ADDRESS 
DELIVERED AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE 
OHIO COLLEGE 
OF 
Dental Surgery, 
ginoinetati. 
MARCH 6th, 1880. 
By HVE. S. BEAN. 
CINCINNATI, OHIO : 
Spencer & Craig Printing Works, Nos. 169 & 171 Race Street. 
1880. [Extract from the Dental Register. ] 
ADDRESS 
DELIVERED AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE 
Ohio College of Dental Surgery, 
March 6th, 1880. 
BY UVE. S. DEA3ST. 
Mr. Chairman, Friends, and Gentlemen of the Graduating Class: 
Eugene Sue tells us that the Piannakotaws-a tribe of South 
American Indians-kept up a standing army of invincible 
warriors; that commissions in this army of braves could not 
be bought; but that aspirants to this noble profession were 
accepted only after having submitted to the most searching 
examination, and the severest tests of their courage and endurance. 
During this examination (or trial) which occupied nine 
successive days and nights, the applicant abstained from food and 
sleep. But I need not dwell upon the details of the mode of 
examination ; suffice it to say, that the new recruit was subjected 
to all the cruel tortures that savage ingenuity could devise. 
On the ninth day, if the applicant still survived, and showed 
no signs of weakness or discomfort, his courage and endurance 
were regarded as satisfactory; and the exercises were concluded 
with the delivery, by one of the Nestors of the tribe, of a long 
harangue, laden with much good counsel, and many well-worn 
truths. Now whether the address of this "Pylian Sage" of the 
forest, was regarded as a culminating test of the patient endur- 
ance of the noble child of Mars, M. Sue fails to inform us; but 
we may logically infer that it was. 4 
COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS. 
Gentlemen, while rumaging over my mental storehouse, in 
search of something appropriate for this occasion, I have been 
led to wonder if, in admitting new recruits into our profession, 
we have not borrowed some of the cruel customs of the Pianna- 
kotaws. Not that I discover in your preparation and examina- 
tion here any resemblance to that practiced by this tribe of 
braves; nor that I see any very striking similarity between the 
two noble professions. But the concluding ceremonies are so 
evidently identical, that I am led strongly to suspect that our 
idea of a closing address was borrowed from them. 
In acquiring your degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery you 
have undoubtedly endured some hardships, and possibly some 
privations; but these are trifling as compared with the torture 
it is in my power to inflict upon you this evening. Addresses of 
welcome, of congratulation, and the like, are very generally 
dreaded, and, if possible, evaded, by those for whom they are 
prepared. Henry the Fourth, of France, dodged them, as he 
would the teeth of a dangerous dog ; and he attributed his pre- 
maturely grey hairs to the speeches to which he had been 
compelled to listen. In the whole history of the world only one 
man has been found-speech proof. 
In view of these facts, though I fully appreciate this oppor- 
tunity, and enjoy the temporary power that has been vested in 
me, yet I have determined to be merciful to you; and I shall 
endeavor not to overload my address with too much weighty 
advice, nor with too many ponderous truths. 
Gentlemen graduates, you have earned and secured all the 
honors that this institution of learning can confer, and you have 
received all that special instruction which is adjudged necessary 
to qualify you to commence the practice of dentistry. If all who 
have entered the profession before you, had enjoyed similar 
educational advantages, you would have found the profession a 
more respected and honored, as well as a more learned calling. 
But while you enter it under far more favorable auspices than 
did most of us, you find it also, in an educational point of view, 
a far different profession from what the most of us found it. It 
has been steadily advancing in knowledge and usefulness from COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS. 
5 
year to year, notwithstanding the sad deficiency of the great mass 
of its members in a preliminary professional education. But this 
does not prove that a systematic collegiate course of instruction is 
not essentia] to its prosperity, for it has been mainly through the 
means of our dental colleges, and the graduates who have issued 
from them, that the less educated members have caught the spirit 
of study and investigation. 
Fortunately for you gentlemen, our profession has not yet 
attained its full growth, nor is it in all its parts equally vigorous 
or equally advanced. While some of its branches are already 
bearing excellent fruit, some of them are as yet only in bloom, 
and others barely in bud; and there are still others which will 
require most scientific culture, before they will even give token 
of either fruit or bud. Fortunate for you, I say, that this is so ; 
for if it were otherwise, your activities and energies would become 
dwarfed, and you, like the languishing Alexander, who wept 
because there was no other world for him to conquer, would soon 
become feeble and childish from mental stagnation. But you need 
not weep, you have more than worlds to conquer. Many fields 
of investigation lie open to the scientific dentist. Your intellects 
will not become dwarfed or cramped for want of room to exer- 
cise ; the farther you pursue your researches, the broader and 
more inviting will the prospect open before you. Much of this 
vast territory has been partially explored ; but much of it is still 
the terra incognita of our profession. Here each of you will find 
ample scope for your individual tastes and your natural and 
acquired abilities. If your original investigations are to be 
carried on with a view of benefiting the profession as well as 
yourselves, you must concentrate your forces upon some one 
branch or division of a subject-such for instance as Embryology, 
Histology, Physiology, Therapeutics, Pathology, Chemistry, &c. 
But you must possess a general knowledge of an entire subject 
before you commence your special researches upon any of its 
branches, else you will arrive at erroneous, quite as often as cor- 
rect and valuable conclusions. 
The lack of this general knowledge, which is too often exhibited 
by investigators, sometimes subjects us to the ridicule of more 6 
COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS. 
thoroughly scientific bodies, and lessens their confidence in our 
just claims to accurate investigation. Before commencing to 
investigate for yourselves any special department of science, you 
should gain from our best literature a broad and comprehensive 
view of the whole subject. In this way you may often acquire 
in a few hours, facts and principles which your unaided efforts 
would not discover in a life time. In fact, our science will scarce- 
ly gain one inch of ground by the independent and isolated labors of 
individuals; their investigations must be aided by the accumulated 
and the accumulating experience of those who have labored, and 
of those who are now laboring in the same direction. I think it 
not necessary to elaborate this point. 
You will find that among the more progressive mem- 
bers of our profession who commenced the practice of dentistry 
without first securing the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery, 
many have, after years of study and practice, sought the " sweet 
food of sweetly uttered knowledge," which is found in the lectures 
delivered in our Dental Colleges. And again many others who 
have added years of study and practical knowledge to that 
acquired in securing their degree of D. D. S. are pursuing full 
courses of medical instruction, to slake their thirst for knowledge 
by "drinking largely" of these "Pierian Springs." Among such 
men you will find congenial companions and worthy co-laborers. 
You will, probably, at least during the first years of your 
practice, find your profession admirably adapted to study and 
experimentation with ample opportunity to pursue your studies 
without fear of interruption. The most of us, your seniors, 
found it "a profession of genteel leisure" for several years, and 
indeed I am afraid some of us find it so still. 
These leisure hours may, however, be spent profitably and 
agreeably, in enlarging our store of literary and professional 
knowledge; and I trust you will not allow these golden moments 
to escape unimproved. For while it will be acknowledged that 
you enter the profession much better qualified to practice it skil- 
fully than were many of the veterans who are nearly ready to 
leave their places to you, yet you can not retain your present 
position, unless you continue your studies. You must constantly COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS. 
7 
advance, and rapidly too, or you will soon find yourselves in the 
rear instead of the van of the profession. You have here been 
taught many important principles, and the manner in which 
they should be applied in general practice; but you will now be 
required to correlate these principles and to apply them in the 
various and intricate details of every day practice. In the words 
of the inexorable policeman in Bleak House, to poor Jo, you 
must move on; and the progressive spirit of our profession will 
ever continue the refrain, " move on, move onuntil the science 
and art of dentistry have reached the Ultima Thule of perfection. 
While the profession is thus advancing, the broad principles 
which you have been taught here, will remain solid and immov- 
able. New truths will, of course, be constantly unfolded; and 
the lectures delivered from year to year in this Institution will be 
so modified as to embrace them. 
Should you return a few years hence to this beautiful city- 
this " Paris of America"-you will find that though its principal 
streets, with their grand edifices, remain without observable 
change, yet you will discover new avenues here and there ; and 
your eyes will be delighted with the sight of many a stately 
mansion, adorning the sites that are now vacant, or covered with 
miserable shanties. So too, if you should then visit your Alma 
Mater, you will recognize the same professors, I should hope, that 
you now see around you ; and in listening again to their voices 
you will find that they still hold fast to the many principles and 
modes of practice that have survived the tests of scientific 
examination and experience ; but now and then you will perceive 
new and glittering truths falling from their lips, evincing that 
they too have been "moving on." You will, in fact, find that 
new avenues have been opened up in the domains of our science, 
as well as in the precincts of this fair city. Each successive 
graduating class then, will have ascended a degree higher, than 
that which preceded it, in the scale of professional education. 
But if you possess the ambition and the grit that I am confident 
you do, you will not let them pass you. As you have already 
got the start of all your successors, and the inside track, I trust 
you will never take their dust, as you surely will do, if you 8 
COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS. 
remain satisfied with your present attainments. In fine, let your 
answer be that of Plato, when asked the question ; " How long 
do you intend to pursue your studies ?" " As long," said he 
11 as I am not ashamed to grow wiser and better." 
The present epoch "booms" with unsurpassed physical and 
intellectual activity. Inventions in the arts, discoveries in the 
sciences, follow each other so closely that they must march like 
soldiers, "in close order," to avoid treading upon each other's 
heels. The elements have been subjugated, and are become the 
safe and obedient servant of? man. Not long ago, Ulysses-so 
Homer tells us-had all the winds (except Zephyrus) bound 
and imprisoned. In fact he had literally bagged some of the most 
powerful elements of nature. This control of the subtile forces, 
Ulysses considered a great triumph, a grand coup d'etat, or rather 
coup des vents. But, though he held them in brief captivity, he 
could not command their services ; they soon escaped, and to 
himself and his companions they became masters, instead of 
slaves. But now the mighty monarch of Olympus, "the cloud 
compelling Jove," has been robbed, not only of his winds, but of 
his lightening, which has been tamed and civilized, and become 
the useful servant of mortals. It has not only been made a fleet 
errand boy, carrying messages in the twinkling of an eye to the 
remote corners of the earth, but it has driven black night from 
our dwellings and our streets. It has been taught to speak in 
every tongue, and to write in every language, and has recently 
become an accomplished musician. Its harmonious notes glide 
along the tuneful wire, to burst upon the far distant ear, and fill 
it with rapturous melodies. The achievements of this wondrous 
force can not be enumerated here, nor can its capabilities be 
estimated or even imagined. The equally marvelous, nor less 
useful, domestic servant, the Telephone, has also come into popular 
favor almost in a day, lessening the labors and adding to the 
convenience of man. The Phonograph too-the tell-tale tin-foil 
-excites our utmost wonder; mimics our voices, and repeats our 
words with startling exactness. Even the teeth, which were long 
regarded as rather the enemies of sight and hearing, and which 
have sometimes been torn from the jaws of both man and beast, COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS. 
9 
for real or imaginary offences against the organs of these senses, 
have now assumed the functions of one of these important 
organs; and many, who never had heard the voice of man or of 
nature, now rejoice in the discovery of this blessed avenue of 
sound. Indeed the orator of to-day might appropriately appeal 
to some of his auditors to lend him their teeth instead of their ears. 
These are only a few examples of the discoveries resulting from 
the mental energy and activity of the present day. The entire 
evening might be spent in simply enumerating them. 
And the profession of Dentistry, though its progress is not 
marked by any very startling discoveries, either in the art or the 
science, is nevertheless advancing with great rapidity ; and is 
fast becoming entitled-if not to a high rank among the learned 
professions-at least to a reputable position among the healing arts. 
As a whole our profession is advancing ; but the individual 
members march with unequal pace, and often pursue different 
routes. In climbing the hill of science only a few of the most 
vigorous and daring are able to take the most direct course ; the 
great multitude can only ascend, as one climbs the Alpine 
heights, by zigzags, or tortuous paths. The collective mass 
however moves; though many individuals block up the paths by 
their inertia, and only advance, by being elbowed on by the 
crowd that passes them. These are the impedimenta of the pro- 
fession, which are pressed forward little by little by the jostling, 
irresistible throng. They resemble barnacles on the drifting log ; 
the wind and tide carry them along, but they never "paddle 
their own canoe." Like the inhabitants of a certain fabled 
island, they move because the island drifts. But their progress 
is slow and uncertain, and sometimes backward ; the sooner such 
men drop out, the better it will be for the profession and for the 
world. 
Although much has already been accomplished by special 
legislation in several of our states, for the gradual extermination 
of these unqualified practitioners; yet it seems to me that much 
good might result, both to the public and the competent practi- 
tioner if we should put in practice, some of the criminal codes 
enacted by the ancients with such modifications as our exigencies 10 
COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS. 
require. For instance, Diodorus tells us that Actisanes, King of 
a ruler "who was remarkable for his moderation 
toward his subjects, as well as for his justice and equity," had all 
the robbers and malefactors collected from every part of his King- 
dom, and having had their noses cut off, sent them to a city which 
was founded for them, called Rhinocolura. Now if our govern- 
ment wTould follow the example of Actisanes, and establish a city 
for the exclusive habitation of these professional robbers of the 
teeth, it would be a quick, and it seems to me, appropriate mode 
of disposing of such malefactors. For this city, Edentata would 
be as apt a name as Rhinocolura, or Cut-nose was for the former; 
since the entire population would very soon become edentulous, 
if the citizens continued to follow their old trade and to practice 
it upon each other. 
I do not anticipate that any of you gentlemen would be found 
among the inhabitants of this city. The energy and ambition 
which have carried you triumphantly through your college 
course will not wither and die, as soon as you leave the bracing 
atmosphere that pervades your Alma Mater. But we cannot 
forget the painful fact, that a few have borne away from our 
colleges the same sacred parchment, and yet have, by their 
unprofessional conduct, hindered rather than aided the progress 
of Dental Science; who have, in fact, disgraced, rather than 
honored their Alma Mater and adopted profession. Again, 
there are a few who have hidden their light under a bushel; who 
have not only thrown no light upon the profession, but, what is 
worse-for them at least-they have hidden themselves under the 
same bushel so that no light from without could reach them. 
Dentistry is in many respects an experimental science ; and its 
best modes of practice can be determined only by comparison. 
In order to approach more nearly to perfection, your operations 
and researches, and the results of your observations, must be 
examined and compared with those of your fellow practitioners. 
This can be done in the meetings of our Associations, better than 
any where else. In these, it must be confessed, you will be com- 
pelled to listen to much of unprofitable discussion, much of 
unsound theory and absured practice; but by carefully examin- COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS. 
11 
ing the mass of material that is laid before you, you cannot fail 
to find something that may be made available. And though you 
may be astonished at the many and diverse modes of practice 
that are advocated, each of which is the only true one, in the 
estimate of its champion, you must remember that, according to 
the old adage, "all roads lead to Rome." So, in the practice of 
Dentistry, though all roads are not equally good or direct, yet 
many of them lead to the same or practically the same 
results. 
Besides, the stimulating influence of our Associations is infect- 
ious. As one musical instrument catches the sound from another 
of the same pitch, so does the dentist catch new ideas and fresh 
inspiration from associating with his fellow practitioners. If 
two clocks, having pendulums of the same period of vibration, 
be placed in favorable positions, and one of the clocks be set 
agoing, the ticks of the running clock will soon start its neighbor 
to running. So the mingling of men of like professions and 
kindred spirit will awaken the genius that may be dormant 
within them, and render active the potentialities that might 
remain forever inert and useless. 
And now gentlemen, I hope you will pardon the remark I am 
about to make; it may be because you are surrounded by so 
many giants, but really in spite of your manly proportions and 
mental acquisitions, I can only look upon you as babes; not the 
common article, but rather like such as were sometimes born in 
the olden time-the precocious Mercury, for instance, who you 
may remember, slipped from his cradle the night after his birth, 
while his mother slept, and stole a yoke of oxen from Admetus. 
Not that I would impute to you the moral qualities of that light- 
fingered infant, for you only resemble him in being remarkably 
smart babies, and evidently able to cope with the old folks. 
Indeed, as I look upon you, full of ambition and aspirations for 
fame, I am forcibly reminded of a passage in one of the dramas 
of Plautus, in which Stratophenes, a captain in the Babylonian 
army, on being told that he had just become the father of a son, 
inquires; Is it like me ? The nurse replies: " Like you indeed! why, 
the very moment it was born it called for a sabre and shield! " 12 
COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS. 
The proud parent then exclaims: "And has it already chosen 
some army that it intends to plunder?" 
Now though the profession into which you have just been born, 
bears no resemblance to that of the young Stratophenes, yet the 
intense eagerness manifested by this baby-hero to commence 
business on his own hook, is, I doubt not, common to you all; and 
your anxiety is mainly concentrated upon the important question: 
" How am I to get a start in business ? " 
I shall not attempt to answer this question, but will briefly 
touch upon a few points, which seem to me to be essential. You 
are about to grapple in earnest with all the realities and responsi- 
bilities that attend the practice of a useful and beneficent 
profession. Armed with the implements of your calling, and 
supplied with a considerable stock of practical and theoretical 
knowledge of its duties, you issue from your Alma Mater, not 
unlike Minerva from the brain of Jupiter, armed and equipped 
for the great battle of life. You go forth with young, stout 
hearts to occupy different fields of labor; but in whatsoever 
direction you may go, you will find laborers there before you; 
some preparing the stubborn soil, some sowing the seed and some 
reaping the harvest. But do'nt flatter yourselves, gentlemen, 
that your only business will be to garner the golden grain; neither 
let this prospect discourage or dishearten you, for you commence 
your career under far more favorable auspices than the most of 
these pioneers did, and you will fijid far less obstacles to encounter 
than they have overcome. Besides, the experimental knowledge 
which they have gained, is not kept secreted with the watch-dog 
care that it once was, but it is imparted with a liberality and 
generosity equal to the niggardly secrecy of former days. While 
this is true, still your own persevering and determined efforts, 
properly directed, and the skillful and conscientious treatment of 
the cases intrusted to your care, as well as your courteous and 
gentlemanly bearing must all be made auxiliary to the title you 
have earned here, before you can receive the full respect and 
confidence that have already been accorded to a few of the emi- 
nent practitioners now in the field. Your Diplomas will be 
regarded as prima facie evidence of your competency as a COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS. 
13 
practitioner, and will give you, and justly so, considerable 
advantage over those who have entered the profession without 
such guarantee of qualifications. The simple fact that you 
have graduated at a reputable Dental School, will give 
you, at the very outset, an honorable position among your 
professional brethren, and a favorable place in public esteem. 
Of course you must form acquaintances in various proper and 
legitimate ways, and your position in society and the character 
of your patrons will depend largely upon that of the associates 
you make and by whom you are introduced. If your tastes and 
education are such as to fit you for the enjoyment of the most 
refined and cultured circles of society, you will naturally find 
your home among these, though your practice may extend beyond 
the bounds of this circle. But, as a rule, your practice, if satis- 
factory, will spread from family to family, among those who are 
more or less connected by the ties of friendship and congeniality 
of taste. In addition to your educational accomplishments and 
gentlemanly bearing, you must prove yourself to be a skillful 
and scientific dentist. Whatever you may-find to do, let it be 
done in the best possible manner; for on the perfection of your 
work you must mainly rely for securing and retaining a good 
practice. Study carefully the character and nature of the disease 
you are about to treat; the therapeutical remedies to be applied, 
or surgical operation to be performed. If you have cases in 
what is called Mechanical Dentistry, and I trust you have not 
been taught to regard this essential, but much abused branch, as 
beneath your professional dignity, for no manual operation in the 
mouth requires a higher degree of purely artistic skill than may 
be displayed in this; if, I say, you have cases in this branch, 
adopt the suggestions outlined in the "Primer" on the Mouth 
and the Teeth, by Dr. J. W. White; and your skill will soon be 
appreciated and rewarded. Should you disregard this branch of 
dentistry, you would slight what may be made a source of profit, 
and at the same time afford a necessary relief from monotony. 
Without particularizing farther, I would urge upon you the 
importance of doing all you undertake with the greatest care and 
the strictest fidelity. Upon this point you will find in the homely 14 
COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS. 
doggerel sung by Sir Joseph, K. C. B , a weighty suggestion and 
one that may be made available and profitable to you all:- 
" And I polished up that handle so carefullee 
That now I'm the ruler of the Queen's Navee." 
And now, gentlemen of the graduating class, allow me to con- 
gratulate you upon the successful termination of your collegiate 
studies and the bright prospect that lies before you. You are 
about to separate from many friends who have become dear to 
you, and to leave scenes and objects that will not soon cease to 
interest you; but the events of this day, which are little heeded, 
perhaps, outside of a small circle of friends, are monumental 
events which can never be obliterated from your memory. How- 
ever full of incident may have been your past, and however 
eventful may be your future career, to-day is the era from which 
you will date your life's history. No pyramid of Cheops or 
Chephren ever stood more firm or enduring than the monumental 
shaft that these events have just completed. It will never 
disappear, like the retreating, fading shores, as you sail out on 
your returnless voyage; but as the rolling years widen the dis- 
tance between it and you, it will be lifted higher and higher above 
the horizon by the mental mirage, increasing rather than dimin- 
ishing in beauty and splendor. The features of your classmates, 
and especially of your teachers, will be indelibly chiseled upon 
its imperishable surface, and many a golden line will perpetuate 
the principles which you have here been taught. Even those 
precepts which you may have only partially grasped or partially 
appreciated here, will assume a clearer aspect, and your bosoms 
will often be made to swell with gratitude to the Faculty of this 
Institution, who have so arduously and zealously toiled in your 
behalf. 
But gentlemen, the monumental column to which this day's 
events add the crowning stone, belongs, not only to each of you 
separately, but to all of you in common; each individual, then, 
should be ever watchful that no unprofessional act of his shall 
mar its pure and polished surface or dim its lusture. A dishonor- 
able act of any one of you, would not only injure yourself, but, 
just as the derangement of a single function of the body, disord- COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS. 
15 
ers the whole system, so, in a measure, would such an act cast a 
stigma upon the entire class, upon the Institution you now leave, 
and upon the profession you are about to enter. 
Since this Institution has lifted you to a higher plain than that 
you occupied when you entered it, may I not with propriety, 
remind you gentlemen of your obligation to lift it to a higher 
position. This you can easily accomplish by the honest work 
you shall do, by the honorable character that you shall bear, and 
by the influence that you shall exert in its favor; and still 
further, by the gifts some of you will be able to bestow upon itt 
This college is your Alma Mater, your cherishing mother; cherish 
her as she has cherished you. With smothered feelings of love 
and anxiety, she now, like the Spartan mother, hands you your 
armor and your weapons, and with trembling lips bids you fight 
manfully and gloriously the battle of life; and either bring back 
safely the shield, or be brought back upon it. And this sentiment 
finds an echoing voice in the hearts of all of us.