ADDRESS 
DELIVERED BEFORE THE 
American of Rental 3 tie tire. 
AT THEIR 
Thirteenth Annual Meeting, 
Held in Boston, Oct. 27, 1880, 
By JOSHUA TUCKER, M. D., of Boston. 
Published by the Academy, 
BOSTON: 
S. WOODBERRY & CO., PRINTERS, 266 WASHINGTON STREET 
1881. ADDRESS 
DELIVERED BEFORE THE 
Jpttiran of Ijpntal 
AT THEIR 
Thirteenth Annual Meeting, 
Held in Boston, Oct. 27, 1880, 
By JOSHUA TUCKER, M. D., of Boston. 
Published by the Academy. 
BOSTON: 
S. WOODBERRY & CO., PRINTERS, 266 WASHINGTON STREET. 
1881. 85 Newbury Street, Boston, March 17, 1880. 
Joshua Tucker. M. D., 
My Dear Doctor: The committee on orator and essayist for the 
next annual meeting, have selected you to deliver the annual address. 
Allow me to express the hope that you will comply with the desire 
of the committee and write an address, either on one subject, or a num- 
ber of subjects. 
Hoping for a favorable reply at your earliest convenience, I am, 
Yours very truly, 
Cecil P. Wilson, 
Cor. Sec'y. 
G. T. Moffatt, 
J. T. Codman, 
C. P. Wilson, 
Committee. 
Boston. March 25th, 1880. 
Dr. Cecil P. Wilson, 
My Dear Sir: I have received your kind note, informing me 
that the committee on orator and essayist have selected me to deliver 
the next annual address. 
I am glad to serve the Academy in any manner, and I accept the 
invitation with pleasure. 
Yours very truly, 
Joshua Tucker. INTRODUCTION. 
Mr. President and Gentlemen : 
I desire first to acknowledge the courtesy of your com- 
mittee in inviting me to speak to you, and in allowing me 
the privilege of selecting as many subjects for my dis- 
course as might suit my pleasure. 
Gentlemen, you are aware I have devoted myself to 
the study and practice of your profession nearly all my 
life, and in so long a period I have been obliged to con- 
sider many things which have greatly interested me; some 
of which I could learn from others, and some of which 
I could only know from my own original investigation and 
practical experience. 
Dentistry, like the other professions, looks far back into 
antiquity for its origin. We have lately been given the 
opportunity of reading in the Dental Cosmos a translation 
of a treatise on the teeth, written by Celsus, a Roman 
physician, who lived eighteen hundred years ago; and in 
1855, I saw at Naples, in the ancient Art Museum, some 
instruments taken from under the ashes of Pompeii, which, 
though rusty with the dampness of ages, yet bore a strong 4 
resemblance, both in form and size, to those I myself had 
used. 
Still, dentistry, as we practise it, is in most respects a 
child of the first half of this century. True, there have 
been many methods, changes and improvements since I 
began to study, and more may come in the future. Now, 
in regard to these changes, I feel as President Eliot, of 
Harvard College, says in speaking of historic creeds, that 
" we reverence the fair and eager mind, receptive of old 
truths, and thankfully expectant of new.” ADDRESS. 
Mr. President : 
I chiefly propose to present to you to-day, some of my 
reasons for extracting between the years of six and twenty- 
one, the six-year old, or first permanent molars, when 
feebly organized and carious,— a subject I have always 
considered of the greatest importance to successful den- 
tistry; though I may also, incidentally, offer some remarks 
about other matters which have interested me in an exten- 
sive practice of fifty years. 
In the first place, to lay a foundation for my reasons, 
1 consider it necessary to call your attention as briefly as 
possible to the organization and development of the teeth, 
and especially to the formative process of dentine; also, 
to the nature and (hiuse of the disintegration called caries, 
and to say somewhat concerning the ulceration of the peri- 
osteum, and the treatment of exposed pulps. 
The teeth are organized and partially developed with 
the alveolar process, and when they are irrupted from the 
gums and take their proper places in the arch, their crowns 6 
are complete shells of enamel, of normal size, length and 
diameter; but if now extracted, the root will be found to 
be a shell of dentine about half their normal length. The 
interior of the crown and root are filled with fibrous tissue, 
which extends above the shell, but in time the root elong- 
ates and surrounds this extended tissue, forming a shell of 
a complete root in length and size, with the foramen at 
the apex. Between the root and alveolar process is a 
dense, cartilaginous membrane called the periosteum. 
This fibrous tissue, called the pulp of the tooth, is inter- 
woven with arteries, veins and nerves, a fact equally 
evideut to every practising dentist who may accidentally 
or carelessly wound it, by the acute pain and bleeding 
which follows. 
The pulp is surrounded by a peculiar membraneous 
organization that secretes and separates the white osseous 
fluid, or bone element, from the red, or arterial blood., and 
seems also to have an inherent power or force which 
enables it to carry this osseous fluid to the wall surround- 
ing the pulp and the contiguous tissue, which becomes 
calcified with the wall. This calcifying process builds 
internally against the enamel or wall, taking in or adding to 
the wall, fibre after fibre, from year to year, much like the 
growth of a tree, layer after layer, from year to year, but 
externally. As this action or growth progresses from the 
wall inwardly, the arteries and veins of the pulp become 
gradually obliterated. This calcifying and obliterating 
process continues, if not interrupted by disease, till old 
age. The tissue once the pulp, now becomes entirely 7 
calcified, and healthy, solid dentine takes its place, This 
is the great and normal process with healthy teeth. 
Now this creative action in the deposit of lime • or 
dentine is often deranged by a deficiency in the osseous 
fluid or lack of vital force, and then appear in such cases, 
minute cells in the body of the dentine, which can only 
be discovered by means of the microscope. Three years 
ago I read a paper at one of our evening meetings, 
advancing this theory, and remember with pleasure your 
complimentary vote to have it reread at our annual public 
assembly. Since that time, Dr. Frank Abbott, of New 
York, has intelligently and scientifically investigated 
dentine with the microscope, and discovered these cells, 
which he graphically describes as ponds. (See Cosmos., 
1879,) 
These cells are often formed in the earlier deposits of 
lime near the enamel, and within each is a nucleus of 
moisture which increases to a tluid that cannot evaporate 
or be absorbed. This fluid soon becomes morbid, and by 
chemical reaction generates an acid that dissolves the 
lime, following in the direction of the tubes till it reaches 
the enamel, and then attacks and perforates that. We 
also meet with a similar process or action in the ulcera- 
tion of the periosteum by the derangement of the pulp. 
This may be caused by exposure, by caries or a wound 
from the excavator, or by anything that disrupts the 
surrounding membrane, allowing the red coloring matter 
of the arterial blood to mix with the white osseous fluid, 
giving the latter a red tinge, which fact may be seen in the 8 
red color of the congested crown and root. The pulp thus 
disturbed soon becomes morbid, and the secretions, now 
abnormal, are carried by the circulation through the dentine, 
reaching the periosteum, where in time, it produces inflam- 
mation and ulceration. Likewise, when the pulp gradually 
perishes in the canal, the normal circulation between the 
pulp and periosteum is disturbed and the action ceases ; 
sooner or later the periosteum becomes inflamed, creates 
and gathers serum, which increases and changes to pus, 
and this generates an acrid solvent that acts on the lime, 
perforates the alveolar plate and soft integuments. This 
morbid product, in conformity with the law of all dead or 
effete matter in other parts of the body, is forced out 
externally, resulting in a fistula. 
When this active solvent reaches the enamel, the dis- 
organized dentine or decalcified tissue can be perceived 
within the tooth by the reflection of a mouth mirror, by a 
dark shade or spot through the thin or transparent enamel. 
In such cases, this solvent soon de-crystallizes the enamel, 
which becomes brittle, opaque and changed to a brown 
color: and if the chisel is pressed against the dark spot, 
the enamel scales or crumbles away and exposes the 
original fibrous tissue that had once been calcified dentine, 
but is now a decalcified, soft, and adhesive tissue, which 
can be removed in layers. If the excavator strikes the 
solid bone underneath, this will be found inflamed and 
very sensitive to the touch. This fibrous tissue, now 
decalcified and exposed, soon becomes inflamed, gangrene 
and decomposition follow, and the earthy matter is washed 9 
away by the saliva, leaving a cavity. Unless this is 
stopped by art, the vitiated fluids of the mouth act upon, and 
still further disintegrate the dentine, the cavity grows 
larger till it reaches the pulp and destroys its vital action. 
I will here relate one case of the many that came under 
my care. 
A young girl about eleven years of age, presented her- 
self with the central incisors long, and standing a little 
apart. In making my examination with the mouth mirror, 
I discovered a dark spot within each tooth, and nearly 
opposite each other. I told the mother that these teeth 
should be tilled, but believing her own eyes better, she 
exclaimed that the teeth were not decayed, as there was 
no cavity visible. I invited her to look into the mirror, 
and she at once perceived the dark spots. I now passed 
a sharp pointed instrument over the dark spots to assure 
her that there was still no perforation through the enamel, 
and explained to her the nature and probable extent of the 
internal decay, and the necessity of at once arresting it. 
After some discussion, the mother concluded to trust to my 
judgment. I then pressed the instrument against each 
tooth, in turn. The enamel crumbled easily and revealed 
the two cavities within, which I tilled and which were no 
bigger than a common pin head. This and other like cases 
are, I think, convincing proof that such cells are often 
formed in the earlier deposit of dentine near the enamel. 
I now turn to the cause of caries on the crowns of 
bicuspids and molars. These teeth are organized within 10 
the alveolar process, with a thick deposit of enamel on 
the points of their cusps, but this grows thinner as it 
advances to the centre of the grooves, where it often fails 
to make a perfect union, for when these teeth take their 
position in the jaw, for want of perfect union, we often 
find seams in the enamel at the centre of the grooves and 
indentations of the crown. In these interstices or seams, 
gather the acids of the saliva, which come in contact with 
the dentine, and so disintegration or caries begins, acting 
under the enamel, and when we break down the enamel 
to prepare the cavity for tilling, we find the tissue under- 
neath partly decomposed and often a large cavity. On 
removing the softened tissue, the excavator also may 
break through the floor of the first into another cavity 
beneath filled with decalcified tissue which, though sensi- 
tive to the touch, is free from decomposition. The fact 
of the existence of two such cavities in the same tooth, I 
think is convincing proof of internal as well as external 
derangement in its organization and growth. 
External caries of the tooth, caused by the internal 
chemical reaction of the fluids in these cells, ponds, or 
interglobular spaces, can be discovered as I have said, 
before breakage or perforation of the enamel by a dark 
brown color. 
External caries oil the approximal surfaces of the teeth 
is produced by crowding and wearing during the move- 
ments of the teeth in mastication, destroying the polished 11 
surface and fracturing the crystalline strata of the enamel, 
and that allowing the acids of the mouth to permeate and 
come in contact with the dentine, and caries is the result. 
We can see this action by acids at the necks of the teeth, 
also in the indentations on the buccal surfaces of the 
molars when the enamel is thin or abraded. 
However, I trust every dentist present has had the 
good fortune to see teeth so completely organized and 
perfect in their integrity, as to need no care on his part. 
Thus far on the matter of the organization,—and the 
external and internal decay of the teeth. 
Before I approach the subject of extraction of molars, 
let me, even at the risk of seeming to digress, recall 
something of my own experience and history as a dentist. 
I began the study of dentistry fifty-three years ago, 
with Dr. D. C. Ambler, of Columbia, South Carolina, a 
skilful and genial gentleman. 1 continued my studies 
under Dr. C. Starr Brewster, meanwhile attending lectures 
at the South Carolina Medical College. Dr. Brewster 
was the pupil of Dr. Hudson, of Baltimore, who was an 
able and skilful dentist. I had no personal acquaintance 
with Dr. Hudson, but heard much of him from Dr. 
Brewster, Avho felt that to his method of filling teeth with 
pellets, he owed much of his own success. 
T first met Dr. Brewster in 1827, at Charleston, South 
Carolina, where he had gained a high reputation by many 
years of practice. He afterwards visited Paris, and 
finally settled there and became dentist to Louis Phillipe, 
and the royal family. He also by invitation, visited St. 12 
Petersburg, to operate for the Emperor and his family, 
and was decorated with the order of St. Stanislaus, by 
the Czar. Dr. Brewster was the first American dentist 
who gained a world wide reputation in Paris. Following 
him are the familiar names of Dr. Evans and Dr. 
There were also many other dentists who gained deserved 
distinction in this country in the first half of the present 
century. Prominent, were Dr. Hayden, the first president 
of the first dental college in America, at Baltimore. Also, 
Dr. Harris, pioneer in dental literature, of the same city. 
In Washington, Dr. Maynard; in Philadelphia, Drs. 
Iveocker and Fitch, each of whom published a treatise qn 
the teeth; also, Drs. Gardette and Townsend. In New 
York, Drs. Eleazer Parmlee, Dodge and Trenor. Boston, 
Drs. Josiali Flagg, N. C. Keep, and my respected partner, 
Daniel Harwood, M. D. All of those gentlemen gained 
their reputation and success by the practice of the old 
method of filling teeth with pellets of soft gold, and by 
hand pressure. 
After leaving my preceptor, Dr. Brewster, I went to 
Havana, Cuba, and being thrown there upon my own 
responsibility, I found many, difficulties to overcome that 
tried my temper, patience and skill. I had to speak 
through an interpreter until I had acquired the Spanish 
language, and I had no English speaking dentist to 
consult with, and but few books. 
While time thus passed away, I took my next advance 
by studying the nature and cause of the diseases I was 
called upon to treat. 13 
I soon discovered that caries originated externally in 
the interstices of the enamel in the centre of the grooves 
© 
of the bicuspids and molars, also where the mesial and 
distal surfaces came in contact and crowded. 
At this time, it was my practice to till small cavities in 
the center of the crowns or their indentations, and the 
gold would sometimes fall out. Not wishing to lose my 
reputation the second time, I cut away the walls and 
carved out the cavity and the seams, polished the surface 
of the dentine and waited for results. In a few years, I 
found that the cavities thus treated, lasted better than 
many I had previously tilled. I therefore began to tile 
away superficial cavities of front teeth, and polished the 
dentine with the same favorable result, and directed the 
patient to continue the friction from time to time. I have 
since become satisfied that friction of the dentine, stimu- 
lates the vital action of the tubulii, thereby causing a 
semi-vitreous deposit on the surface, which becomes nearly 
as hard as the enamel. 
In support of this theory or principle of action, I will 
relate a case that recently came under my observation. 
A gentleman had his upper incisor teeth separated, and 
superficial cavities removed with the tile, and the surfaces 
polished by Dr. Josiah Flagg of this city, fifty-one years 
ago. The gentleman said he had continued the polishing 
as directed by Dr. Flagg, and these teeth are now free 
from caries and doing perfect service. 
Every dentist has seen this result from friction and 14 
wearing down of the teeth in mastication. To give force 
to these observations I will briefly report two cases. 
Forty-two years ago a young lady came under my care. 
I extracted and filled a number of teeth. The fillings 
still remain in perfect service. At this time I also removed 
caries with a chisel from the distal side of a right superior 
wisdom tooth, by cutting a straight bevel from the crown 
to the neck of the tooth; then polished the surface, and 
directed the patient to continue the polishing from time to 
time ; and now, after a lapse of forty-two years, the chiseled 
surface is perfectly free from caries, and looks like polished 
agate. May the lady live many years, and her present 
dentist, whose attention has been particularly called to this 
case, himself report to this society the condition of these 
teeth at the close of half a century. 
I also filled a tooth for a gentleman on the buccal surface 
of an under molar; and, after a time, the tilling came out. 
I afterward carved out the cavity, leaving a straight surface 
from the crown to the neck of the tooth. I have not seen 
the gentleman for forty years, but he is now a patient of 
my brother, Dr. E. G. Tucker, who reports the tooth free 
from caries, and the surface nearly as hard as enamel. 
In this connection I would also remark that I have directed 
the use of crystallized tannin in solution as a wash for teeth, 
as tannin has an affinity for the gelatine of the bone. By 
this chemical action the inflammation at the necks of the 
teeth or exposed dentine is subdued, and at the same time 
the gums are quieted and healed and the breath purified, 15 
Now in relation to exposed pulps, I was in the habit of 
capping with lead or thin gold plate; but lead proved the 
more quieting and successful. The result of either case, 
however, was the gradual death of the pulp and finally 
ulceration of the periosteum. In later years I capped 
with oxy-chloride of zinc, a method now familiar to every 
dentist; but the pulp would with few exceptions gradually 
perish within the canal, generating a poisonous gas, which 
transfusing the dentine would act as a poison on the cir- 
culation of the periosteum without, and so the result would 
be ulceration. All credit, however, to modern dentists 
who think they can by treatment neutralize this poison, 
and restore the periosteum to health. 
In my early years also I had to engraft many pivot teeth, 
and observed that when the pulp was extracted alive there 
was much less inflammation of the periosteum than when 
the pulp had previously and gradually perished. By the 
knowledge of this fact, I applied extraction to the live 
pulp of the roots of such front teeth as I thought judicious 
to fill. 
My method in such cases, was to enlarge the place of 
exposure, and pass a barbed broach quickly to the end of 
the canal, when Avith a slight turn of the instrument, the 
pulp was excised and readily extracted. If the removal 
of the pulp was attended with bleeding, I treated the 
canal a few days with creosote, but if free from bleeding, 
I prepared the canal at once for tilling, gaining better 
access to it by perforating the palatal surface of the 
enamel sufficiently to press the gold directly to the apex 16 
of the root. By this method, I have had many crowns 
last twenty-five or more years. 
A front tooth, however, whose root had a dead pulp and 
fistula, I prepared for filling by opening freely into the 
canal to enable me to extirpate perfectly, all carious or 
diseased dentine, and carry the pellets of soft gold free 
and direct to the apex and wall of the root, great care 
being taken to "completely stop or seal the foramen. The 
result was generally the healing of the fistula, and final 
restoration of the periosteum to comparative health. 
The extraction of a live pulp Avas at that time con- 
sidered heroic treatment, and my associate, Dr. Harwood, 
Avould comfort his patients with the remark, that although 
it might be painful, it was nevertheless scientific practice; 
but now in these days, Avith ether or gas, the extraction 
of a live nerve becomes an easy and painless operation, 
bringing but little inconvenience to the patient, and much 
more durability to the root; at the same time, the peri- 
osteum is much less likely to ulcerate. I leave devitalized 
the pulps Avith arsenic, but was always doubtful of the 
effect on the periosteum. 
Now Avith regard to extraction of molars. In my first 
years of practice I separated front teeth for tilling Avith a 
file, but found that in a few years they would approach 
and become carious around the gold. My next advance 
Avas to file Avider spaces, leaving a shoulder at the necks 
of the contiguous teeth, hoping thus to prevent the croAvd- 
ing. J also separated bicuspids and molars with a chisel 
or file, making a wide space of the V form. With this 17 
practice I was more successful. Still they would at times 
approach and result in the recurrence of caries around the 
gold. 
Studying now to still further overcome these difficulties, I 
decided to extract the six-year, or first permanent molars, 
if diseased, but experience soon taught me that I some- 
times extracted them too early, as I found the alveolus 
would quickly absorb, and the second molar the sooner 
make its appearance and pitch forward, and I would thus 
lose the object I hoped to gain. My last advance was to 
wait until the second molars were erupted, and had taken 
their positions, and were well rooted, then to extract the 
six-year old, or first permanent molars, when carious. 
In time I had the satisfaction of seeing the bicuspids 
fall back to the molars, and to give relief to the former 
crowding. I could often see the good results of this 
practice even to the centre of the arch. Exceptions to 
this rule of extracting the first molars occurred when the 
second molar or second bicuspid were the more carious. 
It being a fact that teeth become carious where they touch 
and crowd, the remedy should be self-evident. 
Having adopted this treatment of judicious removal just 
described, as time went on I further discovered, agreeably 
and much to my surprise, that the molars and bicuspid 
teeth on either side of the one that was extracted had 
changed their character: that the dentine had become more 
dense, less sensitive to the touch of the excavator, and 
more durable when filled. 18 
The observant dentist has doubtless recognized the fact 
that when a molar stands alone in the jaw it becomes more 
dense and durable when tilled, and the alveolar process also 
become solidified around the isolated tooth. 
The agriculturist understands when the fruit on his trees 
or vines is too thick and feebly organized, that in order to 
obtain a full and healthy growth he must use his pruning 
knife, well knowing that every particle of nourishment 
developed for the many will now be utilized by the few. 
And Shakespeare remarks : 
“All superficial branches lop away, 
That bearing boughs may live.” 
Another has also observed : "The knife that amputates 
is often the only means of preservation of physical life.” 
Following these laws as regards the growth and health 
of young teeth, I have practised on the principle of judi- 
cious pruning. While I have used my utmost skill to 
preserve the eight anterior teeth of either jaw, it has been 
my practice to extract back of the first bicuspids such teeth 
as had exposed pulps, unless very important for use. As 
I have before said, if the surrounding membrane of the 
pulp is exposed, disrupted and bleeds, the pulp is sure to 
perish, and sooner or later be followed by ulceration of 
the periosteum. 
Pathology has taught me that the continued oozing of 
dead or effete matter from one or more chronic fistula? into 
the mouth, and taken into the stomach of children, or even 19 
;icluIts, must prove injurious to general health; but our 
wise mother, Nature, in time removes all such dead teeth 
and roots regardless of modern theories. 
I have also extracted devitalized teeth and roots, so that 
the periosteum of such teeth and roots shall not absorb or 
appropriate that nourishment or osseous element, which 
would be better utilized by those remaining. Likewise I 
have observed, when the six-year-old molars had been ex- 
tracted, the osseous element created for the extracted teeth 
seemed to be carried to and utilized by the growing wisdom 
teeth. Then when these teeth make their appearance they 
have become highly organized and developed, large and 
dense, and fill the space at the angle of the jaw, and prove 
useful in after life. But I desire it to be understood that 
when the first and second molars are perfectly developed 
and free from caries, and the wisdom teeth are small and 
feebly developed, and crowded out of line at the angle of 
the jaw, they were extracted, giving relief to the crowding 
of the remaining molars, and I could see good results 
coming from this practice. 
Concerning the growth of the teeth from the enamel 
inwardly, and that of the vegetable from the center out- 
wardly, they have as before intimated correspondent phe- 
nomena in their self-acting and self-producing power. 
I have listened to discussions on this subject by gentle- 
men of this Academy and elsewhere, who expressed opin- 20 
ions differing entirely from mine. The arguments advanced 
by many, however, seemed to rest on the assumption that 
by extracting so ipauy teeth the jaw would thereby con- 
tract, and so produce hereditary results, which would 
prove unfortunate to children and grandchildren. I would 
only say in reply to such opinions that I have looked about 
for other and similar hereditary physical results, with other 
organs of children and grandchildren, and as yet have .en- 
tirely and completely failed of success, 
Let me illustrate: A short time ago, while walking on 
Boston Common, I interviewed, somewhat after the fashion 
of the day, a stranger, who was a cripple, with one leg 
and a crutch. Among other things the gentleman said 
that he moved about with comfort and without difficulty ; 
that he had made five trips to Europe; that he lost his 
limb at fourteen years of age, and at twenty-one could 
jump a bar as high as any of his companions: also that 
what was once the strength of both limbs now seemed to 
be transferred and centered in the remaining one. I did 
not ask the gentleman if he had conferred a crutch and one 
leg upon each of his children through hereditary law; that 
remains for my intelligent friends, and all such as have 
any doubt, what his answer would be. 
Finally, though I have considered that much of my pro- 
fessional success has been due to the early adoption of this 
system, relating to the extraction of six-year-old molars, 
yet it must be remembered, as I have before observed, that my practice in this regard was modified if the second molars 
or second bicuspids were more feeble and diseased. The 
observant dentist of course will he governed by the pecu- 
liar state of the mouth, and conditions of the teeth, for it 
is manifest, no one treatment will answer for all cases. 
Further, I have been governed by a strong desire to 
give as much comfort as possible during youth, but not to 
the detriment and expense of the future. Therefore the 
object and aim of my practice was to save a sufficient 
number of teeth for looks, as well as for healthy and com- 
fortable use to middle and old age. And when in active 
practice, having charge of a child’s mouth with feeble and 
diseased teeth, I considered that if by removing a few I 
could the better retain the many, even to the number of 
twenty-eight or twenty-four teeth, I had attained the max- 
imum of my professional success. 
Mr. President, I trust these remarks have not been so 
extended as to weary you, and that I have not seemed to 
be too tenacious of my own theories. Every science and 
every art has its laws and its limitations, and every special 
case too has its special peculiarities. 
It is by ascertaining what law applies to each case that 
the best results can be attained. This should be the work 
of every thoughtful dentist to understand thoroughly the 
nature of teeth, the laws of growth, disease and death. 
Thus we can intelligently assist nature in her struggle to 
remove devitalized teeth and roots, and by art restore 
those remaining to health. I have striven to impress upon all younger men with 
whom I have been brought in contact, that judgment and 
discretion must be used by each one for himself, but that 
no judgment or discretion is valuable, except so far as it is 
founded upon knowledge, and that can only be gained by 
study, thought and experience. Finally, I ask you to 
take what I have said, think of it, to consider for 
yourselves how far it is correct, and to follow it only 
ns you may find it based on true information and just 
reasoning.