For whilst science leads us to discard the idea that the Deity is continually interfering to change the workings of the system He has made,--since it everywhere presents us with the idea of uniformity in the plan, and of constancy in the execution of it,-it equally discourages the notion entertained by some that the creation of matter, endowed with certain properties, and therefore subject to certain actions, was the final act of the Deity so far as the present system of things is concerned, instead of being the mere commencement of His operations. If it be admitted that matter owes its origin and properties to the Deity, or, in other words, that its first existence was but an expression of the Divine Will, what is its continual existence but a continued operation of the saine will? To suppose that it could continue to exist and to perform its various actions by itself, is at once to assume the property of self-existence as belonging to matter, and thus to do away with the necessity of a Creator altogether, a conclusion at which it might be safely affirmed, that no ordinarily constituted man can arrive, who reasons upon the indications of mind in the phenomena of nature, in the same way as he does in regard to the creation of human art. What will be "The Cell Doctrine" at the expiration of another thousand years it is impossible to say, though we are afraid it will prove to be a second Tower of Babel to the "Students of Force and Life" as they find them. IN MEMORIAM. MARSHALL H. WEBB, D.D.S. AT a meeting of the Odontological Society of Pennsylvania, held January 6, 1883, the following was adopted as a tribute to the memory of a late fellow member: "We desire to express, as far as words can, our deep sorrow for the death of MARSHALL B. WEBB, D. D. S, and our recognition that with him we have lost not only a most worthy member but a sympathizing friend. With deep regret we realize that we shall never again listen to his gentle voice nor feel the force of his personal magnetism. "Death never enters into any family, a group of friends, or an association of any kind, but it trails a shadow to darken some life, to sadden some heart and render obscure the pathway of the future. "In the death of our colleague and friend we recognize the full force of this, for he not only leaves a sorrowing family but his departure involves a large circle which has felt his influence, and will continue to feel it far into the future. He "Dr. Webb was no ordinary man. was essentially a leader, not in the sense of arrogant assumption; but as one who took his place through earnest toil, unselfish devotion and conscientious ambition. He labored that others might grow. He mined that the professional fires might burn all the more brilliantly and though his day was short, every hour was full, and the record thereof may be filed away in the hearts of his friends with the indorsement, 'Well done, good and faithful servant.' "The hour of death is not the hour for critical judgment. Dr. Webb's work belongs to his profession. The ideal that he labored for was his ever constant inspiration. To accomplish it no sacrifice was too great, no labor too exhausting. No life can be valueless that aims at excellence; but how much more worthy of emulation is the harvest when gathered with the golden grain ripened to perfection? In his special work our friend reached an acme of skil! beyond which he had no superiors. Perhaps he may not have always worked wisely; it may be that his unswerving devotion to his ideal brought him to suffering and death; but if so, he leaves a monument in his example that will be an honor to his name and a glory to his profession. "We wait, watch and linger by our dead. Their memory hallows our lives, their deeds are graven on sorrowing hearts but as we linger, the funeral knell reminds us again that change is the law of the universe and that, in the translation of another we inherit the work of a life, which should be an ever present incentive abiding with us forever. "Resolved: That a copy of the foregoing be transmitted to the family of the deceased with the assurances of our deep sympathy with them in their affliction, and also forwarded to the dental journals for publication." -AT the Annual Meeting of the Alumni Association of the Philadelphia Dental College, February 28th, 1883, the following officers were elected for the ensuing year : L. Ashley Faught, D. D. S., Philadelphia, President. B. C. Cornwell, D. D. S., New York, 1st Vice President. Henry Herbert Edwards, D. D. S, France, 2d Vice President. W. A. Breen, D.D.S., Philad'a, Treasurer. Joseph R. C.Ward, D.D.S., Philadelphia, Secretary. Executive Committee,-Drs. Eisenbrey, Graves, and Pike, of Philadelphia. Several interesting papers were read, one of which is published in our present issue. Others will follow in succeeding numbers. In the evening the members of the Association enjoyed the Annual Banquet at St. Georges' Hall, where short and appropriate speaches were made by Dr. C. E. Francis, of New York; Drs. Tees, Faught, Eisenbrey, Dickey, and Ward, of Philadelphia, and by Dr. Horn, of Switzerland. The prevailing opinion seemed to be that this was one of the most enjoyable re-unions in the history of the Association. -BEING desirous that the DENTAL PRACTITIONER shall become a popular medium for the interchange of views, and different methods of practice among members of the profession, we hope our readers will not forget that its pages are open for such communications as will prove of general interest, and that they will find time during their leisure moments to jot down any particular line of practice in special or general cases, which they find more satisfactory than others, for the benefit of their fellow readers. We are aware that the majority of dentists are not what might be termed great writers, but very many of them could, if they would, communicate some We sincerely hope measures may be taken to accomplish this most desirable result, and give us a common language upon this point which all may understand. "In pursuing microscopical investigations similar to those of which Dr. Miller has so successfully given us the results, great advantage would be gained if we could have a uniform nomenclature. Leptothrix hairs or threads are so throughly understood in their appearance, habitat, development, etc., that probably no better term could be suggested than leptothrix buccalis' slender hairs in the mouth. The terms adopted by Dr. Miller for the products which he calls bacilli and micrococci-may be very appropriate, yet his illustrations of these organisms resemble so nearly the vibrio of previous experiments that it is certainly very hard to distinguish between them, and unless it can be shown that their origin, location, pabulum, and movements materially differ, "vibros" would be the better term, though I am aware that the doctor makes a distinction between them. Dental bacteria, denticola, torula, protococcus dentalis, cryptococcus cerevisiæ are all terms which have been used. The latter means a cell or capsule; torula means a succession of cells united like a chain. The last three terms, together with the sprosspilz of Dr. Miller, are all evidently intended to allude to the organisms multiplying by gemmnation or budding, and by fermentation making solutions of organic matter acid which were previously saccharine, alkaline, or neutral. Torula or dental totrla would certainly be an appropriate term to represent this organism. Denticola and dental bacteria have evidently been used to represent the round and half-round shapes found in putrefactions. Dental bacteria would probably represent these. When we come down to the borders of inorganic matter, to the beginnings of life, as it were, and with a lens representing a power of one thousand or fifteen hundred linear diameters, and an area the square of that, and these atoms possessing a constant vibrating, quivering motion, it seems almost bordering on the imaginative to attempt to differentiate these cells and distinguish between them and the disorganized and decomposing tooth-tissue surrounding them. Especially is this the case when we recognize how difficult it is to define the shape of vibrating matter when it is viewed with a lens which from its exalted power necessarily cuts off so large a proportion of the light." -A CORRESPONDENT of the Medical News sends that journal the following communication, which, to a certain extent, corroborates the statements we made in a previous issue cencerning the lack of information among physicians with regard to diseased conditions of the teeth and their treatment: To the Editor of THE MEDICAL NEWS. "SIR: Feeling it to be the duty as well as the privilege of every physician to make known to the profession the utility of any agent which he may have found beneficial in relieving pain or curing disease, I send you my experience in relation to carbolic acid as a remedy for toothache arising from caries. About three months since I was distracted with toothache for about twenty hours, during which time I tried all the known remedies, but in vain. At last it occurred to me to try pure carbolic acid, and although at first I felt a little diffident, having never heard of its use in this way before, I applied it, and, to my great relief and agreeable surprise, the pain ceased instantly, and did not return. Having to deal with a large number of the poor in my dispensary practice, I have rejoiced in being able to afford similar relief to many sufferers. One poor woman, in an advanced state of pregnancy, had not enjoyed a night's rest for nearly two months; but after a little patient application I was able to send her away rejoicing, and I have not heard of the tooth troubling her again. Desiring that others may share in the luxury of doing good in this way, as well as receiving relief, I append the modus operandi adopted. 1st. Clean out and dry, by means of absorbent cotton, the cavity of the tooth. 2d. Apply the acid thoroughly in the following manner: Take a piece of wood, according to the size of the cavity (a toothpick or a match will do), and dip the end into carbolic acid-full strength; should the hole be very large, a very small portion of cotton may be twisted around the end of the piece of wood. Care is required not to touch the surrounding tissues. It is scarcely needful to add that the acid crystals only need to be warmed to render them soluble. The foregoing applies especially to odontalgia cariosa, and to odontitis; but it will also prove serviceable where the fangs of the tooth are affected, especially if they are accessibly exposed. I am, dear sir, Yours respectfully, Med. Sup't. N. Y. Medical Mission." We congratulate the doctor upon his discovery, and commend the spirit which prompted him to give his brother practitioners the benefit of it. Considering the fact that Carbolic Acid was discovered nearly a half a century ago, and that for at least forty years it has occupied a conspicuous place in the dental materia medica, being also mentioned in the United States Dispensatory in this connection, it is a little singular that he has “never heard of its use in this way before." Nevertheless, he has stumbled upon a really good thing, and we hope he may often have occasion to rejoice in being able to afford relief by its use. We fear, however, he will not derive much satisfaction from its application to "fangs" (?) unless it is used for its antiseptic and disinfecting properties. "ABOUT IMPRESSIONS" AND OTHER THINGS. BY DR. L. P. HASKELL. THERE is so much written and taught in dental journals and colleges, or some of them, of methods in metal work that ought long since to have become obsolete, that I feel impelled to write a few thoughts that may be helpful, for the benefit of the younger members of the profession, and those who are about to commence practice, and who so often become discouraged at the drawbacks they meet with in consequence of the annoying and uncertain methods in which they have been instructed, that they prefer to stick to "rubber" work. Fine-spun theories about the shrinkage and expansion of plaster are well enough to talk about, but when offset with successful results in a 37 years' practice, confined to the mechanical department, in which such theories have been entirely ignored, they are of little account. To say that plaster will not make a sharper impression than wax or modeling compound, is arrant nonsense; and to compel a student in college to spend weeks of valuable time in learning to take wax impressions (and I have known some such, who, after graduating, could not take a plaster impression successfully!) is an imposition that ought not to be tolerated. After the impression, the next move is preparing the model or cast for moulding. Here again come in nonsensical theories about the use of shellac and oil in filling the impression, etc. Thin shellac strikes in to the plaster, and does not make an increase of thickness on the surface that is of any account whatever, while it is of value in separating the impression and cast, so as to see plainly what is one or the other. The thin coat of oil is equally unobjectionable. In dispensing with defined air chambers, which are superfluous, the plate should be raised over the hard palate, slightly. There are two methods of doing this one is to scrape the impression, and the other to raise with a thin film of wax the plaster cast. I have heard of a professor in a dental college instructing his pupils to take a piece of lead and lay it upon the die, and swage the plate over it! The method ought to be patented. Scrape the rear of the cast slightly between coronoid process and near to the centre. from where the edge of plate would come, forward of an inch. Make the cast flaring all around, so that it may drop from the mold readily, bearing in mind that the cast will deliver itself from the mold if thus flared with less tearing away than can possibly be done by lifting it out. If the case is badly undercut, make a "core," thereby avoiding, in a simple way, the necessity of using the so-called Hawes' Flask. After the cast is shellaced, oil the portion that is undercut, and spread on a thin coat of plaster and asbestos, say inch at the base and so to a thin edge at top of cast. This must be thoroughly dried, no matter how rapidly; then putting in place on the cast, mold, and as it drops out with the cast replace it in mold, and pour the metal. For dental dies there is but one metal that fulfills all the requirements—which are non-shrinkage, hardness, toughness, smoothness-and melting at a low temperature, and that is Babbitt metal. But, remember, that all sold by that name is not fit for the dentist's use, because it is made for another purpose and is not needed so hard. To insure the proper article, make it as follows: 1 part copper, 2 parts antimony, 8 parts tin. Melt in a crucible, in a forge, in the order named. As soon as the tin is put in turn off into ingots and re-melt. For the the counter die use lead, with 1-6 to 1-8 tin added to reduce the melting temperature, and also harden somewhat the lead. Coat the die with whiting and don't turn the lead too hot. If your Babbitt metal is thick and does not flow readily, add more Thirty year's use of this metal, after using zinc, tin, etc., has demonstrated it to be at once simple, expeditious and reliable, every time. tin. Sand moistened with olive oil is of great advantage in that, it is always ready for use, not needing to be renewed for weeks or months. The odor from it is not to be compared with that of vulcanizing of rubber. In view of such results, it is a pity that students should be compelled to devote so |