not make as rapid a recovery as he expected, who frets and worries because an occasional failure provokes caustic criticism, needs first of all to cultivate the philosophy of patient endurance. In all departments of active life, men who expect to succeed must learn to "endure hardness." The most sensitive must train themselves by resolute effort, to get all the good possible out of their mistakes, and then to throw them aside on the rubbish heap. Some men cherish ideas so lofty, that the first symptoms of failure are sufficient to reduce them to the depths of despair. Every trifling obstacle assumes in their eyes mountainous proportions, and their first impulse is to fly from their besetting perplexities and annoyances, and venture into other more inviting fields. In nine cases out of ten the man needs encouragement to face himself, to earnestly, candidly, set about to discover what are his own natural deficiencies, and then to resolutely begin the work of strengthening the weak places in his own character. "What a man is in one profession he would be in another," says Dr. Matthews. Energy, pluck, endurance, these are inherent qualities of the man, not faculties born in him after he has adopted a profession.

It is an easy matter for any one to conclude that he is a "square peg imperfectly fitted into a round hole." But he who has successfully mastered the theory of a profession, who has found its study congenial to his tastes, should be slow to believe that he has made a mistake simply because he meets with difficulties at the outset of his actual experience in applying his knowledge. Many a successful professional man owes his success to the fact that he was not able at the outset to escape the pressure of circumstances that forced him, a "round peg, into a square hole." The very difficulty of achieving success is what makes professional aspirations worth the entertaining, is what raises the resolute, persistent tyro to the plane of the accomplished master, removes him beyond the reach of competition, and secures to him the rewards which the weak and unstable covet in vain. How many who have attained the heights of success look with complacency back over a rugged pathway marked with bloodstained footprints, and discover that despite their faintings by the way, they have acquired strength in the act of climbing, and are not only able to proceed upward and onward to loftier heights, but have strength to help those struggling below them. How difficult-almost impossible-to the dentist, were once the operations he now performs with ease and precision.

But we have not yet really approached the object we had in view when we took up our pen, which was "to lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees," by briefly sketching the advantages of the dentist over men in other callings. We hardly

know where to begin.

First of all, the dentist is eminently an independent man, he works when he is well and rests when he is ill. He usually gets leisurely to work in the morning, and stops at a seasonable hour in tbe evening. He finds abundant time for recreation, study, reflection and social intercourse. If he is not well paid for his services, it is usually his own fault. He is able to command a social position from which many men are, by the nature of their occupations, and the not always just discriminations of society, debarred. He draws inspiration while at his labors, from the reflection that he is in a positive sense, and to a far greater degree than many others who work harder than he does, a benefactor to his fellows in the community. The druggist's clerk, the druggist himself, the president of the bank-any one or all of these individuals might remove to a distant field of operation, and the chances are their places would be filled without serious detriment to the interest of the community. But not so, certainly, would this be expected to follow were the really competent dentist to go away. To say the least, it is safe to conjecture that curiosity as to the ability of a possible successor would occupy the minds of many, who would give no special thought to the departure of the others named. The accomplished dentist shares with the successful physician and the popular minister, in many communities, the distinction of being thought to be incomparable. He may perhaps hold his position

by a somewhat different tenure, like that something alluded to in the conundrum, which nobody wants, bnt having once got, would on no account part with, -a bald head.

It is pleasant for the dentist to feel, when he is not otherwise engaged, that he is at liberty to read, write, play a game of chess, go out for a walk, take a nap, or do any one of the thousand and one things which a clerk, under the vigilant eye of his employer, does not feel free to do; which, indeed, the employer, bound by the necessity of setting his employees an example of industry, does not usually feel free to do. Many who have been clerks or employees, know how to appreciate this advantage which they as dentists enjoy. It is a privilege to be able to command sunlight and air in your offices, both of which are denied to thousands upon

thousands who spend their waking hours in stores. It is a blessed privilege to be able to dismiss work with the declining sun, to feel free from care and responsibility the moment you leave your of fice, which the physician and even the lawyer, oftentimes, can not enjoy.

Then despite the talk about competition in prices, which engages so much of the attention and excites so much apprehension in the minds of some men of our profession, it is susceptible of demonstration that in all the professions the individual has it in his power to disarm competition, to rise superior to it, to an extent that cannot possibly obtain in the world of mercantile affairs. A merchant may be positively obnoxious to his fellow citizens in a community, and yet the moment he offers goods on the market a trifle lower than the prevailing prices, he is fairly certain to find plenty of purchasers. People will contrive to get his wares despite their dislike for the man personally. And they will more than likely let a personal friend in the same line of business go into bankruptcy, if he fails to reduce his prices. But the dentist owes the favors he receives in the shape of patronage to considerations more strictly of a personal nature. If he is a good dentist and a gentleman as well, he will always have the advantage over a competitor who is a good dentist but not a gentleman, or over another who is a gentleman but not a good dentist, and especially over the third, who is neither a good dentist nor a gentleman.

The argument we have used may be turned around and made to work t'other end foremost. The dentist who is too mean or too deficient in skill to attract patronage by lowering his prices, may find it to his advantage to retire from the profession and try his luck by using the same policy in the line of trade. That would make room for a first class man, and herein we discover another advantage the professional man enjoys which we forgot to mention in its place.

It has been asserted the practice of dentistry is inimical to health. We may any of us look around and see men on all sides following occupations more laborous, more confining, and far more wearing and exhausting than ours. Editors, book-keepers, teachers, lawyers, doctors, druggists, bank clerks, and hosts of others, work as hard or harder, and often fare worse than the dentist. The dentist may have plenty of pure air and light, if he will attend to the matter; he may find time to walk, row, sail, ride, drive, and in other ways get all the exercise he requires, if he only will.

From personal experience the writer is able to testify that bookkeeping, school teaching, and newspaper work are any one of them harder than working at a dentist's chair six or eight hours a day. How many dentists average even six hours a day, month in and month out, at the chair?

Nothing is

The busy dentist's mind is healthily occupied. more irksome than to sit behind a desk in a counting room with nothing to do, denied the privilege of reading, and watching with impatience the slowly creeping hands of the clock. Then, again, the hard worked clerk behind desk or counter misses the incentive to labor, which makes the dentist rejoice in the multiplying of engagements. Whether he does little or much, the clerk works for a stipulated weekly or monthly allowance, and has nothing beyond the necessities of the occasion to stimulate and uplift him, unless we add to this the call of duty. He has, perhaps, the indefinite prospect of promotion for faithful services, but in this day employees seem to be more than ever mere implements in the hands of employers. Let not the young dentist then repine. He has his trials, so have others. He has many advantages which he should consider well and learn to appreciate. It is a matter of surprise to experienced practitioners how the back becomes fitted to the burden. The beginner perhaps tires after an operation consuming two hours of time, which would leave an older operator fresh and ready for the next case that offered.

The extract from the sayings of Sidney Smith, at the head of this article must not be construed so as to exclude the equally significant truth tnat many men, Americans especially, are endowed by nature with a versatility of talent such as enables them to successfully master more than one calling. The practical consideration often presents itself to thoughtful men that what they prefer above all other things to do is not always the best thing for them to do. There are judges on the bench, no doubt, whose secret preferences for literary work, or for some artistic pursuit, would, perhaps, even induce them to abandon their positions of honor and preferment were it possible to expect to achieve a practical success and provide for their necessities, in the pursuit of that which they relish with a keener zest. It is a common failing of young men especially, to foster a false pride in accomplishments which as mere means for recreation, ought to be resolutely thrust back, when the serious question of making a living is forced upon them. He who recoils from anything that may possibly fret and

annoy at times, needs not so much to change his occupation, as to go back and remedy defects in his primary education.

WHO TOLD You So?-The young man who conducts the "Salmagundi" department of the "Dental Register," makes the bold assertion that his was the only accurate report of the discussions of the late meeting of the Ohio State Dental Society, and says our report was full of blunders, etc.

This reminds us of one of Don Piatt's war stories:

"Is Michael O'Brien in the ranks?" shouted the commander of the Finnegan Guards.

"Here, Gin'ral," answered Michael, stepping forward. "Then let the fighting begin," ordered the General.

This is the true version of the story from Michael's own lips.

THE discovery of nitrous oxide gas was made by Sir Humphrey Davy, about the year 1800. He first suggested its use for minor surgical operations. It was first used for extracting teeth by Dr. Horace Wells, a dentist of Hartford, Ct., who got the idea from seeing the gas administered, for the amusement of an audience, by a travelling lecturer. His claim as the originator of its use for this purpose was contested by at least two of his contemporaries.

MERCURIAL POISONING.-The practice of preparing amalgam for fillings by working the compound in the palm of the hand is sometimes productive of mischief. A few hours after having thus prepared a large amalgam filling, a friend of ours was affected by a soreness and intolerable itching in the palm of the left hand. This continued for a day or two, and was followed by the fingers swelling one after another. His physician at first pronounced it a case of frog felon, but later decided as to the real nature of the trouble. After subsiding the trouble recurred upon a repetition of the exciting cause.

THE rubber dam has been successfully applied to teeth in both jaws, at one and the same time. The hint may be useful to the dentist who studies to economize time. The filling of a superior tooth may be going on while cement is setting in a tooth in the lower jaw, or while wedging to gain space, or while pressing back an obtruding gum, etc,