University of Missouri at Kansas City School of Dentistry - Bushwacker Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

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O RD OF TR TEE These four men organize the faculty. determine the policies of the school, and handle the finances. lt is due to their excellent management that the school has reached and maintained its present high standard in the teaching of dentistry. We are fortunate to have the services of such imminent men. HAROLD P. KUHN, A.B., NLD. President Dr Kuhn is one of the great surgeons of our country, and is Professor of Surgery. RALPH L. ADAMS, LL.B. Treasurer Mr. Adams serves as trust officer of the city's largest trust company, GEORGE P. MELCHER, A.B., A.lVl., LL.D. Vice-President Mr. Melcher, the uice-president, is superintendent of the Public Schools of Kansas City. Years of contact with the teaching profeggign hgljg served to giue him a detailed knowledge of the art of instruction. ' Page Sixteen ROY JAMES RINEHART, D.D.S. Secretary of dentistry, Dr. Rinehart is the Dean of the school and is an internationally known teacher

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practice for several weeks after he discovered it, then went to Boston to introduce his idea. He was hissed and pronounced a humbug, however, because the boy on whom he was demonstrating made an outcry. Later the boy stated definitely that he had felt no pain, but Wells was denounced as a failure, and the learned doctors in Boston would have noth- ing further to do With him. He met with so much discouragement and derision that he returned to Hartford and re- sumed his practice. Dr. Wells also demon- strated the use of ether but it was Dr. Morton who brought it before the public and the pro- fessions so prominently. Dr. Wells became a forgotten man and. after many more discouragements, he failed in health and mind and finally ended his own life. lt was believed that he had experimented too much on himself with anesthesia, causing despondency and health failure. Dr. Wells has been honored since his death by the placement of monuments in his name as the discoverer of anesthesia, and a bronze bust has been placed in the Army Medical Museum in Washington, D. C. Dr. Crawford Long, a . physician, per- formed the first major operation under anes- thesia in 1842. He conceived the idea at one of the ether frolics in which he and his friends engaged from time to time. He lived in an isolated place, however, and no report of this case was made until 1849, after Dr. Morton's results were publicized. Dr. Long died in 1878, after having been stricken with paralysis some time before, and was never aware of the outcome of the disputes that he had evolved by having used ether on a single patient and having made no effort to report his findings. The fourth member of the group was Dr. Charles T. Jackson, a physician who became interested in anesthesia with the dentist Mor- ton. When Morton's demonstrations proved successful Jackson set up the claim of having Suggested the idea. The death of Wells left the fight to Jackson, Morton, and Long. Jackson succeeded in getting some recognition in Europe, but not in the United States. I He originally signed away any rights he might have to it but when Morton's demonstrations were so successful that he was acclaimed by noted Boston surgeons, Jacksonnpubli-shed a Small pamphlet setting forth his Cl31mS f0 priority. Morton and his friends, however. ' Pa swore that it was merely an after-thought on the part of Jackson and that he was trying to edge in on Morton's discovery. Soon YVells' friends joined the fight, insisting that W'ells was really the originator of anesthesia and that Jackson and Morton had merely substi- tuted a different vapor. Then Morton denied that nitrous oxide had any merit and the trouble among the three grew. Jackson finally died in 1880 in an insane asylum in Somer- ville, Massachusetts. Sir James Paget has said that While Long waited and Wells turned back and Jackson was thinking, Morton the practical man went to work and worked resolutely and compelled mankind to hear him. Regardless of any faults he may have had. Morton seems to have been the one who gave the world the advantage of anesthesia, and the matter seemed to have been settled forever by his election to the Hall of Fame in 1921, but through the activity of a group of south- ern physicians, Postmaster-General Farley this year allowed a stamp to be issued cred- iting Dr. Long as the discoverer. Dr. Long was the first person to use anesthesia-this statement is true-but all we can say is that his work did no good since he did not de- velop it. J All four of these men ruined their health in experiments, using themselves as guinea pigs. They all made financial gain, but lost it in the ensuing controversies and squabbles for honor and prestige. They all died broken in body and spirit. Their sacrifices gave the world anesthesia, however, which ranks with the X-ray as one of the greatest of the dis- coveries that have revolutionized the practice of medicine -and dentistry. In addition to the great struggle in the advancement of anesthesia, there were three other great conflicts, often referred to as the three great wars of dentistry. They are known as the Vulcanite War, the Amalgam War, and the Taggart War, and all of them developed because of greed and commercial- ism . . . the desire of a few to make a great deal of money at the expense of the profession. The most disastrous times have produced the greatest minds. The purest metal comes of the most ardent furnace, the most brilliant lightning comes of the darkest clouds. CCha- teaubriandj . . . and so has our profession advanced through disastrous times, heated controversies, and storms. DEAN R. J. RINEHART. ge Fifteen

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Q 2 s f. e 1 T H E REGI TAR T, school. teacher Dr. Moore, in his position as registrar, comes into intimate contact with the stu- dents as they enroll. He must examine their transcripts to see that they have adequate prerequisite subjects. He records the students' grades and classifications, and helps the stu- dents plan their curriculums. His guidance continues through the fol- NCDRMAN A. MOQRE i AB., D.D.S. lowing school years as they are members of his various classes. He is always ready and Willingto act as their advisor. His many duties require the expending of much time and tireless effort. His is a job of details and only a man of such orderliness and precision could handle these matters With such ease and dispatch. Pagc Su cntccn