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 RK21 In8 1 904a The history of a his 
 
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SEPTEMBER 1904 
 
 Dental Cosnoi 
 
 A Monthi:y Record 
 
 or 
 
 Denial Science 
 
 DevoiedioiheLieresis o/^tieT^ro^ssiou 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 EDW^^D C.KIRK,D.D.5.,5c.D. 
 
 OBSE^FIVE J^ REFLECT 
 
 fubushed by 
 
 TfiE5,5. Vbite Dental Manufacturing Co. 
 
 CBBSTNUT SX^ CCK. TWELFTH, PratAI>ELl»HIA., 
 
 BRANCHEi 
 
 NEW YORK I / *' '• •"'J^«~Un"'»' Squire, We»t ROCHESTER : S07-SIS Ch.mberof Comraert* 
 
 I Wlndtor Arcade, stb Ave. and 47tb St. NEW ORLEANS : 8io>6is HIberola BnlldlBg, 
 BOSTON : lao Boyltton Street cor. Car ondelet and Qravler StreeU 
 
 CHICAGO : Randolph St., cor. Wabaih A v«. BERLIN (Ger. ) i Lladenatraise 37 
 
 BROOKLYN : 356 and 3S8 Fultoo Street BUENOS AIRES (R. A.) ; Calle Victoria jje 
 
 ATLANTA: Prudeotlal Building ST. PETERSBURO iRuala): Marikal* ai 
 TORONTO (Canada): no and iij Victoria Street 
 
 Triet, ti.oo a year, in adbane*. Single Copitt, to etnu 
 
 enter«<] at cbe Poat-Offlce at Pblladelphla. Pa., as second-claaa matter 
 
®bp 
 
 i|t0t0rg 0f a I|t0l0rg 
 
 SOUVENI R 
 
 Fourth International Dental Congress 
 St. Louis, Mo. 
 
 August 29 — September 3, 1904 
 

TH E 
 
 Dental Cosmos. 
 
 4 ^ 
 
 T has been truly said that the College, 
 the Association, and the Journal con- 
 stitute the tripod upon which the 
 profession of dentistry is founded. 
 To these factors it owes its origin 
 and its continued existence as a professional 
 body. 
 
 The year 1839, the natal year of the pro- 
 fession of dentistry, witnessed the founding of 
 the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, the 
 first dental educational institution in the world, 
 and also the first issue of the "American Jour- 
 nal of Dental Science," together with the 
 founding of the American Society of Dental 
 Surgeons, — the first dental journal and first 
 dental association respectively. 
 
Previous to the organization of these impor- 
 tant professional enterprises the practice of 
 dentistry was in a chaotic state, methods were 
 crude, and the technical knowledge both of 
 dental art and of dental pathology and thera- 
 peutics was extremely meager; science in the 
 modern meaning of the term was unknown; 
 secrecy regarding methods of practice was the 
 general rule; each practitioner, feeling that he 
 held the knowledge of his art by proprietary 
 right, demanded a substantial compensation 
 for imparting it to those who desired to enter 
 upon dental practice. There was little or no 
 interchange of professional thought among 
 practitioners, and there were no means of 
 dental education other than by the apprentice- 
 ship system. 
 
 Charlatanism under these conditions was rife 
 and became so offensive to the more liberal 
 and high-minded that a considerable number of 
 men of eminence and professional character, 
 deploring the degraded state of their calling, 
 sought to rescue it from its unsatisfactory posi- 
 tion and place it upon a sound professional 
 basis. Their efforts resulted in the establish- 
 ing in 1839 of the three great fundamental 
 factors referred to. 
 
It would be a useless task to critically ana- 
 lyze the relative importance to dentistry of 
 the work of the college, the association, and 
 the journal respectively. Each is essential to 
 professional growth and each fulfillsli different 
 though equally important function as a mem- 
 ber of the body professional, but it is with 
 the journal particularly that we are here con- 
 cerned. 
 
 The function of the journal is essentially 
 educational ; it is the means by which technical 
 information is disseminated among the pro- 
 fession so that the thought of the few is dis- 
 tributed to the mass. It fulfills or should ful- 
 fill in a large degree the function of a post- 
 graduate instructor to the practitioner by keep- 
 ing him in touch with the latest advancements 
 wherever made in his field of work. 
 
 As the profession of dentistry has developed 
 so has its periodical literature kept pace with 
 each advance, until the monthly output of up- 
 wards of about seventy-five dental journals 
 now published constitutes an enormous cir- 
 culating library of current dental knowledge 
 quite apart from the thousands of volumes of 
 standard literature now published on the same 
 subject. 
 
(She Anrrstnr. 
 
 Among the early pioneers in periodical 
 dental literature was the "Dental News Let- 
 ter" issued in 1847 by the supply house of 
 Jones, White & Co., of Philadelphia and New 
 York. Its contemporary publications were the 
 ''American Journal of Dental Science," issued 
 in June 1839; "Stockton's Dental hitelli- 
 gencer," published by S. W. Stockton & Co., 
 Philadelphia, in 1845; the "New York Dental 
 Recorder," by C. C. Allen, New York; the 
 "Dental Register of the West," a quarterly 
 publication under the auspices of the Missis- 
 sippi Valley Association of Dental Surgeons 
 in 1847, and two or three dental advertising 
 sheets of minor importance. 
 
 As illustrative of the interest exhibited by 
 dental practitioners in the dental journals of 
 the period it is interesting to note that the 
 circulation reached by the "American Journal 
 of Dental Science" at the time of issue of the 
 fourth number was 511 copies to 174 sub- 
 scribers. 
 
 The profession was in its infancy, the ideas 
 
 6 
 
of co-operation and esprit de corps were in- 
 novations whicli though attractive to the few- 
 had not infused their energizing influence 
 among dentists generally. There was no well- 
 organized government postal system and the 
 means of intercommunication were defective, 
 hence the journal had to make its way slowly 
 toward that status in the professional mind 
 which later recognized it as a necessity of equal 
 importance with the technical armamentarium. 
 The ''Dental News Letter" made its first 
 appearance in October 1847, as a quarterh- 
 publication of sixteen pages under the editor- 
 ship of J. R. McCurdy, a member of the firm 
 of Jones, White & Co., its publishers. The 
 annual price of subscription was fifty cents. 
 The following, taken from its "Salutatory," 
 sets forth the motive for its publication, viz: 
 
 '"I St. That the profession both in the United 
 States and Europe may be informed of the im- 
 provements which have been and are now being 
 made in the manufacture of artificial teeth, the 
 various tools and aids in the workshop and instru- 
 ments for the operating room. 
 
 "2d. To bring before the profession all that 
 is new in the theory and practice of Dentistry, 
 through the medium of original communications, 
 essays from old and young practitioners, colla- 
 
tions from authors, and items of news on all 
 subjects relating to Dentistry.'' 
 
 This would seem to have been a somewhat 
 ambitious scope to be covered by a sixteen- 
 page quarterly, as the publishers evidently 
 found to be the case from further ex- 
 perience, for the journal was progressively 
 enlarged through 24, 32, 48, 64, to 80 pages 
 in the ninth volume, which size was main- 
 tained until the close of its publication by 
 merger in the "Dental Cosmos." 
 
 The "Dental News Letter" quickly achieved 
 an honorable place among its contemporaries. 
 While its local support was perhaps the most 
 important, it exerted a wide sphere of influence 
 by reason of the able corps of contributors 
 who furnished articles for its pages, prominent 
 among whom were J. F. B. Flagg, Elisha 
 Townsend, S. P. Hullihen, Louis Jack, Robert 
 Arthur, T. L. Buckingham, C. N. Peirce, 
 Thos. W. Evans, J. H. McQuillen, J. De- 
 Haven White, and many others, hi 1853 Dr. 
 J. DeHaven White became its chief editor in 
 collaboration with its former editor, J. K. 
 McCurdy, the increasing importance of the 
 publication and the added editorial labor 
 
 8 
 
rendering" the change necessary. Under this 
 new management the "News Letter" developed 
 rapidly and vigorously. The new editor-in- 
 chief, occupying a position of commanding 
 importance as an authority on dental matters 
 and possessing an aggressive personality, insti- 
 tuted a vigorous policy in the conduct of the 
 journal, with the result that with the enlarging 
 interest in dental matters generally a more 
 frequent and larger means of expression than 
 was afforded by a quarterly publication be- 
 came necessary. 
 
 Itrlh of tbr " Srnlal QIosmoB." 
 
 The demands of the enlarged situation were 
 met by the publication August 1, 1859, of 
 the first number of the "Dental Cosmos" 
 under the joint editorship of J. D. White, 
 D.D.S., J. H. McQuillen, D.D.S., and George 
 J, Ziegler, M.D., the first as editor-in-chief, 
 the second in charge of the scientific depart- 
 ment, and the last in charge of such medical 
 subjects as had a bearing upon dental practice. 
 The new enterprise was one of high aims 
 and breadth of scope. The twelve years of 
 
ripened experience which had resulted from 
 
 the publication of the "News Letter" brought 
 to the editors and publishers a juster apprecia- 
 tion of the needs of dentistry from the journal- 
 istic side, and a clearer comprehension of the 
 possibilities of dental progress toward higher 
 ideals. 
 
 Those who stood as sponsors for this new 
 candidate for professional favor gave it a desig- 
 nation clearly indicating its scope of action, 
 and sent it forth into the world of dentistry 
 with their personal warrant to its birthright ex- 
 pressed in terms which admit no doubt as to 
 their high purpose, and which have ever since 
 remained as the animating motive of the 
 "Dental Cosmos." 
 
 This was its baptism: 
 
 ''Dentistry is a science, and its cultivation, in 
 all forms, is necessarily systematic. A dental 
 journal, well adapted to its use, must be sedu- 
 lously attentive to the gathering and effective 
 presentment of the constant accumulations of new 
 facts and new and useful views daily developing 
 themselves in general practice. If any source of 
 improvement can be rightly esteemed more valu- 
 able than another, this is the one entitled to such 
 preference. This department of the paper will 
 be carefully cultivated, well managed, and fairly 
 
 II 
 
and honorably administered by the gentleman to 
 whom the charge is specially committed. 
 
 ''Dental literature, in all the forms in which it 
 flows from the press, demands such selection, 
 criticism, and condensation as shall best afford 
 its spirit and worth for practical and theoretic 
 uses. This department, committed to eminently 
 competent hands, we can also promise will be well 
 kept up ; and care will be taken in translation, 
 selection, and abridgment to secure a transfusion 
 of all that is best in the publications of our own 
 country, England, and the Continent. We are 
 willing to invite high expectations in this respect, 
 feeling certain of meeting them satisfactorily. 
 
 "The range of the other chief division of the 
 work is rich in capabilities of service to the zeal- 
 ous cultivators of dental science. General medi- 
 cine, surgery, and their associate sciences have 
 much available aid to afford our specialty, and the 
 editor of this department will do it ample justice. 
 
 "Our plan has these general features, and the 
 aim is to bring them out fully and effectively. It 
 will be made to embrace in its details all the useful 
 facts of professional experience which can be 
 gathered — all the improved modes of ])ractice 
 which the best heads and hands arc constantly 
 developing; the chemistry, metallurgy, and me- 
 chanics of the art, in whatever they are useful or 
 promising; and along with all this, due place will 
 he given to theory, discussion, criticism, to history, 
 biography, and l)ibliography, as they can best be 
 l)lcnded and arrayfd for {jrofitaljlc consideration. 
 
 12 
 
GEO. J. ZIEGLER, M.D. 
 
"A good deal of work done upon a great deal 
 of matter will reduce it to a presentable form and 
 convenient compass. We shall have hands and 
 heads enough engaged to turn out their work- 
 clear, compact, and comprehensive. 
 
 ''If the 'Dental Cosmos' shall tolerably perform 
 all this promise, it will deserve its title — that is. 
 it will very fairly cover the dentist's world of 
 science and practice — it will be universal in the 
 range of its accommodated application ; and it 
 will be orderly and systematic through all its com- 
 prehensiveness. The meaning of the title is ex- 
 actly the intention of the publishers. Both the 
 title and the intention would be too limited if 
 they had less scope; and the publication would be 
 a failure if it fell short of either. Our readers, 
 we are well assured, will not make the mistake 
 of excepting to the largeness of either aim or 
 name — they will reserve their censure for the non- 
 fulfilment, if it should happen, but which we 
 intend to prevent, and so escape it. 
 
 "The 'Dental Cosmos' is pledged to the dental 
 public to do whatever a journal can, for the 
 good cause of professional improvement — for the 
 profession's advancement in its usefulness, self- 
 respect, and public regard, and for strengthening 
 fraternal courtesy, justice, and co-operation among 
 the men who have the destiny and responsibility 
 of the profession in their hands." 
 
 The new journal was received with favor 
 both in America and in Europe, and by reason 
 
 14 
 
of the professional standing of its editorial 
 staff, together with the character of the matter 
 which appeared in its pages, it soon came to be 
 recognized as a standard authority in dental 
 matters and an important factor in the de- 
 velopment and shaping of dental professional 
 policy. 
 
 Dr. J. D. White continued as editor-in-chief 
 of the "Dental Cosmos" until July 1865. In 
 retiring from his official connection he made 
 the following statement in his valedictory, 
 which will give some indication of the part 
 being performed by the "Dental Cosmos" at 
 that time: 
 
 "For the publisher I can say that his course 
 has been marked throughout, up to this time, 
 with the most hberal disposition to favor the 
 interchange of opinion and experience of every 
 member of our noble art ; and but for that, and 
 other journals under similar circumstances, God 
 only knows what would have been the condition 
 of our profession at the present time. No jour- 
 nal has yet, in our profession, been self-sustaining; 
 and without the combined interest of those en- 
 gaged in other branches of our art, other than 
 the office practitioner, where now would our 
 science and our literature have stood?" 
 
 15 
 
There is every reason to believe that the 
 statements just quoted are a true retlex of the 
 conditions of the period in which they were 
 written, and correctly portray the dental jour- 
 nal not only as a recorder of current events, 
 but as the standard-bearer of professional ad- 
 vancement, and an important means in shap- 
 ing its policy and ideals. 
 
 Dr. J. H. McQuillen, well and favorably 
 known throughout the world of dentistry as 
 a teacher, investigator, a writer of ability, and 
 practitioner of high skill, was called to the 
 chief editorship upon the retirement of his pre- 
 decessor. A man of high scientitic attainment, 
 great breadth of intellect, an unbounded and 
 sympathetic interest in all that concerned the 
 welfare of his chosen profession, he brought 
 to bear upon the conduct of the "Dental Cos- 
 mos" his best energies and ripened judgment, 
 so that under his able editorial management 
 the journal quickly achieved an enviable repu- 
 tation as the recognized exponent of scientific 
 dentistry, and gave to dentistry itself an im- 
 
 i6 
 
^^/^r^ '.^..a^^^. 
 
petus toward a higher professional status 
 which it would be difficult, if possible, to esti- 
 mate. 
 
 Much of the work done by Dr. McQuillen 
 as editor of the "Dental Cosmos" was in ad- 
 vance of the thought of his time. His clear 
 vision penetrated the future to an extent that 
 enabled him to foretell the lines upon which 
 the advancement of dentistry was most surely 
 to proceed toward the attainment of that 
 standing among professional callings which it 
 was destined to occupy, and our evolution has 
 in time proved the accuracy of his views. On 
 retiring from the editorship, in January 1872, 
 he gave in his valedictory the follov/ing state- 
 ment of his views upon the basis of a higher 
 professional standard and his conception of 
 his duty as an editor: 
 
 "In the discharge of the editorial duties, the 
 primary object has been the elevation of the pro- 
 fessional standard to the highest possible point 
 of excellence. Recognizing that this could not be 
 promoted by harping upon a single theme, the 
 effort has been made through the medium of edi- 
 torials and other communications to touch every 
 chord likely to secure a response tending toward 
 awakening the desire for self-culture, which is 
 characteristic of the age, that would result in a 
 
 i8 
 
broad and thorough, rather than a fractional men- 
 tal, development on the part of members of the 
 dental profession, so that as a body it could bear 
 a favorable comparison with other liberal profes- 
 sions. To this end a thorough academic and col- 
 legiate education has been insisted upon for those 
 who desire to enter the ranks of the profession, 
 and also the passage of laws making such educa- 
 tion not a matter of choice, but of compulsion on 
 the part of dental students before they can engage 
 in practice. All efforts at reform that stop short 
 of this will prove futile, and the laws framed for 
 the punishment of charlatans will be of no avail 
 so long as the road by which quacks can enter 
 the profession is freely open. Prevention is al- 
 ways better than cure, and in this matter thorough 
 education is the only reliable remedy both as a 
 preventive and a cure." 
 
 The third of a century which has intervened 
 since this prophetic utterance was made has 
 only served to practically enforce its accuracy. 
 By education we have advanced, and when the 
 standards of attainment above suggested by 
 Dr. McQuillen shall have been reached, and 
 safeguarded by wise legislation, then indeed 
 shall we have achieved the goal of a liberal 
 and learned profession. 
 
 Overburdened by the cares of a large prac- 
 tice and the arduous duties of his professorial 
 
 19 
 
position in the Philadelphia Dental College, 
 Dr. McQuillen felt compelled to relinquish his 
 editorial work, a step which he was further 
 impelled to take in order to secure some time 
 for original research in his chosen field of den- 
 tal histology. 
 
 ir. Jl. W, WbxU as Izhxtar, 
 
 He was succeeded by Dr. James W. White, 
 brother of the well-known publisher of the 
 ''Dental Cosmos." Dr. White had from the 
 foundation and first publication of the "Cos- 
 mos" taken an active interest in the work 
 and had been a frequent contributor to its 
 pages. A man of rare intellectual qualities, 
 keen observation, ripe judgnient, a born 
 teacher, and having an intimate knowledge 
 of the whole life of the dental profession, 
 so to speak, he quickly became the guiding 
 spirit of the "Cosmos," giving to it his most 
 devoted care and attention. It was his proud 
 boast that not an issue of the magazine ever 
 appeared that he had not personally super- 
 vised from cover to cover. His editorial 
 utterances were expressed in clear, faultless 
 
 21 
 
English and with a cogent style of which 
 he was a master. 
 
 Imbued as he was with a supreme faith in 
 the dignity and beneficence of dentistry as 
 a profession, he was always its doughty cham- 
 pion when called upon to speak in its de- 
 fense, and the ever-active spur to a higher 
 and broader professionalism for our calling. 
 Though not himself a dentist, his life-long 
 and intimate contact with every phase of den- 
 tistry made him master of it in all respects 
 save that of the practical operative side. 
 
 Dr. White died suddenly on May 27, 1891. 
 Of his influence upon the career of the "Dental 
 Cosmos" his biographer has said: 
 
 "His broad knowledge, his exquisite literary 
 taste, his keen insight, his rare judgment, were in 
 its service from the first, ever guiding it onward 
 and upward to the ideal of perfect journalism. 
 To his mind, the journalistic literature of a 
 scientific profession did not fulfill the object oi 
 its being if it was merely a record of passing 
 events or a vehicle for the exchange of the com- 
 mon information of the day — the iteration and 
 reiteration of truths known to all men. It should 
 be the prophet of the higher aspirations of the 
 profession it represented, the torch-bearer of a 
 wider knowledge^ the teacher of a nobler science, 
 
 22 
 
the inspiration of a better practice. It could not 
 stand still ; the ideal of yesterday should be the 
 actual of today, with a yet higher goal set for 
 tomorrow's effort. Each issue should be a sympo- 
 sium of the freshest thought of the brightest 
 minds, to the end that those who read should 
 have a constant stimulus to excel and thus in 
 time to offer their best fruits upon a common 
 altar. This was the ideal which he endeavored 
 to realize in his conduct of the "Dental Cosmos.' " 
 
 Forty-four years of continuous and steady 
 development had elapsed since the beginning 
 of the enterprise in the founding of the "Den- 
 tal News Letter" up to the death of Dr. J. W. 
 White as editor of the "Dental Cosmos'' and 
 the passing of the journal into the editorial 
 charge of the present editor, Edward C. Kirk, 
 D.D.S., Sc.D. Its period of publication had 
 comprised nearly the whole professional life- 
 history of dentistry. The development of both 
 the profession and the journal has been syn- 
 chronous and parallel. From small beginnings 
 there had resulted the creation of a fully 
 equipped and organized profession with its 
 new aims and multiplicity of interests, which 
 
 23 
 
CPdci^TlyHl G/toH<j 
 
it was the object and duty of the "Cosmos" 
 to faithfully portray and to stimulate to greater 
 activity and usefulness. Beyond and above 
 these more material ends was the high standard 
 of professional ideals set and maintained by 
 the group of his illustrious predecessors which 
 came as a heritage to the present editor, and 
 which in the acceptance of his position were 
 the unwritten though none the less important 
 of his responsibilities. 
 
 No periodical in dentistry had taken higher 
 ground nor maintained it more consistently. 
 The "Dental Cosmos" had from its first issue 
 voiced the best thought of the profession it 
 represented, and its editorship was assumed in 
 the frank recognition of these sentiments and 
 accepted in trust to be utilized in the further- 
 ance of the best interests of the dental pro- 
 fession. 
 
 With the continuing onward sweep of pro- 
 fessional development the field of the dental 
 journal is ever widening, bringing to the editor 
 new responsibilities, new situations to interpret, 
 new problems to grapple with. 
 
 Fifteen years ago, only a little while before 
 the present editor assumed control, the dis- 
 tinguished editor of a contemporary dental 
 
 25 
 
journal made the assertion that "the dental 
 profession is largely written out." 
 
 The "Dental Cosmos" at the time pointed 
 out the absurdity of the statement, and de- 
 clared that "neither operative nor prosthetic 
 dentistry had reached the Ultima Thule of 
 practical development, and until they shall 
 have done so the books cannot be closed and 
 the official notice posted up, 'Written Out !' " 
 
 Its pages since have been a monthly wit- 
 ness to the advances in practical and theoretical 
 dentistry; have chronicled the progress of the 
 practical through the scientific, and the leads 
 which practical dentistry has suggested for 
 scientific research. It is conducted upon the 
 idea that the science and practice of dentistry 
 are so intimately interwoven that they can- 
 not be separated but to its detriment; that the 
 one serves the other, and that both are neces- 
 sary to further progress. 
 
 The present editor brought to his duties the 
 rounded equipment of years of practical ex- 
 perience, a thorough knowledge of the litera- 
 ture of the profession, a wide acquaintance 
 among the men active in upholding and ad- 
 vancing its standards; a just comprehension of 
 what had been accomplished, a keen apprecia- 
 
 26 
 
tion of the difficulties to be encountered, a 
 lofty ideal of the possibilities of dentistr}^, a 
 courage sufficient for the task before him. 
 
 He has kept the reading pages of the "Den- 
 tal Cosmos" clean, free from the taint of the 
 advertising spirit. On the other hand, they 
 have been and are free and open to the un- 
 trammeled expression of opinion upon any 
 professional subject. In quality as in quantity 
 the journalistic literature of the profession, as 
 expressed in the "Dental Cosmos," compares 
 favorably with that of any former period, con- 
 stituting a standing refutation of the charge 
 that the "profession is largely written out." 
 Above all, the "Dental Cosmos" is in close 
 touch with every movement for the further- 
 ance of the profession's higher development 
 along whatever plane promises practical, scien- 
 tific, or ethical growth. Its pages form an 
 unerring index to professional thought, an in- 
 spiration to professional progress. 
 
 The "Dental Cosmos" could not have been 
 the factor it has been in the upbuilding of den- 
 
 27 
 
tistry but for the broadly g-enerous attitude of 
 its publisher. Something of the possibilities 
 of dental progress was foreseen when the 
 ''Dental News Letter" was merged into the 
 "Dental Cosmos" in 1859. The ideas then 
 outlined as before referred to formed the 
 foundation of the policy since adhered to, 
 namely, the fostering of the profession's "ad- 
 vancement in usefulness, self-respect, and pub- 
 lic regard." Expense should not be allowed 
 to stand in the way of making the "Dental 
 Cosmos" a magazine to which dentists might 
 invite comparison with any scientific publica- 
 tion. On the other hand, the "Dental Cos- 
 mos" should not be a gift enterprise. It was 
 to be worth its price and the price would have 
 to be paid. It was believed that there were 
 and would be enough dentists who would ap- 
 preciate and support the effort to give them a 
 magazine whose literary and scientific char- 
 acter would of itself be a distinction and con- 
 stitute a title to the respect of other scientific 
 professions. 
 
 There was no expectation of making money 
 out of it. Otherwise its advertising pages 
 could readily have been filled with paying 
 advertisements. On the contrary, a strict cen- 
 
 28 
 
sorship has been exercised over this side of 
 the magazine to the end that the advertising 
 which appeared should be dental and of a 
 character which should not conflict with the 
 high aim of the reading pages. 
 
 The expectation of support from the better 
 elements of the profession was realized. The 
 "Dental Cosmos" built up for itself a clientele 
 which could not be shaken from its allegiance 
 — a clientele composed of those who were in- 
 terested in the advancement of dentistry, of 
 those who wanted to know the "why" as well 
 as the "how" of things. And this clientele 
 widened as the profession grew. For many 
 years the "Dental Cosmos" has almost un- 
 interruptedly possessed, as it does today, the 
 largest paid subscription list of any dental 
 journal. 
 
 aIJ|^ ^t0rg of thr ^attat, 
 
 Some account of a house which could ori- 
 ginate and through a half century successfully 
 carry out a policy like this may not be unin- 
 teresting. 
 
 Its founder, Dr. Samuel Stockton White, 
 after serving an apprenticeship in the "art and 
 
 29 
 
mystery of dentistry and the manufacture of 
 incorruptible teeth," began business for him- 
 self in 1844 at the age of twenty-two. 
 
 The beginnings of the business were very 
 humble; the factory, with but two operatives, 
 was in the garret of a dwelling-house at the 
 corner of Seventh and Race streets, Philadel- 
 phia, with the dental office in a room in the 
 same building. Dr. White with his own hands 
 engraved the molds for the first and for a long 
 time the only product, porcelain teeth. The 
 superior forms of these porcelain teeth quickly 
 attracted attention, and the foundation of what 
 has come to be the largest manufactory of 
 dentists' supplies in the world was laid. 
 
 In a short time both branches of the busi- 
 ness were removed to Race street above 
 Eighth. In 1845 Dr. White took in as part- 
 ners in the manirfacturing department Asahel 
 Jones, of New York, and John R. McCurdy, 
 of Philadelphia. In 1846 he relinquished the 
 practice of dentistry in order to devote his en- 
 tire time to the manufacture of porcelain teeth. 
 In 1849 the firm removed to a property on 
 Arch street below Sixth, which had been pur- 
 chased and specially fitted up for the business. 
 In 1852 another removal to a still more com- 
 
 30 
 
modious structure in the same block was 
 necessitated. 
 
 Branch houses were established in New 
 York in 1846; in Boston in 1850; in Chi- 
 cago in 1858. Mr. McCurdy withdrew in 
 1859, and Mr. Jones in 1861, Dr. White pur- 
 chasing the interests of both. The business, 
 under his skilful guidance, continued to grow 
 rapidly; from the manufacture of a single 
 article it had developed into a depot of sup- 
 plies for everything then pertaining to den- 
 tistry. 
 
 In time more extensive quarters were im- 
 peratively needed, and in October 1868, the 
 imposing structure at the southeast corner of 
 Chestnut and Twelfth streets, extending from 
 Chestnut to Sansom streets, which had been 
 erected by Dr. White and fitted up expressly 
 for the purpose, was occupied as a manu- 
 factory and depot. This removal, involving a 
 great outlay, was a long step forward, and 
 provided an increase of room that Dr. White 
 and his associates believed would be sufficient 
 for any possible requirement of the business. 
 
 On December 30, 1879, Dr. White died 
 suddenly, in Paris, France, and for about a 
 year and a half the business was carried on by 
 
the trustees of his estate — viz, his only brother, 
 Dr. James W. White; his eldest son, J. Clar- 
 ence White; and Henry M. Lewis, who had 
 been for a number of years his cashier and 
 confidential clerk. 
 
 The S. S. White Dental Mfg. Co., which was 
 incorporated under the laws of the State of 
 Pennsylvania with a paid-up capital of one 
 million dollars, assumed control July 1, 1881. 
 In this company was also included the business 
 and interests of the firm of Johnston Bros., of 
 New York, which had been for several years 
 prominent in the manufacture of dentists' sup- 
 plies. 
 The officers of the Company were — 
 
 President: Dr. James W. White. 
 
 General Manager: Henry M. Lewis. 
 
 Secretary: J. Clarence White. 
 
 Treasurer: Samuel T. Jones. 
 The business continued to expand. The 
 great building at Twelfth and Chestnut streets, 
 originally supposed to be large enough for all 
 possible growth, had become crowded, so that 
 many leading products could not be made di- 
 
 32 
 
PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR 
 
redly in the establishment, but were contracted 
 for with the best outside manufacturers that 
 could be found. The Johnston Bros, business 
 brought with it a manufacturing plant located 
 on Staten Island, N. Y., which with the land at- 
 tached to it provided facilities for a different 
 policy. As fast and as far as possible the pro- 
 duction of goods that had been manufactured, 
 outside was taken into one or other of its 
 factories by the Company. 
 
 New and improved machinery was rapidly 
 added to the Staten Island plant, and the force 
 of operatives largely augmented. In a very 
 few years the buildings were crowded to their 
 utmost capacity, compelling the erection of ad- 
 ditional factory buildings, which are among the 
 largest and best appointed in the land. 
 
 Meanwhile the pressure upon the Philadel- 
 phia factory continued to increase, and in 1890 
 there was purchased a tine building, well 
 adapted to the business, in Frankford, Phila- 
 delphia, and to it were removed the depart- 
 ments of steel instruments, case-making and 
 cabinet-work, and some of less importance that 
 had for a considerable time occupied rather 
 cramped quarters at Twelfth and Chestnut 
 streets. The capacity of this factory has since 
 
 34 
 
GENERAL MANAGER 
 
been largely increased by the purchase of ad- 
 joining properties and the erection of additional 
 buildings. 
 
 The demands of the Southern trade led to 
 the opening of a branch house at Atlanta, Ga., 
 in January, 1891. 
 
 On May 27, 1891, Dr. James W. White 
 died. He had been president continuously 
 since the formation of the Company, having 
 previously been associated with his brother 
 Samuel during almost the entire business 
 career of the latter. 
 
 Mr. Henry M. Lewis was made president to 
 fill the vacancy, and Mr. William H. Gilbert 
 was elected general manager. Mr. Gilbert had 
 at that time been connected with the house for 
 twenty-six years, and had risen successively 
 to positions of increased importance and re- 
 sponsibility. In 1887 he was appointed by 
 the Board of Directors general superintendent 
 of all the manufacturing operations of the 
 Company, so that his training had eminently 
 fitted him for the exacting duties of the posi- 
 tion to which he was elected. 
 
 The growth of the Company's business has 
 continued unceasingly, its history being a 
 record of almost uninterrupted expansion, 
 
 36 
 
necessitating- for its successful handling the 
 establishing of additional branch houses as 
 follows: At Buenos Aires, R. A., in 1895; at 
 Berlin, Germany, in 1896; at Rochester, N. Y., 
 in 1897; at St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1899; at 
 Toronto, Ont., Canada, in 1900; and at New 
 Orleans, La., in 1904. 
 
 Meantime the demands upon the Company's 
 facilities for manufacturing porcelain teeth be- 
 came so great that a property, 85 x 130 feet, 
 on South Twelfth street, was purchased, and a 
 superb factory, five stories and basement, was 
 erected upon it. This entire building, with the 
 exception of one tloor, is devoted to the vari- 
 ous processes connected with the making of 
 porcelain teeth. 
 
 In April 1901, Mr. J. Clarence White re- 
 signed the secretaryship, and Mr. Constant E. 
 Jones was elected his successor. Mr. Jones 
 had demonstrated his business capacity by his 
 able conduct of the credit department. 
 
 In January 1903, Mr. Samuel T. Jones, 
 who had been treasurer of the Company from 
 its foundation, died, and Mr. George R. Robin- 
 son was chosen his successor. Mr. Robinson 
 was for many years bookkeeper and cashier 
 of the Chicago branch, in which position he 
 
 38 
 
T R EAS U R E R 
 
showed abilities for a larger field. He was 
 consequently transferred to Philadelphia, where 
 for several years he had been assistant to the 
 treasurer. 
 The present oftlcers of the Company are — 
 President : Henry M. Lewis. 
 General Manager: William H. Gilbert. 
 Secretary: Constant E. Jones. 
 Treasurer: George R. Robinson. 
 Directors: Samuel S. White, Jr., Algernon 
 K. Johnston, Henry M. Lewis, Andrew W. 
 Carey, and J. Clarence White. 
 
 The main otiice, center of direction, and 
 principal salesrooms of the Company are still 
 located in the building at the southeast corner 
 of Twelfth and Chestnut streets, Philadelphia. 
 Originally planned and built by the founder as 
 the permanent home of the entire business, 
 manufacturing and selling, it now affords space 
 for only the ollices, the sales and stock and 
 shipping departments. All the manufacturing 
 departments, by reason of their expansion, 
 have been forced froni time to time, as here- 
 
 40 
 
inbefore noted, to seek larger quarters than 
 could here he afforded them. To meet the 
 new conditions the interior of the building has 
 been almost entirely remodeled. 
 
 The general offices of the Company, the 
 accounting department, legal department, ad- 
 vertising department, and the publication and 
 editorial offices of the "Dental Cosmos," oc- 
 cupy the third floor. 
 
 The second floor is the salesroom proper, a 
 splendidly appointed apartment, 41 x 230 feet, 
 wherein the products of the Company's fac- 
 tories are arranged for easy, intelligent, and 
 comparative examination by patrons. A raised 
 platform, 16 x 6o feet, affords the opportunity 
 for an effective showing of chairs, spiral flush 
 spittoons, engines, electrical appliances, etc., 
 in actual operation. The main tooth stock is 
 also located at the front of this floor. 
 
 On the fourth floor are the foreign order 
 branch of the tooth department, travelers' 
 headquarters, electrical experimental rooms, 
 etc. 
 
 The fifth floor is the repository of the stock 
 of steel instruments and miscellaneous goods, 
 where wholesale orders are filled. 
 
 The basement contains the electric light 
 
 42 
 

 
 Dl R ECTOR 
 
plant, the packing and shipping- departments, 
 etc. 
 
 The New York main store, managed by Mr. 
 Charles Kerby, for many years stock clerk at 
 the home house in Philadelphia, is now lo- 
 cated on the sixth floor of the Spingler Build- 
 ing, a handsome new oftlce building, Nos. 5, 7, 
 and 9 Union Square, West. It is headquarters 
 for the supply of materials to dentists in the 
 lower part of New York and surrounding 
 country, and considerable export and domestic 
 wholesale business is transacted there. An 
 uptown branch, for the supply of the dentists 
 of the upper part of New York, is located in 
 the Windsor Arcade, Fifth avenue, 46th and 
 ^17th streets; it has been for many years and 
 still is under the management of Mr. Norman 
 S. Towner. There is also a branch in Brook- 
 lyn, occupying the fifth floor of the Nassau 
 Building, Nos. 356 and 358 Fulton street, 
 under the direction of Mr. Samuel M. Vreden- 
 burgh, who for a long term of years served the 
 house as a traveling salesman. At these two 
 small branches the stocks, though not large in 
 
 44 
 
Dl R ECTOR 
 
amount, are about *as complete in variety as 
 at the main store. 
 
 The Boston house, to which is committed 
 the oversight of the business in New England 
 and some of the Canadian provinces, is lo- 
 cated at No. 120 Boylston street, Boston. Its 
 manager, Mr. John F. Davis, brought to its 
 duties a long experience in the house of which 
 he is now the head. His branch and its goods 
 are as familiar as household words to the den- 
 tists of New England. 
 
 The Chicago branch, one of the largest and 
 most important of the subsidiary houses, is 
 under the capable control of Mr. Charles L. 
 Bingham, son of the original manager. Mr. 
 Bingham was, so to speak, "brought up" in 
 the business, developing a capacity for admin- 
 istration which has amply justitied his appoint- 
 ment to succeed his honored father in the con- 
 tinuously growing business of the Chicago 
 branch. This branch is located at No. 37 Ran- 
 dolph street, corner of Wabash avenue. 
 
 The Atlanta branch is in the Prudential 
 Building, Atlanta, under the management of 
 Mr. Frank O. Foster, who, as the able lieuten- 
 ant of Mr. Selby, was his logical successor, 
 v/hen death claimed the hitter something over 
 
 46 
 
Dl R ECTOR 
 
three years ago. The position of Atlanta and 
 its railroad connections make it a business 
 strategical point of tlrst importance in dealing 
 with the central South. 
 
 Mr. Luis Xiques, the head of the South 
 American branch, at Calle X'ictoria, 750, 
 Buenos Aires, R. A., is a long-time employe 
 of the Company. His travels through South 
 America in its interests developed the need of 
 closer relations with the dentists of South 
 America, and Buenos Aires seemed to be the 
 most advantageous location for it. Originally 
 an experiment, the need for its continuance 
 became more and more apparent the longer 
 the experiment was tried. At the end of two 
 years the "experiment" was formally adopted 
 as a full-fledged branch. Under the tactful, 
 energetic administration of Mr. Xiques, it has 
 become an important factor in the business of 
 the Company. 
 
 For some years before establishing a branch 
 house on European soil, the need for it was 
 apparent. Here were thousands of practi- 
 tioners of dentistry, eager for the best appli- 
 ances available, who had shown their appre- 
 ciation by large purchases of the Company's 
 products, even though their relations with it 
 
 4S 
 
BRANCH MANAGERS 
 
were only practicable through dealers. The 
 principal question was, where to locate it. 
 
 This question was tlnall}^ settled in favor 
 of Berlin, and in the latter part of 1896 a 
 branch house was established there at No. 
 n Lindenstrasse, under the management of 
 Mr. Carl Hahn. Mr. Hahn had had large 
 experience in another house which manu- 
 factured dentists' supplies, and after some 
 months spent in our factories and salesrooms, 
 he returned to Berlin thoroughly permeated 
 with enthusiasm. An untiring worker, he 
 placed the new venture on a successful basis 
 within a few months. Its growth has been 
 almost continuous. To handle its business 
 some sixty-odd employes are now required. 
 
 In March of 1899, as an oiTshoot of the 
 Berlin business, another branch was estab- 
 lished in St. Petersburg, Russia, under the 
 superintendence of Mr. Hermann Ubert, who 
 received his training in the Berlin house. This 
 also has had a satisfactory career. 
 
 In 1897, at the request of many dentists in 
 the northwestern part of the state of New 
 York, a branch house was started in Rochester, 
 and Mr. George L. Primrose, who had traveled 
 for many years over the section interested as 
 
 50 
 
T.F.GLENN 
 
 NEW ORUEANS 
 
 S.M.URgDENBERG 
 
 eROOKLYN,N.Y. 
 
 GEO. L. PRIMROSE 
 
 ROCHESTER. N.Y. 
 
 (UPTOWN) NEWYORK 
 
 BRANCH MANAGERS 
 
the representative of the Company, was made 
 its manager. Mr. Primrose is popular and 
 efficient, and serves his patrons satisfactorily 
 to themselves and to the Company. 
 
 Canadian dentists had long urged upon the 
 officials of the Company the need of a direct 
 representation in their country. In 1900 a 
 branch house was formally launched at Nos. 
 110 and 112 Victoria street, Toronto. Mr. 
 Seth A. Craige, who was personally kno\\ai 
 to most of the Dominion dentists as the travel- 
 ing representative of the Company, was placed 
 in charge, and has so conducted its alTairs that 
 the wisdom of the move has been abundantly 
 proved. 
 
 The youngest of the branch houses was 
 formally opened, at 810-815 Hibernia Build- 
 ing, corner of Carondelet and Gravier streets, 
 New Orleans, in March of the current year, 
 with Mr. Thomas F. Glenn, a graduate of the 
 Atlanta house, as manager. There seems no 
 reason why it should not be as successful in 
 its degree as the older houses. 
 
 It will thus be seen that the Company has 
 steadily grown, its business expanding from 
 year to year. In its manufacturing operations 
 it has been actuated by the same spirit which 
 
 5^ 
 
BRANCH MANAGERS 
 
dictated its policy with regard to the "Dental 
 Cosmos." It has steadily believed and as 
 steadily acted upon the belief that there was 
 a wide field for the employment of instruments 
 and appliances of the highest merit possible 
 to produce. Its business has been built upon 
 its adherence to the motto "the best is the 
 cheapest," and it has no fear that there will be 
 any failure to support its elYorts so long" as that 
 spirit is its actuating motive. 
 
 54 
 

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