Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-08-08
STUDY OF DENTISTS
TIMELY TOPICS LECTURE SERIES.
PROF. sEYoN. C. t

fNo Hhdfi Ut WOtudn, my USdI pupilS. ffdS
any idea what strain and stress the human
mind Is capable of passing through without
giving way. Often we think that the limit
has been reached and that anything fur
Their will be the smashing point, but when
the something further comes the ability to
meet 1t seems to come also. 1t Is well au-
thenticated by documentary evidence that
only a short time before her painful exc
cution Joan of Arc, on encountering
ferocious mouse. shrieked wildly that she
ward that she could stand good deal more
with fortitude and courage.
This brings US in a natural manner, and
q natural manner Is what you should al
ways strive after, to the real opening state
ment of this lecture. which is that for sew
eral days your teacher has been way on In
the Maine woods, twenty miles from rail-
road. surrounded by Christmas trees and
dentists A hundred or so dentists have
fairly swarmed over this hotel and the
nefghboring landscape. Turn where you
would there would be dentist or a flock OF
dentists. When you recall the terrors, the
nerve-racking horror Of confinement for an
hour or so, even in a city with the police
force close at hand, with a single dentist.
you can understand something of the black
dread of these days; and yet, strange as 1t
may seem. the ordeal has been undergone
and there have been no actual fatalities
In fact to the philosophical mind. ever on
the search for new Impressions, there has
been a certain fascination in the dangerous
work Of studying many dentists at close
quarters. The same thrill comes that must
come to the naturalist when he enters the
Jungle and infinitely examines its wild deni-
sens at close quarters.
In order, then, to gather information for
you, my pupils, l have bravely faced the
dangers here, and have not fed to the deep
woods, as have SO many Of the inhabitants
of the neighborhood.
The especial genus of dentist under OBJ
servation belongs to the Maine Dental As
sociation, and this Is its convention time.
A dentists convention time seems to be
periodical gatherings OF the tribe from all
directions at one place. where there Is
great powwowing and display OF glittering
instruments Of torture. There is an aux
Hilary branch to the dentist family, com
posed OF people who furnish dentists them
selves with new kinds OF shiny things to
5ab people with, and at convention time
these auxiliaries gather in force. and 1t is
a pleasure to see them make the dentists
themselves pretty uncomfortable by their
persistence. Thus it Is that the hunter is
usually hunted by something else.
If did not tell you of absolute knowl-
edge should not expect belief: but 1t is
certain that dentists are more or less
domesticated animals. having wives and
children. 1t is probable that dentists wives
are the daughters Of other dentists, be-
cause however high we place our estimate
Of the courage of women cannot believe
that any woman is brave enough to marry
q dentist, unless she has grown up In the
dentist atmosphere and has so become
hardened to the danger. Even then the
wives Of dentists must undergo expert
ences SO strenuous as to seem appalling to
women whose lines of life have mated them
other mild characters.
Yesterday was up a tree. had hastily
climbed the tree on the approach OF two
dentists, who unconscious of my presence.
sat under the tree and said things that
made me thank my stars l was not a
dentists wife. One OF the men I recog-
nized as the inventor of the celebrated
and now common practice of using red-hot
instruments where ordinary ones failed to
mako the patient squeal. This man, who,
1t Is needless to say, was much respected
by his brothers, was telling the other OF
new and painful method of extracting
teeth.
"You fasten the patients head in a vice"
he said, land pull the tooth slowly. The
moment 1t Is out drop three drops OF Wit
triol on the spot from whence It came.
Then quickly remove the gag and the re-
suit IL almost certain to be one Of the most
enjoyable shrieks dentist ever heard"
Magnificent" said the second dentist.
LAS soon as we get back to the hotel 1
|. You lucky man." broke In number one.
ito have a wife with teeth left. Now.
my wife had one tooth left up to short
time ago. 1t was a pretty good tooth.
too. l had only filled 1t eleven times.
the last filing being Of this new process
of compressed Cayenne pepper. I was saw
ing that tooth for some real good expert
ment. but, think Of 1t, the other evening
that scamp of q son OF mine, who is only
in his first year at the dental college. found
his mother asleep In her chair. and he
grabbed that tooth with his forceps and
pulled It, Simply wasted 1t. I was fu-
rious of course, but. then, boys will be
boys
1t Will be helpful, my daughters. when
your husbands growl about the meals or
play poker VI til o'clock in the morning,
to remember that, at any rate, you are not
married to dentists.
A thing to be very greatly admired Is the
calmness and poise with which the resi-
dents Of Moosehead Lake have met this
dental invasion. Naturally, every one goes
heavily armed, but while three or four
dentists are missing no one can yet say
that their absence is not perfectly natural.
It il probable that much Of this restraint
is due to tho fact that the period from
July l to October / is a closed season
for dentists in Piscataauis county. and any
one killing q Dentist between those dates
IL liable to a fine of go. half Of which goes
to the informer. But, Notwithstanding this
legal obstacle, the fact that 80 few dentists
Wanted self-control Of the New Englander
has not been overstated.
It Is an interesting point to notice that
this New England self-control Is lost In
the first generation after removal from its
homo environment Your professor Is Of
New England parentage, but he Is willing
to confess frankly that II there were GER
tain dentists here and II he could shoot
and had the money he would in all proba-
bility be q violator Of the Maine game
Ia VS.
The last night Of the convention the dem
lists had a special ceremony. 1t was called
a clinic and was the greatest tooth-pulling
time this section has ever witnessed. Dur
ing the day the younger dentists had been
busy gathering victims. They had picked
up about everybody not too heavily armed
or not out In the middle of the lake in
boats. Then, strange as 1t may seem.
large number OF people had come in from
the surrounding country voluntarily. They
were victims Of aching teeth, who were
promised free and painless operations. All
of them had a sad awakening from their
dream. however. because the operators,
after removing the especial tooth. could
never resist the temptation to go on pull
ing. There was one especially pitiful case
Of a young man who was to have been
married this week. He thought this good
chance to get rid of troublesome tooth
before the ceremony. not realizing that
after he was married aching tooth
would be of comparatively little impor-
tance. However, the young man placed
himself in the hands of the dentists, and
when he came out from under the influ-