University of Maryland Baltimore Dental School - Mirror Yearbook (Baltimore, MD)

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History of Baltimore College of Dental Surgery. T will probably be news to most persons to know that Baltimore has the distinction of having instituted the first dental college in the world, and of having originated the degree of D. D. S., Doctor of Dental Surgery, now used by most of the dental colleges of United States and Canada and in some parts of Europe. Yes, such is the case. For many years the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery was the only institution of its kind in existence. It was chartered in 1839 by the Act of the Legislature of the State of Maryland, the following gentlemen constituting the Faculty: H. H. Hayden, M. D., Professor of Physiology and Pathology; R. W. Baxley, M. D., Professor of Anatomy; C. A. Harris, M. D., Professor of Theory and Practice of Dentistry; and Thomas E. Bond, M. D., Professor of Therapeutics. Perhaps at tliis place it would not be amiss to insert a short sketch of the lives of two of the gentlemen whose names are mentioned above, and who were really the founders of our College. For the following sketches we are indebted to Charles McManus, D. D. S., of Hartford, Conn. CHAPIN A. HARRIS. was born in J 806, in Pompey, New York. He commenced his medical studies early in life and began practice in Ohio. His attention was called to Dentistry by his brother, John Harris. Until after 1827, however, he gave but little atten- tion to dental practice except to extract and clean teeth and insert a few fillings; when, after studying Hunter, Fox, and Delabarre, he entered upon the exclusive practice of dental surgery. From 1827 to J 833 he traveled South and West, elevating the profession of dentistry and establishing his reputation. 12

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Advisory Board. o? ] Dr. Wm. G. Foster, B. Lticien Bran, A. L. Cheney.

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In 1833 he opened an office in Baltimore and wrote largely on dental subjects. In 1839 he published his first edition of his Principles and Practice of Dental Surgery. With the end in view of preserving the experience of the profession, he visited New York and with some of the leading dentists of that city established a periodical devoted especially to the interests of the profession. Drs. Harris and Eleazer Parmly were joint editors of this periodical and, in accordance with the arrangement, the first volume was issued from New York, June, 1839, under the title of The American Journal of Dental Science, During the first year of its publication it was issued with some irregularity at the price of $3 per annum. It was printed in Baltimore. His next task was the creating of faculties for educating men for the duties of the dental profession; accordingly in the winter of 1839-40, he obtained signatures to a petition to be laid before the Legislature of Maryland for the incorporation of a College of Dental Surgery, at Baltimore. After much opposition the charter was granted and Dr. Harris continued through life to exercise the duties of one of its most important professorships. In 1840 Dr. H. H. Hayden went to New York and Boston with the design of forming a Dental Society. Dr. Harris, among others, immediately responded to the call and the speedy result was the organization of the American Society of Dental Surgeons. In 1840 he published a Monograph of the Physical Characteristics of the Teeth; in 1841 a Dissertation on the Diseases of the Maxillary Sinus. He also revised his Principles and Practice through several editions, and completed his Dictionary of Dental Science, Biography, Bibliography and Medical Terminology. He also translated from the French the works of Delabarre. Through his labors for the profession and his unbounded generosity, although his practice was large, he died poor in the city of Baltimore on the 29th of September, I860. HORACE H. HAYDEN. was born at Windsor, Conn., October 13, 1768. He was remarkable from his childhood, and it is said that he learned to read almost as soon as he did to talk, and at once contracted that love for books which was so marked all through his life. While a boy he also manifested a great fondness for natural history which clung to him in after life. At ten 13