Page 426 - My FlipBook

HISTORY OF DENTAL SURGERY
386

Clieiiiistry and MetalluiiiV— Mitt-bell. Essig, Cassidy. Hodgen. Koeiiig and
Hall.
Mise-ellaneous—Flagij. (.)tt(ifv. Bhu-k. Talbot. Taft. Gorgas. Guilford. War-
ren. Cigrand, Relifuss. Catching, Steele. Xortli, Ambler. .lolinson. Cutter and
Prinz.
That the Held of dentistry is too vast, and the various branches pertaining
to it art- too complex, for one individual tt> be consideredyWrvVc yj/v'/cvy/.v in all
its dejiartments, is evidenced by those works of composite authorship which
have been added to our literature. The different subjects have been treated by
specialists of recognized authority, and by the systematic editing of a nuister
hand these contributions have licen woven into texts which shall ever niaiiitain
their position as landmarks in our professional advancement.
The •American Svsteni of Dentistry,"' edited liv NVilbur F. Litch. in 1S.S6;
the "American Text-b(K>k of Prosthetic Dentistry." edited by Charles J. Essiu'.
in 1896, the third edition of which, by Charles R. Turner. ap[)eared in 1907;
and the '• American Text-book of Operative Dentistry."' edited by Edward C.
Kirk, in 181)7. the third edition of which appeared in 1905. are works tvpii'al
of this class.
The advance of dentistry from a state of empiricism to one of scientific
art can be chroncilogicallv traced in its literature : and while the luster of
many of our brilliant writers has shaded into insignificance the efforts of many
contemiioraries. due recognition must be given the lesser lights for kindling
that ardent desire for improvement which has been an inspiration for higher
professional attainment.
Only a few writers have received the individual mention which nuuiy well
deserve. The lives of numy furnish examples of devotion to the profe.ssion
that are well worthy of imitation ; a few may have lived in affluence—man\
lived and died in poverty—but in their brief transit through time into eternity.
for their efforts to perfect a science to avert and annul human suffering, they
well deserve the encomium, Aiiii<'iis /iirt/iaiii gituris.
From the standpoint of the modern critic, dentistry, like all other sciences.
may be said to possess a superabundance of heterogeneous materials in its liter-
ature ; but as heaps of chaff on the threshing-floor contain the golden grains
of wheat, so within our great mass of literature are hiilden the valuable gems
and germinating thoughts developed into the perfect theories of modern
writers.