OPINION
EVANS
J.
The
defendant was organized as a domestic corporation on October
1, 1913, for the purpose of carrying on the business in which
it is now engaged, and obtained a franchise therefor from the
secretary of state. It was organized under the name appearing
in the caption herein. Its incorporators and only
stockholders were R. W. Bailey and G. D. Shipherd, and these
constituted its officials. Its present officials are
Shipherd, Bedell, and Ruder. The facts were stipulated in the
record in the court below. The material facts thus stipulated
are summarized in the appellant's brief as follows:
"1. The defendant company was incorporated
under the laws of Iowa in 1913 for the purpose of equipping
and maintaining offices and places where lawfully licensed
dentists might carry on the practice of dentistry.
"2.
Defendant has offices located at Fifth and Locust Streets in
Des Moines, Iowa, which offices are maintained under the name
of Bailey Dental Company, and in which offices dentistry is
practiced, and which offices are supervised and managed by a
licensed dentist, and other licensed dentists are employed
therein.
"3.
Some of the advertisements which have been put out to the
public by the defendant have read 'Bailey Dental Company
Dentists. Guaranteed Dentistry.'
"4.
Licensed dentists employed in said offices have been and are
treating defects or diseases of the teeth, gums, or maxillary
bones.
"5.
Neither the defendant company nor any of its officers have
ever been licensed to practice dentistry in Iowa, but each
and every one of the aforementioned employees have been and
are now licensed to practice dentistry under the laws of
Iowa.
"6.
The names of the employed dentists have been and are
displayed in a conspicuous place at the public entrance of
the office, as required by Section 2568.
"7.
The articles of incorporation of defendant company were duly
filed with the secretary of state of Iowa on October 1, 1913,
accepted by him, and certificate of incorporation duly issued
to it. Said articles provide that said company should have
power to establish, equip, and maintain offices and places
where competent and lawfully licensed dentists may carry on
the practice of dentistry in the state of Iowa, which
business shall be carried on under the provisions and in
conformity with the laws of the state of Iowa; that, since
then, defendant company has maintained and operated offices
in Des Moines, Iowa, under its own name, of Bailey Dental
Company, in which licensed dentists employed by it have been
and are now practicing dentistry, and has expended and
invested large sums of money in building up its business and
establishing and equipping its present offices, and that the
same are of value in excess of $ 25,000."
The
theory of the defense is concisely stated in the same brief
as follows:
"1. There is no evidence that defendant is
practicing dentistry.
"2.
The sole business of defendant is owning and operating
offices in which the art of dentistry is practiced by duly
licensed dentists, as authorized by its articles.
"3.
The practice of dentistry and the owning and operating of
dental offices where dentistry is practiced are two distinct
functions, and the provisions of the 'Practice of
Dentistry Act' in question are, of necessity, and as
contemplated by the law itself, limited to human persons
engaged in the practice of dentistry as defined: that is,
physically treating the oral cavity.
"4.
The decree denies to this defendant equal protection under
the laws, and deprives it of its valuable property without
due process of law and without just compensation therefor, in
violation of the rights of this defendant under the
Constitutions of the United States of America and of the
state of Iowa."
The
statutes material for our consideration provide as follows:
"2439.
No person shall engage in the practice of medicine and
surgery, podiatry, 'osteopathy,' 'osteopathy and
surgery,' chiropractic, nursing, dentistry, dental
hygiene, optometry, pharmacy, cosmetology, barbering, or
embalming as defined in the following chapters of this title,
unless he shall have obtained from the state department of
health a license for that purpose."
"2565.
For the purpose of this title the following classes of
persons shall be deemed to be engaged in the practice of
dentistry:
"1.
Persons publicly professing to be dentists, dental surgeons,
or skilled in the science of dentistry, or publicly
professing to assume the duties incident to the practice of
dentistry."
"2570.
No person shall operate any place in which dentistry is
practiced under any other name than his own, or display, in
connection with his practice, on any advertising matter any
other than his own name; but two or more licensed dentists
who are associated in the practice may use all of their
names, and a widow, heir, or any legal representative of a
deceased dentist, may operate such office for a reasonable
time for the purpose of disposing of the same."
"2528.
The opening of an office or place of business for the practice of any profession for which a license is
required by this title, the announcing to the public in any
way the intention to practice any such profession, the use of
any professional degree or designation, or of any sign, card,
circular, device, or advertisement, as a practitioner of any
such profession, or as a person skilled in the same, shall be
prima-facie evidence of engaging in the practice of such
profession."
I.
Defendant's first contention is that it is not practicing
dentistry. Immediately upon its incorporation, it did open an
office in the city of Des Moines, and equipped the same for
the purpose of practicing dentistry. Pursuant to the same
purpose, it employed...
