The Midwest pioneer, his ills, cures, & doctors - University Library ...

165
tered by the forty-third General Assembly of Ohio and
the college opened in a rented building. Students were
required to pay a matriculation fee of $5, $25 to each professor
per session, $10 for dissection tickets (optional), and
$25 for diploma fee; $100 cash in advance would pay the
cost of the whole course. For graduation the candidate was
required to: present two full courses of lectures of which
the last was to have been in Taylor's institution; be twentyone
years of age and of good moral character; offer two
years' study with a reputable practitioner or in lieu thereof
one year's study in a medical school; present and defend a
"written thesis on some subject relating to dental science,
and be subject to a critical examination upon the theory
and practice of dentistry." The school offered courses in
anatomy and physiology, dental pathology and therapeutics,
practical dentistry, and pharmacy. Of the twenty-one
students enrolled for the 1845-46 session, eleven came from
Ohio, five from Kentucky, two from Indiana, one each
from New York, Mississippi, and Arkansas. Of these, six
were graduated, each of whom was presented with a copy
of the Bible, "a custom which prevailed for many years."
From 1845 to 1858 ninety-nine were graduated.
As dentists grew in numbers, they began to organize
societies. In 1 844 both the Cincinnati Association of Dental
Surgeons and the Mississippi Valley Association of Dental
Surgeons were formed. At Cleveland in 1857 the Northern
Ohio Dental Association came into being and two years
later at Springfield, Ohio, was organized the Mad River
Valley Association.
Eye troubles received little attention. But few people
used their eyes consistently for close work. When vision
got bad, various spectacles from the stock of the peddler
or general store were tried on until a pair was found to fit.
Although astigmatism was discovered at the very beginning
of the century and cylindrical lenses were being ground at
Philadelphia in 1828, the rudiments of optometry were
known by only a few; so spectacles only magnified to take
care of "long-sightedness" and "short-sightedness.'* A few