and demerits of their respective positions. Without accepting or condemning either in toto, he shows how these extremes may sometimes be brought harmoniously together, and result in preserving teeth which neither gold or amalgam alone would satisfactorily do.

While the brisk cannonade which has been so long kept up between the "New Departure" and the "Nothing but Gold" factions may not have materially changed the views of either, it has undoubtedly resulted in much good to the profession at large. We think those honest men who have been so earnestly advocating their own peculiar methods of practice, deserve the thanks of the profession, if for no other reason, for awakening such a spirit of experimentation and investigation as may bring to light truths which otherwise might have remained in dark

ness.

Many are seeking refuge upon that middle ground where we think they are far more likely to be rewarded by success.

HYGIENIC SUGGESTIONS.

IN our intercourse with members of the profession, we are often led mentally to inquire, why it is that so few dentists present that robust appearance and ruddy complexion indicating a proper balance and harmony between all the functions, which we call good health; and why so many are of sallow, faded out complexion, dyspeptic, or nervously broken down.

Dentists ought to know, and the majority of them do know, those physiological laws, upon the due observanc. of which sound health depends; but in the hurry and worry of every day life they forget themselves, until they awaken to the fact that they have a system shattered and broken down-perhaps beyond repair.

Some there are who recognize and appreciate the importance of taking care of themselves, not only for the comfort and happiness of themselves and their

families, but that they may be better able to contribute their share towards the comfort and happiness of humanity. Such need no words of warning. But to that poor, nervous, sickly and petulant brother, to whom trifles appear as mountains, who frets and fumes over his work, failing to perform it in an easy and satisfactory manner either to himself or his patient, we make an earnest appeal to stop and consider the folly of curtailing the inevitably short span of human existence by misdirecting his energies, and running the machinery of life with so much friction that it must eventually result in a "break down."

Believing that a few suggestions upon this subject would be timely, we feel warranted in calling the attention of our readers to certain things which we, as a profession, need.

We need better ventilation for our offices, more out-door exercise, and more sunlight; we need more amusements and more holidays; we need more regularity, more contentment, and less fuss and worry. We dare say there is not one of our readers who will deny that these assertions are facts.

We have visited some offices where the overheated and confined atmosphere seemed actually poisonous, and we could not wonder at the sickly and lifeless appearance of their occupants. If we must remain in-doors, let us see to it that we have plenty of good fresh air to breathe.

The leisure walk or stroll is not all that is required in the way of exercise; the heart should be made to beat faster and stronger until the remotest capillaries feel the force of the enlivened blood current. Combine sport with your exercise if you will,-so much the better. Some one has said, "Ten hearty laughsreal shouts--will do more to advance health and vitality than an hour spent in the best attitudes and motions if done in a sober, solemn spirit."

Take a portion of your exercise in the sunlight; not necessarily in the scorching sun of noon day, but sometime during the day let the light of his countenance shine upon you. "Take a day off" occasionally, and with family or friends spend it in the woods and fields, or in such rational modes of enjoyment as may suggest themselves. Rational amusements are always health-promoting. So far as possible, be systematic and regular in eating, in exercise, and in business. Statistics show that regularity of habits conduces, not only to health, but to long life.

"The human body is, to all intents and purposes, as much a machine as a locomotive. It must be duly supplied with fuel and water, kept well lubricated, thoroughly polished and clean, and given time to cool off its coppers, and then there is no computing how much work can be gotten out of it. Those, be it remembered, get the most who are systematic and regular in all their physical habits."

Whatever duties present, strive honestly, conscientiously, to perform them to the best of your ability, and when that is done, be content with the result so far as that particular case is concerned.

An Italian in his 116th year, upon being asked the secret of his living so long, replied:

"When hungry, of the best I eat,

And dry and warm I keep my feet; I screen my head from sun and rain, And let few cares perplex my brain." The narrator observes that the last line contains the quintessence of the best advice that can be given on the subject. One of the greatest foes to longevity is excitement. Worry kills faster than work. Aside from the consideration of health as an element of comfort and happiness, it is one of the prime requisites to business success. A man must be a good animal, with good circulation and digestion if he would properly execute the

judgment and conceptions of his mind. Of what use are the finest tools to the mechanic who has not a strong and steady hand to use them? What does it avail if your mind has become a vast storehouse of knowledge and you have not strength to turn the key?

TOTAL LOSS, BY SLOUGHING, OF BOTH PAROTID GLANDS.

BY C. M. RAMSDELL, A.M., M.D., OF LAMPASAS, TEXAS.

The

On the 26th of August, 1882, my brother, Dr. F. R. Ramsdell, was called into the country to see a case of fever. patient was Mr. Lewis C., white, carpenter, æt. 29, native of Michigan; height, 5 ft. 11 in.; weight, 150 pounds; family father, whom he resembles. For several history, consumption on the side of the weeks he had been working among the cedar brakes on the Colorado river, where he contracted chills and fever, which soon compelled him to quit work.

When seen, Aug. 26th, he was delirious, very restless, with marked opisthotonos, and complained of constant and severe pain in the back part of the head, and neck. His temperature in the axilla was 106° F., pulse 120, resp. 32, spasmodic. He was given potassii brom. gr. x, tr. aconit. gtt. iij, spt. æth. nit f3 ss, every two hours until fever abated; then cinchonia alkaloid gr. xx, in four doses, one to be taken every four hours. the following day I saw the patient, and from that time on the case was treated by my brother and myself in company.

On

During the night of the 26th, the fever left him and returned on the afternoon of the 27th; the temperature reached 105°, but there was no opisthotonos and but little delirium The urine was scanty and very dark, coffee-colored, and much pain was felt in the lumbar region. He was given spt. æth. nit. a teaspoonful every three hours for two days, and the same amount every six hours for several days longer, the urine gradually becoming normal in quantity and color. During the night of the 27th he took quinine gr. xxx, with pulv. doveri gr. x.

There was no return of the fever, but the patient was greatly prostrated so that he could scarcely sit up in bed. He was

stupid, and talked incoherently much of the time during the 28th, still complaining of pain in the head. On the morning of the 29th his left jaw began to swell, and by noon the whole left side of the face and neck was much swollen and very painful, especially in the parotid region. There was also intense pain in the left ear, and the patient was continually turning from side to side and crying out. Morphine in doses of gr. to gr.j, every four hours, and local applications of vinegar and hot fomentations, gave only slight relief. On the 30th, the right parotid region became inflamed, and the swelling on that side was soon as great as on the left, reaching an enormous extent on both sides, extending down the neck to the shoulders and backwards beyond the mastoid region, so that the auricles were thrust upwards and forwards, giving a very grotesque appearance to the sufferer's countenance.

His

The prostration was so great and the rigidity of the jaws such, that food was administered with difficulty. He was given half an ounce of brandy in egg-nog or milk-punch every two hours for three days, and at longer intervals, alternating with animal broths, for about two weeks. Quinine gr. v was also given night and morning from Aug. 28 to Sept. 8. tongue was enlarged and heavily coated, mouth very dry, and hearing much impaired. On Sept. 1st there was a discharge of thin, ichorous pus from the left meatus auditorius externus. On the 2d, a similar discharge took place from the right, and fluctuation was noticeable just back of the lobe of each ear. He also had a slight chill, and night sweats set in, for which he was given 20 drops of aromatic sulphuric acid three times a day for four days.

On Sept. 3d, the abscess on the lett side was lanced at a point half an inch below and behind the lobe of the ear, and the day following that on the right was opened at a corresponding point, in both cases giving exit to a large quantity

-an ounce or more—of thick yellow pus mixed with a substance resembling the white of egg. From this time on the pain was much less severe, and the morphine was discontinued, but, as the patient kept calling for it at frequent intervals, to pacify him a number of powders were made out, consisting only of wheat

flour, labelled "morphine," and after taking one of these he always seemed to be greatly relieved. His bowels were inclined to be constipated, but an action was procured about once in two days by the use of small doses of sulphate of magnesia.

On the 8th, he was put upon the following tonic which he continued to use for three weeks.

f3 iiss.

R-Tr. nucis vomicæ, Tr. cinchonæ, . q. s. ad. f 3 iv.-M. S. A teaspoonful four times a day after eating.

An attempt was made to apply compresses to the sides of the neck in order to secure thorough evacuation of the abscesses and prevent burrowing of the pus, but the patient would not tolerate any kind of dressing, pulling them off as fast as they could be applied.

On the morning of the 10th, the openings made by the lancet, which had become considerably enlarged by sloughing, were found occluded by what the attendants thought to be "proud flesh." This was removed by pulling it out with forceps, and was found to be the parotid glands almost entire, the superficial portions having sloughed away so that only a few fibres of tissue held them in place. The left gland came out easily, the right required a little cutting to detach it from its connections. Both presented a similiar appearance, being somewhat spongy and having deep sulci, apparently where large blood vessels or nerve-trunks had passed through their substance, and the right gland still showed something like the outlines of the natural shape, but the left was not larger than the first joint of the thumb, and its true character could be made out only by its position and its internal structure.

After the removal of the glands as much as three fluid ounces of thick pus escaped from each cavity. There was no hemorrhage nor has there been any paralysis, so that no important nerves or blood vessels could have been involved. No other glands were implicated nor was there and burrowing of pus. The discharge from the ears ceased in a few days after the glands came away, the only treatment directed to them having been a daily syringing out with warm water.

On September 13th, he was given sixty granules containing one-tenth of a grain of calcium sulphide each, of which he

took three per diem until all were used. He recovered strength slowly, the wounds remaining open until about the middle of October.

more

By the 10th of November he was entirely well, except slight stiffness of the jaws. He then complained of having "heart-burn" than he used to have, and said that his mouth seemed dryer than natural. A careful examination with a fine probe showed Steno's duct to be entirely closed on the left side, and to consist only of a cul-de-sac about one-fourth of an inch deep on the right.

At the present time, November 25th, his gastric trouble has disappeared and his mouth has regained its natural amount of moisture, doubtless through an increased activity in the remaining salivary glands. The loss of the parotid glands has caused no deformity beyond a slight depression and cicatrix at the site of the openings made by the lancet. The hearing is normal.

This case seems to be unique. Flint, Practice of Medicine. p. 401, says that parotiditis is an occasional complication of typhus and typhoid fever, and that in such cases considerable sloughing of the areolar tissue frequently occurs, but neither he nor any other writer, so far as I know, mentions loss of the gland as a possible result.-Medical News.

PLASTER OF PARIS vs. MODELING COMPOSITION.

BY DR. STEWART J. SPENCE.

IN the Journal of November last Dr. U. Smith had an article "About Impressions," condemning plaster and recommending Modeling Composition No. 1. His claim is, that the composition, by compressing the softer tissues of the mouth, provides for a plate which will do similarly, and therefore be more permanently useful.

That provision should be made for this compression of the soft parts by a plate, is of the greatest importance. Harris recognizes it, and recommends, if I recollect right, brushing thin plaster over the impression at the parts corresponding to the soft parts of the mouth.

Richardson dwells upon the subject, and points out that "the tenacity with

which a plate adheres, on the application of direct traction, cannot always be relied upon, inasmuch as a well fitting plate will sometimes be readily dislodged in this manner, while, on the contrary, one but illy adapted to the parts, may require considerable force to separate it from the jaw, when acted on in the same way. The most trustworthy test of actual or practical stability, is firm pressure, applied alternately over the ridge on each side, and in front."-Mechanical Dentistry, p 252.

Several other writers enforce the subject, some recommending treating the impression with a coating of varnish at the soft parts, or a few layers of tin foil, and others trimming down the model with a knife.

Harris says: "A vulcanite plate is larger than the mouth by the expansion of the model. Here, the contraction of gutta percha will prove a very valuable compensation, also the compression of tissue, made by the pressure of wax.". Principles and Practice of Dentistry, p 548.

I dwell on this subject because of its importance, and I am glad to see it brought forward by Dr. Smith; but I must disagree with him as to the excellency of the Godiva Modeling Composition, and for these reasons: It is elastic and pliable. Though very pleasant to use, clean, and easy of application, it is treacherous. While it is very accommodating in taking the faintest depressions so as to delude the eye of the operator, it will bend out of shape in a wholesale manner. While wax, which has little elasticity, will, in being removed from a tooth, drag just at the tooth, locally, so to speak, the composition will drag not so much just at the tooth as around it, and that for some distance. I have noticed it thus dragged by a tooth away from the tray in lower impressions, thus throwing up that whole side of the impression. Nor is that all, but its elasticity developes itself in another feature, which is, that it has a tendency not to remain where placed. This is most troublesome at the buccal and labial surfaces of the upper jaw, where it becomes necessary to hold the material pressed until quite hard, or it will shrink away. This may be demonstrated by pressing a plaster model into a tray full of the Godiva, when it will be

seen that the composition which is above the rim of the tray will shrink from the plaster, and when pressed up against it will shrink away again as soon as the pressure is removed. I am not prepared to deny that the pressure of the lips and cheeks may, in some cases, more or less counteract this shrinking away, but in others it seems to increase it.

Again, its specific gravity being considerable, and its resistance very slight, it bends from its own weight, when used very warm and soft, thus coming away from the parts where it may have been pressed, and possibly from the posterior portion of the plate, though I am not able to speak positively as to this. A Sufficient excess of the material may prevent it falling from the surfaces which are to be covered by the plate; and unless used too soft, I think it is not liable to occur. The same objection applies to the plaster if used too soft.

This pliability would not be an objection with the inferior ridge, and might be of some benefit. But when used very soft, it is deprived of the quality for which Dr. Smith recommends it, namely: compression of soft tissue; and the doctor seems to have overlooked the fact that plaster, when used stiff, will do this very thing.

Not condemning this nice material in toto, I desire to only indicate its faults, so that those using it may be on their guard; and I would recommend constant digital compression where needed, high flanges to trays, its use when not too warm and soft, and replacing the impression in the mouth after removing and immersing it in cold water.-Ohio State Journal of Dental Science.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same. That it shall be the duty of any person practicing dentistry within this Commonwealth, within three months after the passage of this act, and of any person intending to practice dentistry within this Commonwealth, before commencing the same, to have recorded in the recorder's office in the County in which he or she practices or intends to practice, the diploma or certificate provided for in the act to which this is a supplement.

SEC. 2d. Any person who may desire to practice Dentistry in this state after the passage of this act, having a dental diploma, issued or purporting to have been issued by any college, university, society, or association, in another state, or foreign country, shall present the same to the faculty of one of the dental colleges, or universities of this Commonwealth, or to the state examining board, provided for in the act to which this is a supplement, for approval; such faculty, or examining board, being satisfied as to the qualifications of the applicant, and the genuineness of the diploma, shall endorse the same as approved, after which the same may be recorded as aforesaid.

SEC. 3d. Any person who is entitled to practice dentistry in this Commonwealth without a diploma or certificate, under the provisions of the 8th Section of the act to which this is a supplement, shall make written affidavit before some person qualified to administer an oath, setting forth the time of his continuous practice and the place or places where such practice was pursued in this Commonwealth, and shall within three months after the passage of this act have such affidavit recorded in the recorder's office of the county in which he is practicing. And it shall be the duty of the recorder to record such diplomas, certificates and affidavits in a book provided for such purpose.

SEC. 4th.-Any person who shall violate, or fail to comply with any of the provisions of this act or of the act to which this is a supplement, or who shall cause to be recorded any diploma or certificate which has been obtained fraudulently, or is in whole or in part a forgery, or shall make affidavit to any false statement to be recorded as aforesaid, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on convic