Dental quackery : an address before the American Dental Convention at Niagara Falls, August 5 1859 / by E. T. Wilson.

  • Wilson, E. T.
Date:
1859
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dental quackery : an address before the American Dental Convention at Niagara Falls, August 5 1859 / by E. T. Wilson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the University of Toronto, Harry A Abbott Dentistry Library, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harry A Abbott Dentistry Library, University of Toronto.

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    crimination or envy, ])ut as honest men, wlio, knowing there js tlie spirit of Judas in our midst, are more filled with fear lest it should be found with ourselves, than desirous of char^r- ing it upon our neighbors. Do any of us prate much in our own favor? Do any of us make unwarrantable pretensions of skill? Do any of us boast, yet know how frail is the founda- tion beneath our feet ? Do any of us arrogate to ourselves the possession of knowledge, concerning which we would not dare be questioned? If so, and I say it in no spirit of self- security and egotism, no matter in what proportion such per- sons stand in point of numbers to the great army of dentists in America, then are such quacks, charlatans, empirics, and are guilty before their profession, and the public whom they victimize, just in proportion as they are possessed of innate talent and ability, which, if developed, would raise them above the level of this stigma. Do you accuse me of harsh vrords now, of unkind denunciations ? But remember, I am not claiming invulnerability; I am not saying, '' Stand by, I am holier than thou. Gentlemen, I fear there are a great many charlatans and empirics in our profession. More than that, I cannot resist the conviction that some of us who have felt most secure, are not without the stain of this foul blemish upon our professional garments. What is the remedy? It is a simple one, and though not without its weariness and toil, yet none the less plain, and none the less royal,—more of brain cul- ture with that of manual dexterity ; more of underlying prin- ciples before attempts at practice ; more of close and search- ing study and less of cunning craft; more of the conviction that the dignity and honor of our profession is committed to us, rather than dependent upon the memory of the departed. Let us look backward for a moment and consider w^hence we are; perhaps by this means we can best determine what we are, and wdiat we shall be. Mr. Phillips, in his lecture upon the Lost Arts, indirect- ly asserts that dental surgery flourished as a distinct branch of science in the days of the old Egyptian Empire, more than