"It was then voted
that we accept the Committee's report to date and authorize the
establishment of the Clarence J. Grieves Library Foundation of the
Maryland State Dental Association with a Board of Trustees as outlined
in the Committee's report. It was voted that the Trustees be instructed
to proceed with their plans for the Foundation and that the Library
be placed at the University of Maryland …"1
Such
was the action taken by the Maryland State Dental Association's
Board of Governors at a special meeting on July 22, 1925.
Dr. Clarence J. Grieves already had earned several medals
awarded by various state dental societies around the country.
In the interest of providing a unique and suitable commemoration
for their friend and colleague, the members of the Maryland State Dental Association decided that another such medal
would be too insufficient an honor, and his home state owed
him a far more substantial tribute. Consequently, the Association
voted that the Clarence J. Grieves Library Foundation project
would do far more to secure his memory in perpetuity, and
at the same time play the right sentimental chords in his
heart while he still lived.
The treasurer of the Association processed a check for $1000.00
as the initial seed money for the Foundation. With this
in hand, the secretary of the Foundation's Board of Trustees,
who also was secretary of the Association, purchased a bond
at 6% interest. In addition to this financial beginning,
the Association began assembling a collection of books contributed
by its members, to complement the personal library of Dr.
Grieves. The books remained in the hands of the Association
pending an appropriate permanent home. The Association decided
to place the collection at the University of Maryland, provided
the University would agree to meet the standards for its
care and accommodations, according to the terms stipulated
by the Foundation's Board of Trustees. By May, 1926, the
Grieves Library had taken its place within the University's
Dental Library, then under the overall administrative control
of Dental School Dean J.
Ben Robinson.
In accepting the collection, the University adhered to the
original agreement which called for the Clarence J. Grieves
Library Foundation to be housed within the school's existing
Dental Library, but retained and controlled as a separate
resource. This configuration of two libraries in one remained
in place within the school for several years. However, on
October 18, 1938, the University and the Maryland State
Dental Association adopted a new agreement which merged
the two libraries and retained the name of the Clarence
J. Grieves Library Foundation. Under the terms of this new
agreement, the Association voluntarily relinquished to the
University its administrative and fiscal authority over
the Foundation and collection.
As part of creating the Foundation, the Trustees commissioned
an artist to design an appropriate bookplate, and arranged
for a bronze tablet to accompany the collection in its permanent
quarters. In addition, on January 16, 1939, the Association
presented an oil portrait of Dr. Grieves, to hang in the
Library along with the collection. As the modern descendant
of the earlier Dental School Library, the Health Sciences
and Human Services Library still hosts both the tablet and
the portrait.
 
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Chapin Aaron
Harris (1806-1860) was a native of Onondaga
County, New York. He studied medicine and originally
practiced for a time in Ohio before settling in
Baltimore, where he became the pupil of Dr. Horace
Hayden. Dentistry as a separate academic discipline
did not exist before 1840, and Harris along with
his mentor Hayden joined their combined talents
and interests to develop and establish the Baltimore
College of Dental Surgery. Hayden was the dedicated
teacher, while Harris understood and mastered the
practical aspects of developing a charter and assembling
a faculty. Harris' THE DENTAL ART, published in
1839, was the program's first textbook. The book,
under its subsequent title PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE
OF DENTAL SURGERY, enjoyed an enduring history as
the definitive work, lasting until the 13th edition
of 1913. In addition to editing THE AMERICAN JOURNAL
OF DENTAL SCIENCE, Harris' other major work was
his DICTIONARY OF DENTAL SCIENCE, first published
in 1849.
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Horace
Hayden (1769-1844) was born in Windsor, Connecticut,
on October 13, 1769. When he required the services
of a dentist in 1795, he sought out the renowned
dental practitioner John Greenwood in New York,
and Greenwood's skill inspired Hayden to turn his
own life's attention to the calling of dentistry.
Because there was no formal education for dentists
available at the time, Hayden assembled what relevant
readings he could find, and engaged in the study
on his own. He eventually came to Baltimore and
enjoyed success in private dental practice. In 1837,
he accepted an invitation to deliver lectures on
dentistry to the medical students at the University
of Maryland. A few years later, the University awarded
him an honorary
M.D. Beyond his celebrated collaboration with
Chapin Harris in the founding of the Baltimore College
of Dental Surgery, Hayden's intellectual tendencies
enabled him to pursue an interest in a variety of
subjects, one of which was natural history. Hayden's
rural Connecticut upbringing had fostered his appreciation
of nature during his youth, and that appeal deepened
in his adult years. He published his book GEOLOGICAL
ESSAYS in 1820, and he discovered a new mineral
named Haydenite in his honor, a variety of the mineral Chabazite.
Although Hayden was not a frequent contributor to
the scientific literaure, this work was the first
book on general geology printed in the United States. |
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Ferdinand
James Samuel Gorgas (1835-1914), a native of
Virginia, graduated from the Baltimore College of
Dental Surgery in 1855. He began practice in Baltimore
that same year, and in 1858, he accepted a position
as Demonstrator in the College. Two years later,
he succeeded the school's founder Chapin Harris,
both as the chair of Dental Surgery and Therapeutics,
and as the school's Dean. He held that position
until 1882, resigning to accept the invitation to
become the founding Dean and Professor of Dental
Science in the new Dental
Department of the University of Maryland. Early
in his career, Gorgas understood the importance
of applying principles of medicine to the study
and practice of dentistry. Consequently, he enrolled
and earned the M.D. from the University of Maryland in 1863. During
his career, he earned a reputation as a prolific
and significant contributor to the dental literature.
Those contributions included compiling many editions
of Chapin Harris' two major works. Gorgas' most
important original work, DENTAL MEDICINE, A MANUAL
OF DENTAL MATERIA MEDICA AND THERAPEUTICS, is a
treatise derived from his classroom lectures of
many years. He drew upon the known authorities in
the field of materia medica, tailoring his presentation
of therapeutic topics to a new relevance for the
dental profession. First published in 1884, this
highly successful work endured through eight editions,
including a 1910 edition published in England. |
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This
is the first edition of Carl F.W. Bödecker's
work on dental anatomy. His other titles include
such works as ELEMENTARY HISTOLOGY FOR DENTAL HYGIENISTS
and FUNDAMENTALS OF DENTAL HISTOLOGY AND EMBRYOLOGY.
This book later appeared in German editions published
in Vienna within a few years. Bödecker had
studied in Vienna under the noted physician/illustrator
Carl Heitzmann, whose investigations allied him
with other proponents of the revolutionary protoplasm concept. Bödecker applied Heitzmann's cell
theories to the field of dental histology on his
own behalf, and on that of several other dentists
he cites as sharing the experience of Heitzmann's
teaching. |
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THE
AMERICAN SYSTEM OF DENTISTRY edited by Wilbur F.
Litch is a sweeping, 3-volume compendium of theoretical
and practical techniques. Published in 1886, it
is an excellent example of a successful attempt
to ascribe scientific legitimacy to a health science
discipline developing just barely beyond its adolescence.
The scope of its coverage includes topics ranging
from dental anatomy and pathology, through the mechanical
procedures of operative and restorative dental surgery
and metallurgy, and on to anesthesia, dentition,
materia medica and therapeutics, the physiology
of digestion and speech, and jurisprudence. Shunned
by physicians, dentistry by this time was beginning
to lay claim to its position as a valid new health
field. |
Horace
Wells (1815-1848), a dentist from Hartford, Connecticut,
was one of the core figures at the heart of the
controversy concerning the discovery of anesthesia.
The debate about its discovery hinges on the discrepancies
between the dates of theoretical discussion about
its potential, versus the actual first successful
surgical demonstrations. Wells claims credit for
conducting several 1844 case experiments in which
he used nitrous
oxide, or "laughing gas," to render
his patients insensible to pain while undergoing
tooth extractions. Wells' initial planned public
demonstration had failed, but he did manage to
use the procedure with some success in later attempts.
The titles highlighted here include several published
testimonial statements from patients who verified
that those experiments were successful. Wells'
chief competitors in the claim of discovering
anesthesia were William T.G. Morton, who chose
sulphuric ether as his form of anesthesia, and
Charles T. Jackson, Morton's teacher, who claimed
to have suggested the idea to Morton initially.
In Wells' case, the story ended in tragedy with
his later addiction to chloroform and eventual
suicide on January 25, 1848. |
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William
T.G. Morton (1819-1868), a dentist practicing
in Boston, Massachusetts, concentrated his experimentations
on the use of sulphuric ether.
This is Morton's account of his successful experience,
punctuated by testimony from the renowned Boston
physician Dr. John Warren and others, to defend
his primacy as the discoverer of the applicability
of ether in surgical procedures. Although Wells'
demonstration occurred earlier, his attempt was
misinterpreted as a failure. Morton decided to
name his discovery Letheon, named for Lethe, the
river of oblivion (or forgetfulness) in Greek
mythology. An important adjunct to the whole question
is Morton's accompanying claim to the invention
of the apparatus used in the administration of
the gas.
Morton
first used sulphuric ether on his dental patients
as early as Sept. 30, 1846. Then on October
17, 1846, Morton administered ether to a patient
undergoing surgery at the skilled hands of Massachusetts
General Hospital surgeon Dr. John C. Warren.
Dr. Warren removed a tumor from the patient's
neck, while Morton's anesthesia successfully
prevented the patient's suffering. On the following
day, Dr. George Hayward performed a similar
successful operation on the arm of another patient.
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Charles
T. Jackson (1805-1880) further complicated the
anesthesia controversy. As a chemist, Jackson
had become acquainted with the desensitizing capability
of ether, as a result of accidental inhalations
caused by the occasional breakage of storage beakers
in his laboratory. Such accidents were not uncommon
in his duties as geologist and chemist to the
state of Maine. Jackson recounts that the nerves
of sensation are distinct from those of motion
and organic life, and may be made insensible,
without affecting any of the other systems. He
noticed that the insensibility of those nerves
occurred some time before unconsciousness, an
amount of time that he guessed ought to be sufficient
for the performing of most surgical operations.
Against a prevailing opinion about the unsafe
nature of inhaling ether vapor, Jackson claimed
that using a perfectly pure form of the gas, and
carefully mixing it with normal atmospheric air
would render it totally safe. His discovery of
the anesthetic effects of ether, and his series
of communications to eight colleagues about that
discovery during the years 1841-46 antedate Morton's
first use of ether for dental extractions in Sept.
1846. Testimonies from that period describe Jackson's
theory about alleviating pain during surgical
operations, based upon his successful therapeutic
use of ether vapor against the pain of conditions
such as decayed teeth and diseased spines (George
T. Dexter, 1842). Up until then, however, his
claims had been only theoretical with respect
to any surgical procedures. In truth, he had proven
insensitivity against pain, but not yet within
the context of surgery. As Morton's teacher, Jackson
had shared his thoughts and discoveries with his
young pupil. Once Morton later applied the theory
in the successful operation of October 1846, Jackson,
a rabble-rouser who also had attempted to wrest
credit for the telegraph from Samuel F.B. Morse,
similarly tried to divert Morton's credit onto
himself as the real initiator of the procedure.
In the bitter battle that subsequently ensued,
neither man was able definitively to substantiate
his claim to primacy before the greater scientific
community. |
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Although he was born in Belgium, Johann
Jakob Joseph Serre (1759-1830) rose to prominence
through his work in Vienna and Berlin. Shown on
the left is his 1791 treatise on gum diseases,
which included several plates illustrating dental
extracting instruments, many of which he either
invented or otherwise perfected. In addition,
his earlier 1788 work on toothache was one of
the most respected books on the subject from the
period. Also featured here is his greatest work
which followed later in 1803, a comprehensive
practical treatise on dental operations. Serre's
books proved the breadth of his practical knowledge
and scholarship, and they did much to elevate
the dental profession in Germany at the time. |
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James
Snell's book on operative dentistry first appeared
in London in 1831. Snell condemned the authors
of many dental books who promised much under the
guise of fanciful title pages, but who delivered
very little substance within their narratives.
He declared his liberal intention to impart his
knowledge of the many practical aspects of operative
dentistry, including his wish to share with his
professional brethren complete information about
the nature and function of his inventory of dental
instruments. The most important of these instruments,
he asserted, is a well-made and fully functional
operating chair, designed to accommodate the patient's
full ease and comfort, while affording the operator
the capability of nearly limitless positioning.
He devoted an entire chapter in this book to a
description of the chair which he designed and
had built for use in his practice. This work followed
his 1824 book on the use and function of obturators.
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Joseph
Scott's work on preventing the loss of the teeth
is another excellent example of the scientific
and medical emphasis emerging in the years before
the dental profession gained its formalized academic
foundation. Serious-minded practitioners striving
to present themselves as legitimate clinicians
adopted the term "Surgeon-Dentist" for
their most appropriate denomination as men of
medicine. Their emerging interest and competency
in the preservation of oral health marked a genuine
departure from the earlier tooth-drawers who knew
little if anything about health, and were not
capable of much more than painful butchering.
Dentists experimented with different materials
in the fabrication and mounting of teeth, in the
interest of implementing solutions that were efficient
and physiologically sound. This book enjoyed a
history of five editions, up to 1838. |
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Among
the most prolific of dental authors writing at
the turn of the twentieth century, G.
V. Black (1836-1915) was the most eminent
proponent of the clinical nature of operative
dentistry. Featured here are but two of his many
works, both of which endured through several editions.
His comprehensive WORK ON OPERATIVE DENTISTRY
remained the core text for decades. His study
of anatomy and pathology, coupled with his clinical
observations, underscored the fundamentals of
preventive dentistry and operative techniques.
He experimented extensively with the nature of
amalgam,
striving to arrive at the proper composition of
silver and tin to make the most ideal filling
material available, one that would be both clinically
effective and mechanically sound. His was indeed
the definitive and authoritative voice in professional
practice.
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Philipp
Pfaff (1716-1780) was dentist to Frederick the
Great, King of Prussia. This work was the first
dental treatise by a German dentist. It is comprehensive
in its scope, addressing important observations
related to dental anatomy, pathology, therapeutics,
and prosthesis. Of particular interest is Pfaff's
unique description of the use of essence of turpentine
in cases of post-extraction hemorrhage. He earned
credit for being the first to cap an exposed dental
pulp prior to the stopping of a tooth. While his
choices for prosthetic tooth materials were consistent
with those of the great Pierre Fauchard, an important
innovation for Pfaff was that he was the first
to make use of plaster models. He took wax casts
of the jaw in two segments, one of the right,
and one of the left. There is no record of any
such procedures among the writings of preceding
authors, and Pfaff's approach in this regard ranks
among the premiere developments in dental prosthetics.
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REFERENCES
1 Maryland State
Dental Association. Board of Governors. Minutes, Special
Meeting, July 22, 1925.
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