either crude form, at Albany, and I used them for several years in that imperfect state. Since then I have varied the form somewhat, and have experimented with different shapes until I have settled down upon the form of separation which I now exhibit as being the best I have been able to make. By applying them to the teeth to be separated and gently turning the screw, little by little, as the patient can bear it, space enough can be secured between the approximal surfaces of almost any teeth to enable the operator to make full contour fillings, and finish them with ordinary emerycloth strips; so that, when the separator has been removed, the teeth will come back to their natural position, leaving no space for the lodgment of food. There is another clear gain during the operation itself, and that is that, after the separator is applied and the screw tightened for the purpose of obtaining space, the teeth are so firmly held that there is some little obtunding of sensibility in operating upon them, especially with the mallet; the teeth are so steadied that there is no doubt the whole operation is more endurable than it would be if they had no such support. That is a sufficient advantage, if there were no other, to encourage the use of the separator.

It is a difficult thing to so shape a single separator that it shall be universal and adapted to all teeth, because teeth vary so much; but I have found, after making many experiments, that a set of four different sizes will meet all ordinary requirements and apply easily to most of the teeth we need to separate. If the attempt is made to make a universal one, instead of a set of three or four adapted to the different teeth, there is a certain gain in adaptability, but there is a loss of steadiness and power; for if the separator is made large enough for teeth of any size, the circle is so large, the screw must be placed so far back that there is a great loss of power when it is applied to the smaller teeth, and there is more or less danger of the jaw slipping up or down, against, or away from the gum. They will hold until the screw is tightened, and then suddenly turn, causing the patient considerable pain. That objection is overcome by having different sizes adapted to the different teeth to be operated upon. I have therefore held to the first form that I worked out, simply adapting the separator to the particular teeth they are intended to move. First, I have a set for separating molars which are made large enough to cover the largest teeth we $$p liable to meet, yet the jaws are so small that they will not slip off the smallest molar, and they will therefore cover every c$$e. JJJtiese separators will give you access to cavities on both approxiw§l furfeces, and they will generally gain space enough without jxm* vipus wedging to enable you to properly finish fa* fillings, ^h$W are reversible, the screw being changed in a moment, making it possible to adjust them to the outside or the inside; and, as molars are so uniform in shape, they are applicable to either side of the mouth. The dipping down of the shank of the instrument has a purpose. One reason is to get it out of the way, and another is that the screw shall stand directly in line with the two bearings. If the screw is placed above that line there is a teetering tendency. By dipping the shank down in this way the screw is brought into a direct line with the two points of bearing, and thereby the tendency to teeter is nearly done away with. The pair designed for the* molars is nearly as applicable to the lower as to the upper teeth, and will adapt itself to the inside as well as to the outside of the mouth. The reason for making the, shank short is that it may be placed very far back in the mouth without having the cheek interfere with it when placed outside, or the tongue when it is adjusted inside. The next one I have devised is arranged for the first molar and the bicuspid, one jaw of the instrument being large and the other smaller. It is applicable to the teeth on either side, and is almost a universal clamp for bicuspids and molars. Then, for bicuspids, I have a single one, so arranged as to fit the largest or the smallest, and intended to be used with the shank of the instrument on the outside or the inside, as may seem best. This is readily applicable to the bicuspids of the upper jaw, but not so readily to those of the lower jaw, because they are smaller teeth,—particularly the first bicuspid.

For front teeth, here is a sort of universal separator, made on the same general plan, and with the same care given to the matter of getting the points of bearing in line with the screw, but having a larger bow, so that it is adapted to any of the front teeth, no matter how long they may be. The points of the jaws are brought near together, so that the opening shall be short enough to permit clasping the lower incisors, and yet far enough apart to be slipped over the upper incisors. They will slip over any of the incisors, as a central and a lateral, a lateral and a cuspid, and almost invariably the first bicuspid and cuspid also. In the last-named case it is, perhaps, a little more difficult than in the others. The separators cannot always be applied to mal-positioned or irregular teeth with any degree of certainty. This one, with the jaws coming close together for use on the incisors, having a larger circle, can be applied also to the lower bicuspids, because where the first bicuspid is small the points of the jaws are so near together that they will not slip off, so that, if the one designed for the upper bicuspids fails, sucec|Sj3 may be obtained with this.

After a good deal of experimenting, and six or seven years' daily use of these separators, I think I may safely say that with some one of that set of four instruments I can separate almost any of the teeth, somewhat at least, and without previous wedging. I do not undertake to separate them, however, in every case at once with these instruments. I think it is very well to put in a piece of tape, and allow it to remain for a day or two, by which means you get a little space, and then with one of these instruments you easily get the space necessary for your operation. In all cavities that come down to the grinding surface the amount of space gained by the use of this instrument gives you room enough for a thin-bladed trimming instrument and corundum-tape or emery-tape to pass through,—and that is about all you need. The S. S. White Dental Manufacturing Co. has the patterns of these separators, and will, I believe, soon be prepared to make them. A few pairs were made by Johnston Bros, some years ago, but without submitting them to me, and as I had no opportunity of seeing or criticising them before they were put out, they were very improperly made; there was no attempt at accuracy in their manufacture, and, because they were used at that time by some gentlemen without much success, the manufacture of them was discontinued. These I have here were made under my own supervision, and they have always been very useful. The bow is made stronger, so that the tendency to tip aside is obviated. The feeling on the part of the patient is at first one of dislike usually, but after the separator is on three or four minutes that feeling subsides, and is followed by one of decided comfort. The instrument gives a feeling of firmness to the teeth, and the pain attending the operation of filling is considerably lessened. The firmness of the teeth makes the blows of the electric or of the Bon will mechanical mallet more endurable. Of course, when the separator is adjusted it makes a perfect rubber-dam clamp.

Dr. A. H. Brockway. I am very glad to see these instrument* brought before us. I have for several years used the form of separator devised by Dr. Perry, and spoken of by him; and, notwithstanding its faulty construction in the weakness of the bow, I have got a great deal of satisfaction from it. I am glad that the idea of making a universal separator has been abandoned in favor of a set of four. The objection to a universal instrument of that kind lies in the fact that many of the advantages of the separator are sacrificed to the universality of its application. I find that fault in the one which I have.

You may remember, Mr. President, that at the time Dr. Fillebrown read his paper on the subject of cohesive gold I spoke of the advantage of wooden handles for plugging instruments, excavators, and scalers. I have had some in use for several years, and this summer I had a few more made. I have brought some of the pluggers here for the purpose of showing them to any gentleman who may desire to look at them. I am satisfied that no one can use instruments with wooden handles without being convinced of their great advantage over the ordinary metal handles. There is a softness and lightness about them that is very agreeable. You can also have sufficient bulk in the handle to be easily grasped, without the instrument possessing an inconvenient and disagreeable weight; and one will find that he can use them without feeling the degree of fatigue that steel-handled instruments produce. Wooden-handled pluggers have sometimes been objected to, on the ground that they did not admit of malleting. That is an entirely erroneous idea. I use them indifferently in mallet-work and hand-pressure, and find them thoroughly satisfactory in both cases.

Dr. Perry. With reference to these wood handles, there is no question in my mind but that they are superior to any steel-handled instrument for malleting. As the inertia of the instrument used must be overcome by the force applied, of course the heavier the instrument is the more the resistance, and the lighter the instrument the gentler the blow required. I am convinced that, if the electric mallet were furnished with wooden instruments, having delicate steel points, so that the force to be overcome would be at its minimum, the sensation produced by the blow would be reduced to its lowest terms. I think that if you would try wood-handled instruments for malleting you would be convinced, as I am, that they are the best instruments for mallet use that we have, to say nothing of their delightful feeling in the hand.

Dr. John B. Eich. As I left my office this evening it occurred to me that a little device that has been of very great service to me might be of use to others, and I brought it with me. It is for blowing chips out of a cavity. That is generally done with an instrument composed of a simple bulb, with a tube at one end and a valve at "the other. In this form, the valve will not always work when the bulb is held in a horizontal position; but, by removing the valve and attaching a piece of rubber tubing about a foot long to the end where the valve was, and then attaching the valve to the end of the tube, which will always hang perpendicularly, the valve will fall into its seat and always stop when the bulb is compressed. This addition and change can be made by anyone in a few minutes. I have found the device a great convenience.

Dr. N. W. Kingsley. What is the objection to plugging up the back end entirely, and not having any valve there at all?

Dr. Eich. It depends upon how rapidly you want to fill it.

Dr. Kingsley. I can fill it fast enough without any valve.

Dr, Rich. Xou aiwioot fiU it m fast as you can when there is a lfirge valve at the ingress end to let the bulb fiUquickly.

Dr. Kingslpy. With all due deference to Dr. Kieh, I do not see anj use in having the little valve on the end of it.

Dr. Rich, I do not think I would like to follow the plan of Dr. Kingslejj if I wanted a very small blowing orifice.

Pr« Kingsley. I have made a dozen of those things in my laboratory with my own hands. I bought one or two of those bulbs that I suppose are made for syringes, and after that I used a toy rubber ball, of the smallest size, for a bellows} and I found that with that, and without a valve, I obtained all the results I could get Tpth that kind of an arrangement with a valve. I made the blow-hole just the size that I found most useful.

Dr. W. H. Dwinelle. Perhaps most of you will recollect that some time last winter I gave a little exposition before our society of some experiments I was then making with morphine combined with atropine, for the purpose of quieting very nervous patients when they were having long and unpleasant operations performed. I use the morphine for its anodyne qualities, and the atropine for the purpose of overcoming the objectionable qualities of the morphine, and for the further purpose of checking the flow of saliva. We all know that one of the specific effects of atropine is that it dries up the secretions of the glandular system, and seems to suspend its action to a large degree. Persons who are afflicted with an exhausting flow of perspiration during illness are given atropine, which has a tendency to arrest that flow to an astonishing degree. On the occasion to which I refer I said that with patients of this nervous character or quality it was almost impossible to operate upon them at all in their normal condition. And I think I used for illustration the figure that it was like shooting a bird on the wing to hit the cavity at all,—one had to calculate the chances. I gave some illustrations of operations performed after administering this anodyne, wherein the very worst patients of this nervous character were brought entirely under control, and I had no difficulty whatever in performing long, tedious, and ordinarily painful operations. I have been experimenting since that time, and have been in correspondence with a large number of the members of our profession throughout the United States, and have had the benefit of their experience and their further experiments in this direction, and tl*e reports that have come to me have invariably been favorable n,nd most gratifying. I t$4 a letter yesterday from a dentist in Nashville, who told me he had, seeing what I had said and publifthf41# the Dental Cosmos, commenced to use this compound. It had been of the greater ad^natage to Mm In his practice, and \m W§t# faot