USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Professional and industrial history of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Volume III > Part 21
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There are in Boston two important schools of dentistry, one under the auspices of Harvard University, named the Dental Department of Harvard University, and the other the Boston Dental College.
DENTAL DEPARTMENT OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY.
The Dental Department of the university is located in Boston in North Grove street, in the building formerly occupied by the Medical
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School, but having outgrown their quarters, an effort is now being made to erect a building especially designed for its use, in order to secure in connection with the Medical Department those advantages for clinical instruction which are found only in large cities.
Instruction in this school is given throughout the academic year by lectures, recitations, clinical teaching, and practical exercises, uniformly distributed. The course of instruction is progressive, and extends over two years, the teaching of one year not being repeated the next.
The first year is identical with that of the Harvard Medical School, the student receiving the same instruction by the same professors at the same time and place with the medical students, and at the end of the year passing with them the same examinations.
It is the object of the faculty to present a complete course of instruc- tion in the theory and practice of dentistry; and for this purpose a well-appointed laboratory and infirmary are provided, and such ar- rangements made as to insure an ample supply of patients. Clinical instruction is given by the professors and other instructors; and, under the direction of demonstrators, patients are assigned to the students, securing to all an opportunity of operating at the chair, and becoming by actual practice familiar with all the operations demanded of the dentist.
The infirmary, which is a department of the Massachusetts General Hospital, remains open, and one of the clinical instructors and the demonstrator are in attendance daily throughout the academic year.
Students have access to the hospitals of the city, and to the dissecting- room and museum of the Medical School.
BOSTON DENTAL COLLEGE.
The Boston Dental College is located at 485 Tremont street, Boston, Mass. It was incorporated June 3, 1868, for the advancement of dental science and art, by means of lectures, clinical instruction, library, and museum. It is authorized by the Legislature to confer the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery. The college pupilage is continuous over three years.
In this institution all branches of the dental and collateral sciences are taught, so far as they can be made available to the dentist. Every endeavor is used to make the course scientific and practical by demon- stration and experiment.
The principal society of those of who practice this special branch of medicine is the
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MASSACHUSETTS DENTAL SOCIETY,
Which was formed May, 1864, and received an act of incorporation from the Legislature in April, 1865. Its object is to cultivate the science and art of dentistry and all its collateral branches, by means of a library and museum, professional lectures, and publications, and by premiums and medals for original researches and discoveries; to elevate and suis- tain the professional character of dentists, and to promote among them mutual improvement, social intercourse, and good-will.
It includes active, junior, corresponding, and honorary members. Active members consist of practitioners of dentistry living in the State of Massachusetts. They must be twenty-one years of age, of good moral character, and have received a diploma from a respectable med- ical or dental college, or have been five years in the practice of dentistry, including term of pupilage. Junior members consist of students of dentistry and dentists not eligible to active membership. Correspond- ing members consist of practitioners of dentistry living in other States of the Union, or in foreign countries, who manifest a disposition to ad- vance the science and art of the profession by contributing to its liter- ature.
Honorary memberships are conferred by the society on distinguished members of the profession, and others who may merit the distinction.
The other dental societies are the following :
HARVARD DENTAL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION.
This association was organized in 1870, for the purpose of uniting the alumni of the Harvard Dental School.
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF THE BOSTON DENTAL COLLEGE.
This society was organized in March, 1872.
HARVARD ODONTOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
This society was organized July 2, 1878, for the purpose of maintain- ing and cultivating professional and social relations among graduates of the Dental Department of Harvard University. Any graduate of the Dental School is eligible to membership.
BOSTON SOCIETY FOR DENTAL IMPROVEMENT.
This society was organized January 13, 1874.
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TRAINING SCHOOLS FOR NURSES.
Experience in the practice of medicine in hospitals has shown the importance of employing the services of competent nurses to carry out accurately the instructions of the physician, and schools under the auspices of the hospitals have grown up for their instruction.
There is now in successful operation a school connected with each of the principal hospitals, and at the McLean Asylum and the Boston Lying-in Hospital, where the instruction is of a special character.
The several schools are all organized on the same general plan; it will therefore suffice to speak in detail only of the
BOSTON CITY HOSPITAL TRAINING SCHOOL FOR NURSES.
The trustees of the Boston City Hospital organized in 1867 a training school for nurses, for the purpose of giving a systematic and thorough course of instruction in nursing to women who intend to become pro- fessional nurses.
The school is under the direction of the trustees and a committee of the hospital staff, but is more immediately under the charge of the superintendent of the school, and the resident physician and superin- tendent of the hospital.
The pupils of the school live at the hospital and serve as nurses in the wards for men, women and children, passing in rotation through the various services of the hospital, in order that experience may be had in all the departments.
Pupils of the school are under the authority of the superintendent of the school and the resident physician of the hospital, and are subject to the rules and regulations of the hospital.
The most desirable age for candidates is from twenty-one to thirty- five years; they must be in good, sound health, and must present on application a certificate from two or more responsible persons (one a physician preferred) as to their good character, education, capabilities, and good health. Upon the recommendation of the superintendent of the hospital and the approval of the trustees, they will be received for one month on probation. During this month they are boarded and lodged at the hospital, but receive no compensation.
At the end of the probationary month, if accepted as pupils, the candidates will sign an agreement to remain at the training school for two years, and to conform to the rules of the hospital.
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At the end of the two years, they pass an examination by members of the staff, and if successful are given a diploma.
No single institution in the country has probably given more comfort to the individual members of the profession, and to their clients, than the one now to be described :
THE DIRECTORY FOR NURSES AT THE BOSTON MEDICAL LIBRARY,
No. 19 Boylston Place,
Which was opened in November, 1849, At this Directory a nurse, either male or female, can be secured at any time in the day or night, either for immediate service or for future engagement. Applications are received by messenger, by telephone or by telegraph. More than twenty-one thousand nurses have been furnished in less than fourteen years.
It is hard to realize how difficult it was to obtain good nurses for the sick before the Directory was opened, and how much more often nurses are employed now than formerly. People were slow to make up their minds to look for a nurse, if it could be avoided, and when it could be no longer avoided, the family of the sick person, the physician, and often members of his family too, would hurry in search of a nurse from one part of the city to another on foot and by carriage, only to find at night, perhaps, that no one had been successful, and that the search must be taken up again in the morning.
The training schools for nurses had increased the number of nurses, but had not made it much easier to find theni. A list of nurses was to be found in every physician's office, but if it contained the names of a hundred nurses, only one out of all was likely to be found disengaged, and on the other hand, at inconvenient hours, nurses, generally the less desirable, would come to his office to tell in detail of how long they had been out of work.
There were also employment offices that professed to supply nurses, but they had only lists of nurses that could be looked up.
When in 1879 a committee was appointed to make arrangements for furnishing nurses, it was decided that, in order to do satisfactory work, a Directory must give sufficient guarantee of the qualifications and character of the nurses, that it must be able to say positively what nurses would be found disengaged.
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The sixth annual report of the Medical Library gives an account of the methods of the Directory, which we quote :
Each applicant is required to fill out a blank form stating the name, residence, age, length of experience in nursing, from what training school, if any, he or she has a diploma, whether any particular branch of nursing is preferred to others, whether he or she is willing to take meals in the kitchen, the price per day and per week, and the names of three or four physicians and of a like number of families as references. When this blank is filled out and returned the registrar sends blanks, with a stamped and directed envelope inclosed, to the families and physicians named as references. The blank to a physician inquires whether the doctor considers the applicant a desirable nurse, whether she is good - tempered, neat, capable, and mindful of directions, whether she has any faults, and whether she is to be recommended in any special class of cases. The blank to families makes similar inquiries, and begs for any information bearing on the character and quali- fications of the applicant. When this set of blanks is filled and returned, the infor- mation contained is carefully examined by the committee, and if the nurse is accepted an abstract is made of the reports and recorded in indexed books specially prepared for the purpose.
Postal cards which merely require a moment to fill out are kept constantly on hand and sold to nurses at cost price, so that the directory may be immediately notified of the taking or termination of an engagement, or of a change in residence, price, etc. On the first failure of a nurse to report an engagement promptly, a warning is sent, and on the second failure the name of the delinquent is dropped from the register, to which it can be restored only on payment of a second registration fee.
A card catalogue of all nurses registered is also kept so that the registrar can tell almost at a glance just which nurses are free at any given moment ; nurses are also expected to keep the Directory informed as to future engagements, a point of special importance in securing attendance for ladies expecting confinement.
But the work of the Directory does not stop here. A nurse applying for registration is at liberty to choose her references, and will naturally refer to those families and physicians who she thinks will report most favorably about her. But when once the nurse is registered, blanks specially prepared for the purpose are sent to each person who secures her through the Directory, as well as to the physician in charge of the case. The replies are all submitted to the committee, and then copied in ab- stract into the register, or filed away, according to whether new facts are elicited or not. All complaints made by employers are investigated patiently, and every care is taken that strict justice is done as far as possible.
In July, 1879, the preliminary work was begun, and in the November following the Directory opened with the names of about sixty nurses on its books.
The first step was to send a circular to a number of the physicians in the largest practice in and about Boston, informing them of the project, and asking from each of them a list of such nurses as from personal knowledge he could recommend. To all nurses so vouched for, as well as to all graduates of the training schools for nurses, circulars were then sent explaining the plan and inviting them to register themselves. Nurses were not slow to see the benefits which would accrue to them- selves and the public, and applications for registration soon began to pour in.
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Nurses are not guaranteed employment by the Directory, and are always at liberty to seek occupation for themselves, provided only that they send prompt notification of any engagement secured. The chief aims of the Directory are to put employers and nurses in ready communication with one another, and to afford employers reliable information as to the character and qualifications of one who is about to become an important member of the household.
These methods have been followed hitherto with only occasional modifications of detail. The success of the institution was notable at the very outset, and the almost uninterrupted yearly increase in its business has been extraordinary.
From November 23 to December 21, 1879, sixty-one nurses were sent out; during 1880, six hundred and twenty; 1883, almost twice as many-1,204; in 1886, 1,349. In the report of this year the committee expressed the opinion that there would not be any great or rapid in- crease of business of the Directory. But that expectation was destined to be agreeably disappointed, for in the very next year the number had risen to 1,613, and in 1891 it reached 2,313.
These nurses were furnished to applicants not only in Boston, but in all parts of New England and occasionally outside of it.
Of female nurses the proportion of graduates from training schools to non-graduates has changed very much in the course of years.
The were in 1881 75 graduates and 291 non-graduates; 1884, 155 graduates and 380 non-graduates; 1892, 509 graduates and 469 non- graduates. The rise in the proportion of training school nurses is still more marked if we take those only who do the work of the year. Thus in the year ending September, 1892, the year's work of the female nurses was divided between 153 non-graduates and 385 graduates.
The number of male nurses has steadily increased and the quality of these is greatly improved. On September 28, 1892, there were 125 on the register, and 96 had been heard from during the year.
Taking all the nurses together there were on the books on Septem- ber 28, 1892, 1,304, of these 184 were known to have died or given up nursing, leaving 1,11%, who were supposed to be available. But of these only 434 were heard from and did the work during the preceding year.
The number of nurses disengaged at any one moment varies much. When there is little sickness it rises to a considerable number, but dur- ing the busiest season it often falls to two or three. But every mail is likely to bring in new ones.
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During the year 1893, attendants for invalids and children having been instructed by means of lectures under the auspices of the Massa- chusetts Emergency and Hygiene Association, have been placed on the books of the Directory for nurses. They are not expected to take care of persons who are acutely ill, and receive at most seven dollars per week. Places have been found for them without difficulty.
The reasons of the remarkable success of the Directory have been suggested already in part. It commends itself to nurses (1) Becanse it supplies them with a large amount of work ; (2) Because, being under the care of physicians, it recognizes and encourages good work, while its criticisms are unprejudiced and fair.
It is liked by the employer (1) Because he obtains a nurse without delay; (?) Because he finds that the nurse is, as far as possible, selected with reference to the peculiarities of each case.
Such an institution could hardly attain the same success if not under the care of physicians.
Since the Directory opened in 1848 six similar institutions are known to have been opened in Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Baltimore, Washing- ton, San Francisco and Chicago.
COUNTY MEDICAL OFFICERS.
The only medical officers of the county are the two medical examin- ers and their assistant, the successors of the coroners, who were legis- lated out of office by the General Court in 1876, and the City Physician of Boston, now officially designated as the Physician to the Board of Health, one of whose duties is to attend professionally the county jail.
The office of city physician was established by ordinance in 1844. Dr. Henry G. Clark was the first incumbent, and held office until 1860. The appointment was made at this time by the mayor, and confirmed by a concurrent vote of the Board of Aldermen and Common Council. The duties then embraced medical attendance at the Suffolk County Jail, examination of all sources of danger to the public health, medical attendance at the various police stations, and the vaccination and re- vaccination of all applicants. He was also required to give certificates of vaccination to all children for their admission to the public schools. It was during Dr. Clark's term of service that Boston, in 1849, was visited by a very severe epidemic of cholera. [A very exhaustive re- port of this epidemic was published by Dr. Clark. ] In 1854 occurred a comparatively slight epidemic of cholera.
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In 1861 Dr. John S. Jones succeeded to the office, which he held until 1864. There is no record of any severe epidemie during his in- cumbency, although small-pox was more or less prevalent during this time.
Dr. William Read next held the office, from 1864 to 1869. In 1866 there was a slight epidemic of cholera which caused eleven deaths. Small-pox caused a certain number of deaths, but at no time was there anything approaching an epidemic.
Dr. William H. Page was appointed in 1870, and held office one year. During this time nothing of interest regarding the health of the city occurred.
In 1871 Dr. Samuel A. Green succeeded to the office, which he held until his election, in 1882, as mayor of the city. In January, 1842, the Board of Health was established, and the appointment of city phy- sician was vested in this body subject to the approval of the mayor. It was during Dr. Green's term of service that Boston was visited by a very severe epidemic of small-pox. By the arduous and zealous work of this officer, in conjunction with the support and assistance of the Board of Health, the epidemic was speedily stamped out.
In January, 1882, the present incumbent, Dr. John H. McCollom, who had served as an assistant to Dr. Green, was appointed as his successor.
By a recent revision of the city charter the city physician is now (1893) appointed by the Board of Health as a permanent officer, and not annually, as before, and his title changed to Physician to the Board of Health.
As the population of Boston has increased from 122, 346 in 1847, the first year of Dr. Clark's term of service, to 467,647 in 1892, the duties of the office have been greatly augmented. To give an idea of the work of this department, the following details are taken from the last report of the city physician : During 1892 3,909 persons were vaccinated and certificates of vaccination were given to 2,967 children for their admission to the public schools. At the request of the Civil Service Commissioners, 255 men were examined for appointment in the Police and in the Fire Departments. At the request of the Board of Police and Board of Fire Commissioners, respectively, twelve policemen and twenty-five firemen were examined for retirement, and nine cases of supposed injury or disease investigated. A careful external examina- tion was made, the symptons learned and a diagnosis sufficiently accu-
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rate for all practical purposes reached in the cases of 556 persons dying without a physician in attendance. In Suffolk county jail 936 patients were treated, requiring 2,080 visits. In the City Temporary Home twenty cases of confinement were attended, and 208 visits made to persons suffering from various diseases. Fifty-two cases of eruptive disease, reported as small-pox, were examined. In only one instance was the disease found to exist. Six cases of reported typhus fever were examined, but in each instance the disease was found to be typhoid fever instead. The reports of 1,353 cases of diphtheria and 2,938 cases of scarlet fever were investigated.
VETERINARY MEDICINE.
The care and treatment of animals has of late years been recognized as a branch of medicine, and a school and hospital have been established for professional education and practice.
The Civil War brought together immense numbers of horses, and their treatment became of great importance to the country.
Veterinary surgeons were appointed by the War Department, and valuable service was rendered by them.
After the war the public was not long in realizing how valuable such services would be in civil life, and this new field for professional services has continued steadily to enlarge, and our animals are no longer necessarily left to the care of the thumb rules of ignorant grooms and hostlers.
The school is under the control of Harvard University, and is called the School of Veterinary Medicine of Harvard University. It provides a three years' course of instruction in the science and practice of veteri- nary medicine and surgery. The sanitary relation of animals to man has received much attention, and much important work has been done.
HARVARD VETERINARY HOSPITAL.
The Harvard Veterinary Hospital was established in 1883 at 50 Village street, Boston, and is a commodious and substantial building, offering every advantage for the observation and treatment of sick animals.
MASSACHUSETTS VETERINARY ASSOCIATION.
The Massachusetts Veterinary Association, for the mutual intercourse and improvement of the graduates of veterinary medicine, was organ- ized in 1884 and incorporated in 1887.
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PHARMACY.
Pharmacy claims a close relation to medicine.
The need of a proper training for apothecaries had become pressing with their great increase in numbers following upon the growth of the city. The larger establishments for the preparation and sale of medi- cines required competent men, and there was no time for private education as formerly.
Under the auspices of the leading men in the business, the Massa- chusetts College of Pharmacy was organized in February, 1823, and incorporated in 1852. Its object was to provide the means of a system- atic education; to regulate the instruction of apprentices; to promote investigation, and to diffuse information among the members of the profession.
The School, of Pharmacy, under the control of the college, offers to its students a theoretical and practical instruction. The graduates of the college organized, in 1820, the " Association of Alumni of the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy."
HOMEOPATHY.
The present condition of this school of practice in this city and State is shown by the following list of institutions, etc., which acknowledge allegiance to this system :
The Massachusetts Homoeopathic Medical Society, established in 1840, incorporated in 1856; meetings held second Wednesday in April and October.
The Boston Homoeopathic Medical Society, established 1859, 210 members; meetings held on the first Monday of each month.
The Hahnemannian Medical Society, 30 members, meetings monthly.
The Massachusetts Surgical and Gynecological Society, established 1844, 120 members, meetings quarterly.
The Hughes Medical Club, 15 members, meetings monthly.
The Homoeopathic Dispensary Medical Association, 60 members, meetings annually.
The Massachusetts Homeopathic Hospital, incorporated 1855, opened to patients in 181.
The Ladies' Aid Association of the Homoeopathic Hospital, 300 mem- bers, meetings monthly.
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The Medical Board Association of the Homeopathic Hospital, 22 members, meetings quarterly.
The Homeopathic Medical Dispensary, incorporated 1856, opened to the public in April, 1857; has treated 240,585 patients, with 643,771 prescriptions, previous to January 1, 1893.
The Consumptives' Home, at Grove Hall, established by Dr. Charles Cullis in 1858.
The Boothby Surgical Hospital, established in 1888.
The Roxbury Homeopathic Dispensary, established in 1885.
The Westborough Insane Hospital, established by the State in 1884.
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