[3] He is noted for popularizing a number of techniques that have since become standard, including the use of amalgam fillings and of nitrous oxide.

[5] In 1884 he published the first English translation of the memoirs of Heinrich Heine, to which he also wrote the introduction.

[3] He also was active in the arts; helping to launch the career of famous American sculptor Cyrus Dallin commissioning one of his first equestrian sculptures, The Marquis de Lafayette in 1889.

[3][7] He died in Paris,[1][3] where he had lived for many years, and was buried in Woodlands Cemetery, Philadelphia.

In his will, he left money and land for the founding of what was to become the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine.