vical portion of these cavities with guttapercha, just as Dr. Smith describes the use of tin and amalgam, filling with gold or amalgam, according to the strength of the tooth. We now wish to refer again to Prof. Smith's admission of the superiority of guttapercha over the substances he employs. He says, "it is the best preserver of such cavities at the cervical margin, that we know, but it will scarcely endure the wear of mastication for weeks." Why not then employ it instead of tin and amalgam, and protect it from the wear of mastication, by making the grinding surface portion of gold where the strength of the tooth will admit, or of amalgam where, from, the frailty of the walls of the cavity, it is deemed imprudent to attempt gold. We have in our own mouth teeth so filled that are giving the greatest satisfaction, bicuspids that are carrying their fourth fillings, in cavities that have gone, by recurring decay, dangerously near to the pulp, and far down on the neck of the teeth below the gums. That a good preparation of guttapercha is better than gold for all deep and sensitive cavities on the buccal and lingual sides of the teeth, or in any situation, the location of which is calculated to protect it from the friction of mastication, no one who has had experience in its use will deny. Its great superiority is in its nonconducting quality, but its ability to resist the action of chemical agents also places it at the head of the entire list of substances employed for plastic fillings. That it will not endure many weeks in cavities with grinding surface exposures, unless protected at such exposures, is equally true, but that we have the means at hand, in gold and amalgam, of providing such protection, and that without calling forth more skill than the average operator ought to furnish, is true. It is a much easier matter to finish these guttapercha fillings with gold than would, before trying, be supposed. Let us imagine two cavities

between the bicuspids or molars, adjacent cavities, excavated ready to be filled. Our rubber dam has been adjusted, and we have wiped out with creosote and found the pulp not quite but almost exposed. We have stood over such a case, hesitating what material to use. We don't hesitate now, but have our Hill's stopping, Caulk's diamond points, or some other good preparation of guttapercha, already warm and softened by steam-heat, on a porcelain slab. Clipping off a little square of steel from the handle of a broken separating file, we place it between the teeth, thus extemporising a matrix to prevent the adhesion and coalition of the two fillings.

We now proceed to pack the guttapercha, forcing it well into the retaining grooves, until we have passed the pulp line in both teeth. Now, if there are frail edges to the remaining portions of these cavities, we would protect them by placing against them little cylinders of Abbey's non-cohesive gold, allowing the ends of the cylinders to stand well out against our matrix, so as to admit of burnishing down on the edge in finishing. It is easy to start the cohesive gold by simply pricking it into the guttapercha with a hand plugger. Forcing it well against the walls of the tooth soon gives a nice foundation upon which to weld the gold protection plug.

We have come to like the hand pressure plugger so well for distal cavities, especially in lower teeth, that we care very little for the aid of the mallet in such cases, but the secret of making dense fillings is in the use of small points. Let us relate a case. On Saturday last, a Philadelphia drummer came to us with toothache in the two upper superior right bicuspids, said, "he supposed he'd better have them out."

Examination showed extensive decay upon their approximate surfaces, communicating with cavities upon the buccal surface, round the necks of the teeth, from which the gums had greatly receded.

There being very little pain upon tapping, we unhesitatingly pronounced the teeth amenable to treatment, and after excavating found slight exposure of the pulp of the first bicuspid. This had evidently been the aching tooth. Applying creosote to both teeth, we permitted it to remain whilst we made ready our filling materials. The rubber-dam adjusted, we proceeded to cover the exposed pulp with a little paste of creosote and oxide of zinc, then we filled the cavities with Hill's stopping, beginning with the buccal portions until well past the pulp line, finishing at the grinding surface with amalgam. One of the members of this society chanced to be in my office this afternoon, when the patient called to have the fillings polished, and we had the gratification to learn from him, whilst exhibiting the case to our dental friend, that the teeth had only ached a little immediately after the insertion of the fillings-had been perfectly comfortable ever since. The point that gives me most confidence in the ultimate success of this case, is that simple paste of creosote and oxide of zinc over the pulp, not being followed by the oxychloride or the oxyphosphate, which have proven in the writer's hands alike inimical to the health and life of pulp-tissue. — Dental Headlight.

TO REPAIR SLIPPING DISKS.-Users of the sand-paper or other disks, mounted on the ordinary screw mandrel, are doubtless troubled at times to prevent their slipping. The slipping is a result either of the wear or careless make of the mandrel, the center of the screw head coming to a bearing first instead of the periphery. To remedy, take a sharp chisel and, while the mandrel is revolving-without the screw head-pare down the center so that the end will be somewhat dishing. See that the screw will turn quite in and freely, without the disk, and there will be no further trouble, at least, till the operation needs repeating.

PREMATURE DENTITION.

D. A. Hengst, M. D., of Pittsburg, Pa., writes to the Medical and Surgical Reporter, as follows:

A few days since, while making a friendly visit to a patient I attended in confinement five weeks ago, I asked her how her baby was doing. She remarked, "Very well, indeed; it has two teeth."

Upon examination of the mouth I found the two lower central incisiors perfect and well formed. The mother stated that she first noticed the teeth on the ninth day after her confinement. As she did not

have occasion to examine the child's mouth before that time, it may have been born with the teeth; at any rate, the teeth were there when it was nine days old. The child is a female, well developed, of medium size, and apparently in good health. *

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I have frequently observed the size of the fontanelles in these cases of abnormal dentition. In this instance, both fontanelles were well closed.

In a case of retarded dentition seen by me some time ago, (the patient, a boy, twenty-six months of age), the two upper and two lower central incisors only had appeared, and both fontanelles were as large as they usually are at birth.

The boy was of a nervous temperament, ordinary size, and not of scrofulous disposition. I attended this boy during several attacks of sympathetic convulsions, which attacks, the mother informed me, he has had three or four times during the past six months. The gums were in a normal condition, and the convulsions did not seem to be caused by the delayed dentition.

What relationship there can be between dentition and the state of the fontanelles, I cannot see, unless by some means or other it be a too rapid or too slow formation of phosphatic matter in the system.

COLD WATER FOR THE SICK.-An M. D. of authority says: "It is very doubtful if there is a single possible disease in which the patient should not have cold water ad libitum. Oh, how babes have suffered for want of cold water! A nurs

ing babe is given, no matter how thirsty, nothing but milk. The little lips are dry and cracked, and the little tongue so parched it can scarcely nurse, and yet it has nothing but milk to assuage its craving thirst. Try it yourself, mother, when you have a fever, and we are sure that ever after, when your darling is dying with thirst, the teaspoon and tumbler of cold water will be in constant use."

CLEANING POLISHED BRASS.-Get some tripoli, such as comes in lumps; powder it up fine, and use with oil and a cloth or chamois skin, and then use some more of the powder dry, with another piece of

Published by

Edited by CHAS. E. PIKE, D.D.S.

THE COLLEGE EXPERIENCE OF SILAS DEAN.

My father is a country grocer, who manages, by strict economy, to support a large family, of which I am the eldest.

Up to the age of seventeen I attended the village school, when my father, thinking I had acquired sufficient education, entered me as a student in the office of Dr. Gore, the celebrated dentist of our town, During my first year with Dr. Gore, my principal professional duties were to sweep and dust the office, clean the spittoons, wait upon the door and to watch the vulcanizer. This last, I had been told, was an essential part of a dentist's education. I was not allowed to take impressions, for fear that I might choke the patient, or to run them out, lest they should be spoiled. The idea of my operating was not to be entertained. He would not let me grind teeth, as I should be sure to ruin them, and I did not feel encouraged to attempt extraction by the ill success of my preceptor in that direction.

My first year having expired, I was promoted to the position of waxer of teeth and packer of flasks.

So much for my practical knowledge. My theoretical instruction was to be acquired at a dental college, for which I was now considered perfectly prepared. I had been very much attracted by the announcement of the Wetumpa Dental College, which informed me that the institution was now ready to receive students,

and offered them extraordinary advantages for acquiring a thorough dental education. Plenty of operating chairs, crowds of patients, the most expensive and best materials, a large and thoroughly equiped laboratory. These were all at my disposal. The student need only furnish his own tools and instruments.

I decided to go. The good-byes were said, and I started for Wetumpa. Upon arriving at the college, the first fact which forced itself upon me was that the building was not so roomy as the announcement had led me to suppose. After climbing a pair of stairs, which looked as though they needed a good scrubbing, I reached the laboratory, walked in and wandered around, soon making the acquaintance of a young man named Brown, who, though like myself, a firstcourse student, was better prepared in practical work. He was hunting for a chum, and as we were congenial, we decided to room together. He was a very good fellow, and we soon became much attached to each other. We worked at the same operating chair, and our laboratory benches were adjoining.

Brown advised me to do very little operating at the start, as he thought it better for me to begin by getting well grounded in the working of vulcanite. This I considered sensible advice.

demonstrators were busy attending to the urgent demands of many clamorous students, and paid no attention to my requests. "Well," thought I, "the prospectus announced that there were numerous competent demonstrators, always on hand to give to each student individual attention when required. It does not seem to me that two demonstrators of operative dentistry-one of them a secondcourse student-are sufficient to supply the wants of this college. There ought to be five or six at the very least, and where are the demonstrators of mechanical dentistry? As yet I have noticed none." Just as these by no means pleasant convictions had forced themselves upon my mind, I heard the well-known voice of Brown, calling for gold. Looking up, I saw him among a throng of students who were besieging the unfortunate assistant demonstrator.

Brown, finding that he could get no gold for at least ten minutes, sauntered over to me, and, after examining the mouth of my patient, inquired sympathetically, "Well, old man, what's the matter?" "Nothing," replied I, "only there is nobody to show me how to take this impression." "Oh, I can fix that in a very short time. Run down to my laboratory drawer and get my No. 2 impression cup; bring a bowl, a knife and some plaster, we will take it together." First I took one, then he took one, and so on. To avoid injustice, we agreed that the one who last used the bowl and cup should clean them for his successor. At last, after taking fourteen impressions, we got one which we considered perfect. Brown showed it to a gentleman who was strolling around the operating room, and returned, his face illuminated with joy. "Dr. Storley says that it is a good one." "Thank the Lord!" murmured our patient, in a stifled tone.

I paid no attention to this remark, but in as dignified a manner as possible, sent

"Well," thought I, "no clinical professor to help us, and the demonstrators too busy to give instruction! A fine opportunity we have for learning dentistry. Still there is one comfort; if we are allowed to make all possible failures, we shall learn by experience what to avoid.”

And, thus cogitating, I went to the laboratory to run out my model, leaving poor Brown still waiting for his gold. Going to the plaster box, I ran my mould with great care. Having waited fully an hour for it to set, I took off the impression. The chalk-like appearance and extreme softness of the plaster surprised me very much. I had not then learned that college plaster is notorious for its poor quality. Later, however, this fact became painfully apparent to me, while running down a celluloid case.

The old woman returned on the following day, and, after two hours' waiting, I was fortunate enough to persuade one of the demonstrators to assist me in taking the bite.

The patient departed, cheered by the prospect of having to come but once more to the college. The bite being run and placed upon the articulator, I went to pick out the teeth at the dental depot. A drawer full of the desired articles was set before me, and left for me to make my selection.

There I sat for two mortal hours in perfect ignorance what to choose. At last one of the salesmen took pity on me and coming up, said, "Shan't I help you,