The involuntary organs do not sleep until death ends our earth life. We can readily understand that if by any cause polarity in the two large poles in the cerebrum are reversed, the gateway by which we gain a knowledge of things about us is closed so perfectly that physical sensation is impossible. On the other hand, if the equilibrium between the two large poles in the cerebellum are not well balanced, just in this proportion some kind of ailment is the result. Let us not forget that the will has no control over these poles, and all medicine that does not beneficially act on them is non-curative. Now, just in proportion as anæsthetic agents disturb their equilibrium, they are dangerous, it makes no difference whether polarity is reversed or destroyed; in either case the principle of life can no longer act on the nerves by means of its intermediate; the heart ceases to beat, and restoration is impossible. Chloroform is more easily administered than ether or gas, and most convenient when the patient cannot come to the office; but we should remember that many deaths have occurred when given for the purpose of extracting teeth, and that, too, when least expected. The public mind is more horrified at one death in the dentist's office than twenty caused by a railroad smash-up. We have now the means that will stimulate the nerves, greatly mitigate the pain and not endanger either life or health.
I have long desired a perfectly safe anæsthetic that can be administered no matter what the condition of the patient. I am now creditably informed that Dr. Mayo, of Boston, some eighteen months ago, by various experiments, produced a compound article that satisfied him was harmless. He would not put it on the market until it had been thoroughly tested by both dentists and surgeons. All who tested its effect and efficiency testified to its great superiority over all other known anæsthetics for dental and minor surgical operations. It is now only a few months since he made arrangements for its manufacture and appliances, and put it on the market. He has named it Mayo's Vegetable Vapor Anæsthetic. I have been using it for extracting teeth very successfully. The nitrous oxide causes the patient, when fully under its influence, to have very like the appearance of a corpse. The action of this new anæsthetic does not act on the vital organs, and the patient appears like one in a natural sleep, and, in my opinion, is perfectly safe and without danger to life or health.
Our patients come to us for either a preventative or curative treatment. As before said, we are brought face to face with almost every conceivable condition of the nervous system, and the more true knowledge we have of it the better are we able to satisfactorily manage them. Some come in a very excitable, and some in a very depressed state. We need means to quiet the former and stimulate the latter.
Again. To be fully entitled to the name of Scientific, we must know something of the laws of life, in order that we may obey them and fight life's battles manfully—doing justice to others and with credit to ourselves. Life, in itself, is not creatable, but given to us with power to properly use or abuse, the end being the creation of the finite mind. I have explained above the means by which it acts on matter, but as a further illustration, let me say, you drop an article on the floor, gravitation holds it there; you desire to pick it up, how can you do it; if you have sufficient will-power it will act on the magnetic element, this on the nerves, these on the muscles. You stoop down and pick it up, and probably not one in ten thousand have a single thought about the necessary means by which you are enabled to do so, so little do we reflect about causative principles involved in what we do.
So far as our voluntary organs are concerned they may be compared to a locomotive engine. They are both useless if the motive power is wanting. To make the engine useful, steam must be generated by means of fire and water; and to make our voluntary organs useful, animal magnetism must be generated by means of life and the atmospheres. The engineer controls the steam power, and human will controls the magnetic power, and when properly applied, if the machine is in good order, locomotion is the result in both cases. I will only add, the steam acts on the piston heads and causes the crank to move and the wheels to rotate. Magnetism acts on the nerves, then on the muscles, and man moves in any direction he chooses. A dentist with a strong will, if he uses the proper means, can more easily and favorably impress his nervous patient than one with a weak will, and the reason is, he imparts more of his animal magnetism, which has a stimulating effect on the nerves of his patient. There is a magnetic sphere emanating from both man and beast, particularly when in motion. Were it not so, no dog could follow their tracks successfully. All pain is the result of an obstruction of a normal flow of the magnetic current, whether caused by disease or otherwise.
Arsenic, applied to the nerve of a tooth, destroys its polarity, and applied to any other nerve it is no longer capable of being actuated by the magnetic current, without which there can be no sensation, and death is the result. Physical endurance depends largely on the mind and the state of the nervous system. The difference in individuals to bear pain is marvelous; some one can have a tooth extracted and seem to care but little about it, while others, without the use of a preventative, appear to suffer intensely, and in some cases the operation causes syncopy.
In conclusion allow me to say, a vast field lies before us, and if cultivated properly this Society will in due time reap a rich harvest, the benefits of which cannot now be estimated.
The grand distinction between mind and matter may be seen thus: If we give any physical object to another, we part with it, but if we give a new idea on any subject, we do not part with it, but in so doing its boundaries are enlarged in our minds.
The space occupied in briefly presenting my views on the subject I have chosen is greater than I at first intended, but the fundamental principles which underlie everything with which we have to do, and the importance of fully understanding them, is my only apology for occupying so much of your time.—Dental Luminary.