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be a valuable addition to the pharmacopoeia, but used to excess-as it certainly was during a brief period of great popularity-it produces a number of bad effects, to which in the aggregate the term chloralisms is applied. Chloral hydrate is of special value as a soporific when opium is inadmissible, as in the case of children and in some fevers. In cases of tetanus it is valuable as a means of securing muscular relaxation, and Liebreich has shown that it produces effects in antagonism to those of strychnia. Cautiously used, it has been found serviceable in delirium tremens, rabies, acute mania, cholera, seasickness, cancer, chronic rheumatism and other diseases. The first effect of a dose of chloral hydrate is to congest the brain. Its subsequent effects vary with the individual, but, as a rule, a dose of 20 grains acts upon a healthy person as a mild sedative of the sensory nervous system, causing thirty or forty minutes after it has been taken a light normal sleep, followed by no ill consequences. Taken in large quantities, it is a powerful soporific. The temperature of the body is lowered, the force of the heart's action is diminished, and respiration is made slower. Insensibility ensues, with pallor, coldness of the extremities, lividity, muscular relaxation, and, probably, in the end, death from cardiac syncope. Sometimes chloral hydrate fails to relieve suffering, and when it does not induce sleep may occasion excitement and delirium. To increase the dose under such circumstances is dangerous, especially to patients affected with disease of the heart. A most important circumstance for users of the drug to take into consideration is the fact that "the limit of the dose that can be safely taken is not affected by the customary use of the drug, as in the case of opium, but rather the reverse. The habitual use of it to gain relief from sleeplessness and neuralgia is to be deprecated, as,

among other bad effects, it tends to "bring on deep melancholy, weakness of will, and inability to sleep without the drug." Like all other drugs taken to gain unconsciousness of the ills of life, it is apt to be used to excess, and to prevent the acquisition of those habits of selfrestraint which best conduce to sound physical health.-Editorial in American Journal of Dental Science.

THE OLD DENTIST,

HE EXPATIATES TO A VICTIM ON THE DELIGHTS OF FILLING TEETH.

"Not the slightest pain," explained the old dentist, adjusting the hard wood gag that held the jaws of his victim apart to their widest limit. "Does it hurt? Well, now, young man, filling teeth, as I do it, is like going to a matinee."

Meanwhile he had strapped the culprit's head back in his chair, had cut a small hole in a sheet of rubber and, thrusting both his hands into the comdemned's mouth, had forced the affected tooth through the small aperture. "Gwaum!"

"Yes, you have guessed the name. This is 'the dam.' So called by its inventor, who, poor cuss, never made a cent out of his idea. Luck of inventors, you know. It is a marvelously useful affair. I strap the top of the dam over your nose and eyes with this bridle, and I hang two weights to the bottom, so"suiting the action to the words, the doomed man began to slowly asphyxiate.

"It takes a little time to dry out the tooth. Everything takes time. But the luxury of it! Now I can work rapidly. There, steady. Hot? True enough."' Mechanically, the old dentist wheeled a bright lathe-like machine from a corner and began to manipulate it with one of his feet. As he tramped he chanted the following dirge to the forsaken :

"The greatest single improvement in

dentistry. With this power drill I can ream out the inside of a tooth in less time than it formerly took to open a small cavity. Sometimes gets loose in the hands of novices. Never employ a young dentist, my friend. A patient of mine went to one of the practicing rooms in town and a scholar went to work at him with the power drill. Just then a classmate asked him for a chew of tobacco and he let go the drill long enough for it to explore the roof of the patient's mouth and to perforate the palate. Used as I manage it, however-"

Burr-whiz-bur-r-r!

"Wagidbell! Oh-o-o! Gooid!" savagely demanded the lost one, as the cold perspiration followed the saliva down his neck.

"Do not be alarmed; the bell did not ring. This is a beautiful bit of work. I am so close to the nerve that I can see the pink-colored fibres through the bone. Just think how comforting it is to know that the drill can't break through—"

The man in the chair fainted.-Local Paper.

favored with-but, Philadelphia practitioners know that such requests are by no means infrequent.

Dr. F.'s article was written to serve the monetary aspects of the profession, and since he is honest enough to openly state to his "clientele," he does not operate for "servants," we suggest that "Kansan” as honestly state to such practice as is permitted him, his desires for such work. Let him tell his best patients that he is sorry to keep them waiting, but Mame, (alias Bridget) Miss Vere de Vere's maid, was in the chair; or mention to them that Mrs. G. Swellington Snobson's cook, not omitting the color, if it is of note, had the precedence, and, as he figures up his accounts at the end of the year, he may remember his criticism, and find that vulgarity and logic are not interchargeable terms. We will not refer to the probable lineage of "Kansan"-"by their fruits ye shall know them."

Dr. F.'s article was not written to remind him of his estate. As we have, however, repeatedly known the publication of such criticisms, for free circulation amongst certain classes, to increase

"BUSINESS QUALIFICATIONS OF PROFES- practice, it does not seem to us impossi

SIONAL MEN.

--

In Items of Interest for June, 1883, there appeared a criticism upon an article entitled "Business Qualifications of Professional Men". -a criticism so vulgar in its nature that we feel called upon to manifest our surprise that a journal could be found willing to sully its pages with it. Although "Kansan's' true name is hidden from the dental profession, his "vomit" clearly indicates the filthy condition of his moral and mental digestive system. "Kansan" expresses doubt that any "lady of refinement (although Dr. Faught uses the term 'lady of wealth and refinement') ever made such a request." We can well understand this; it is the judgment derived from such class of practice as he is

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THERE will be held at the Cataract House, Niagara Falls, on Monday, August 6th, 1883, at 2 o'clock P. M., a meeting of all the State Boards of Dental Examiners, for the purpose of perfecting the organization of a National Association. of Examining Boards. It is hoped that every board will be fully represented.— George H. Cushing, Secretary of Conference held at Lexington, Ky.

THE eighteenth annual session of the Maine Dental Society will be held in Portland, Tuesday and Wednesday, July 17 and 18, 1883.

THE fifteenth annual session of the Pennsylvania State Dental Society will be held at Cresson, Pa., commencing Tuesday, July 31, 1883, and continuing three days.

In an article published by Dr. R. Koch it is asserted that the only substances worthy of the name of disinfectants are chlorine, bromine, iodine, mercuric chloride and, perhaps, potassium permanganate and osmic acid. It has been found that spores of the bacillus of splenic fever kept for many days in a 5 per cent zinc chloride solution develop when placed in suitable nutritive liquids, and even when added to serum containing 1⁄2 per cent zinc chloride. The author expresses wonder how this salt should ever have been seriously regarded by respectable chemists as an antiseptic.

THE Thirteenth Annual Session of the New Jersey State Dental Society will be held at the Coleman House, Asbury Park, N. J., commencing at 10 o'clock Wednesday morning, July 18th, 1883, and continuing three days.

THE next annual meeting of the Wisconsin State Dental Association will be held at Milwaukee on the 3d Tuesday in July, 1883.

CALL FOR DENTAL CONVENTION.

The dentists of the northwest are cordially invited to meet at Fargo, D. T., on Friday, July 27, 1883, at 10 o'clock, A. M., for the purpose of organizing a Dental Society for this section of the country.

It is hoped that all practitioners who take an interest in matters relating to the advancement of the profession will be present and present such papers or essays as they may choose, upon any subject, so

that we may have a profitable meeting.

The railroads will furnish tickets to those

who attend at 60 per cent of the regular rate. The Continental Hotel, at Fargo, will give first-class accommodations at reduced rates. Come and aid in organizing the first Dental Society of the North

west.

DR. LOUIS OTTOFY, Grand Forks.
DR. LOUIS DAVENPORT, Moorhead.
DR. J. H. SPAULDING, Fargo.
DR. H. B. OBER, Fargo.

THE ODONTO CHIRURGICAL SOCIETY OF

PENNSYLVANIA. — The regular monthly meeting of this society was held at the office of Dr. A. Phraener, 1415 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, July 10th, 1883, the President, Dr. Hawksworth, in the chair. After the usual routine business had been transacted, the President introduced Dr. W. Storer How, who, by the aid of diagrams, models, and his various appliances, gave the society a very full and comprehensive demonstration of the manner of mounting his new artificial tooth-crown. Although Dr. How's published directions are very complete, they do not so fully present the many advantages which his method possesses as this practical demonstration afforded. The members of the society feel under obligations to Dr. How for his kindness in meeting with them, and a hearty vote of thanks was tendered him.

The

society adjourned to meet on the third Tuesday in September, at the office of Dr. J. O Bechtel, 1856 North Twelfth Street, Philadelphia.

THE VACATION.

To most men who pursue a sedentary avocation an occasional change is absolutely necessary, if they would enjoy good health and prolong life. This certainly includes the dental profession, especially those who practice in our large cities and are denied the blessings of wholesome country air, the open sunlight, and the beauties of nature as they appear in the Physicians fields, woods and streams.

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are beginning, more and more, to recogin causing many of the ills they are called nize "overwork as a prominent factor upon to treat, and whatever prescriptions or directions they may give, "rest" is always insisted upon. To rest does not always imply the doing of nothing-to some this would be the hardest task you could impose upon them; neither does it signify that a man must lie upon his back in bed to obtain it, although some poor fellows go so far before they call a halt that they are obliged to do so. The mind and body alike suffer from too prolonged and constant effort in one direction; the more quickly, the more unnatural the conditions under which the effort is made.

When we consider the conditions under which the dentist earns his daily bread, confined in the same room and surround

ed by the same objects month after month and year after year, frequently in such cramped and unnatural positions that his lungs cannot properly utilize the none too pure air with which he is surrounded, coming in close contact with persons of every variety of temperament, exercising to the fullest extent his own will power to control others in all conceivable condi

tions of nervousness, until sometimes he can feel all his nervous energy, "vim," or whatever you choose to call it," oozing out at his finger ends," is it any wonder that so few reach that period which should be the prime of life, with sound mental and bodily health? We know of no class

of men so devoted to their clientele as is the dental profession. Whether this may arise from a laudable desire to relieve their discomforts as soon as possible, or from the stimulation of a prospective fee, the fact still remains. We often sacrifice too much for our patients, and for dollars that will not purchase for us a new organization when the old one is broken down.

We too often forget to apply to our own cases the rules of hygiene which Dr. Parkes has tersely said "aim at rendering growth more perfect, decay less rapid, life more vigorous, death more remote," and take too little thought

"How best the fickle fabric to support
Of mortal man; in healthful body how
A healthful mind the longest to maintain."

We need more rest; rest from care, from business anxiety and perplexities. How can we better obtain it than by availing ourselves of the decided and delightful change which a sojourn in the country affords? We feel quite sure that in a period of ten years the man who takes annually at least a month for rest and vacation, can make a better showing in the items of cash and health, than his neighbor who keeps the mill constantly running except when he is obliged to shut down for repairs and take his rest in bed-at the same time paying good round fees to the doctor.

Some may say that they do not feel the need of rest-so much the better. Keep yourself always in such condition by a little timely precaution; don't wait until the machine breaks completely down before you give it needed attention. To such as cannot leave their business for any length of time, an occasional day in the country or upon the water will prove of much advantage; but if possible leave the office and all its cares, so far behind that you could not, if you would, return upon the shortest notice. Become a hightoned tramp, free to follow the inclina

tions of your own sweet will, and forget for one short month that you ever were a dentist. Then, if you have "acted well your part," you will return with such a stock of vital force and renewed energy that work will be a pleasure, and you will go bounding over the billows of time with a light heart, and in a sound boat, until the time for the next vacation arCome on boys,-let's go fishing!

The death of Arbuckle, the cornetist, recalls the fact that most of the men who make an inordinate use of the lungs and buccinator muscle perish early. Ned Kendall, the great bugler, died before his prime, and it is believed that the intense pressure upon the lungs caused by blowing high-keyed instruments predisposes performers to pulmonary affections. Arbuckle's disease was pneumonia.

THE LIFE OF MAN PRACTIcally ConSIDERED.—Man, born of woman, is of few days and no teeth; and, indeed, it would be money in his pocket sometimes if he had less of either. had less of either. As for his days, he wasteth one-third of them; and as for his teeth, he has convulsions when he cuts them, and as the last one comes through, lo! the dentist is twisting the first one out, and the last end of that man's jaw is worse than the first, being full of porcelain and a roof plate built to hold blackberry seeds. Bill Nye.

SUB-MUCOUS CHLOROFORM INJECTIONS IN TOOTHACHE.-Gaillard's Medical Journal, May 19th, 1883, says that Dr. Guillott claims to have had very good results in the treatment of toothache, from the injection of chloroform beneath the mucous membrane of the gums. The effects are more immediate and lasting than those of morphine. There have been no resultant abscesses or inflammations.— Med. and Surgical Reporter.

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