period. Bond's "Dental
Medicine" appeared in 1851, and reached the third edition, in 1863; Hor-
ner's work on "Extraction"' appeared in 18r)l. Robert Arthur, of Baltimore,
whose previous contrilmtions to dental literature were of high merit, communi-
cated to the profession his important discovery that gold could be made cohesive
by heating, in a treatise on the use of adhesive gold foil, in 1857. Piggott's
"Chemistry and Metallurgy af? Applied to Dentistry" appeared in 1854. The
"Operative Dentistry" that heralds the name of Taft in every quarter of the
nlobe where dentistry is known, was pnblislied in 1859, passing through its
fourth edition in 188'?. Richardson's "Mechanical Dentistry," probably the
most practical treatise that had up to this time been written, appeared in
1860. Garretson's "Oral Surgery," tlie first edition published in 1869, and
the sixth in 1895 and the "Register Papers" a collection of chemical essays
in reference to dental surgery, by George Watt, are representative of the work
America was engaged in during this time.
Dentistry has developed to a degree commensurate with diligent research
and persistent investigation, and each epoch is well defined in its literature
The great inventions and discoveries that have marked human progress during
the last half of the nineteenth and the dawn of the twentieth century, have been
so utilized in the principles of dental theory and practice that methods, which
a few years since would have been considered the effusions of a perturbed
mind, are being brought to practical perfection.
It is doubtful if any science excepting surgery has taken such rapid strides,
and were it not for the new editions of our standard works they would soon be
considered deficient in those essentials which constitute them authoritative. But
what other impulse could contribute such an inspiring spirit to our dental
writers? The sun is now fully above the horizon, and every country that has
felt the influence of our literature has caught its beams. We are in the golden
age of our literary history and every j^hase of dentistry is receiving due atten-
tion from our writers.