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IN ABSENTIA," 
 
 BV 
 
 J. FOSTER FLAGG, D. D. 8., 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, PA. 
 
The New York Odontological Society held its regular meeting on 
 Tuesday evening, April loth, 1888, in the parlors of the New York 
 Academy- of Medicine, No. 13 West Thirty-first street. 
 
 The President, Dr. J. Morgan Howe, in the chair. 
 
 The President. We will now pass to the consideration of the subject 
 of the evening : — 
 
 "Metals and Other Materials for Filling Teeth." 
 
 This is intended to include a discussion of the subjects of gutta- 
 percha and amalgam, and especially the papers of Drs. Flagg and 
 Bonwill, which there was not time to discuss at their reading. As Dr. 
 Flagg's paper was the more recent and is fresher in our minds, we will 
 consider that and the subject of gutta-percha first. I will ask Dr. Payne 
 to favor us with what he has to say on the subject ot gutta-percha. 
 
 Dr. E. T. Payne. The address delivered at our last meeting by 
 Prof. Flagg would have been more profitable, it appears to me, if his 
 remarks had been formulated for a paper which could have been read 
 in forty minutes or one hour. Members could then have asked ques- 
 tions and brought out points which would have been instructive, and, 
 I am inclined to think, more profitable than the protracted talk. 
 
 After eliminating the cavities where the speaker said gutta-percha 
 was not indicated as a desirable filling for permanency, there can be 
 no controversy as to its being the most permanent and useful filling for 
 the class of cavities selected for its use. It confirms the judgment 
 of men of experience — nothing more. Prof. Flagg distinctly said he 
 did not want the material looked upon as a crutch to help us over diffi- 
 cult places, and spoke disparagingly of Dr. Atkinson, who had recom- 
 mended it in that relation. His teaching in respect to this point will 
 not be accepted by those practitioners who have kept sensitive, low- 
 toned teeth quiet and comfortable with gutta-percha until something 
 more permanent could be used. If young men do accept such teaching 
 they will deny themselves a great help to usefulness. 
 
 I heartily indorse all that was said about, using steam heat in pre- 
 paring the filling for the cavity, and the heating of instruments also. 
 Too much care cannot be taken in this matter. Heating any gutta- 
 percha stopping over the flame of a lamp is bad practice, and gene- 
 rally results in more or less injury to the filling. Dr. Hill once told 
 me he was convinced compax"atively few dentists used gutta-percha in 
 such a way as to obtain the best result. My experience induces me 
 to indorse what he said so many years ago. 
 
 Regarding the longevity of gutta-percha fillings, I want to say that 
 
undoiibtedlv it is true that in a few instances fillings made of gutta- 
 percha remained in teeth twenty years or more. Prof. Flagg left it a 
 fair inference that the same result would obtain now if the case was 
 favorable and a good quality of gutta-percha was properly used. The 
 inference is misleading and untrue. 
 
 In a paper on gutta-percha read before this society four years ago, I 
 stated that the gum obtained by cutting the tree and scraping the inside 
 i)f the bark was much superior to any obtained by tapping. It is to 
 that superior qualitv of gum — which Dr. Hill used the first years of his 
 experience — that the results so much talked about are due. The speci- 
 mens displayed by the speaker, both the crude and that which was 
 prepared for the teeth, are the product of tapping. Fillings made in 
 the best manner with such material will not last longer than from two 
 to eio-ht years. Verv few, indeed, will last more than four. Let us not 
 deceive ourselves. It cannot be depended upon as formerly. The reason 
 is the inferiority of the base. A fountain does not rise above its source. 
 
 I object to the speaker's position in claiming so much for the material. 
 It is very useful, and the cause is weakened by claiming too much. 
 Young practitioners should be taught these facts instead of accepting 
 the fair inference from Professor Flagg's remarks that if his steam-made 
 stopping is used all will go well for from five to thirty years. His state- 
 ment that red gutta-perclia shrinks more than any other may be proved 
 by test-tubes, but mv experience proves that it will last longer than the 
 average stopping. One reason is it has less foreign substance incorpo- 
 rated into it. Pure gum would outlast any other, and if it co.ild be 
 used to advantage, it would be almost perfect as to its lasting qualities. 
 Its color, however, is objectionable. 
 
 I repeat what I said in my paper four years ago, that, just in pro- 
 portion as the particles are separated by a foreign substance, just in 
 that proportion is the substance weakened both in strength and in 
 ability to resist the fluids of the mouth 
 
 We were told by Prof. Flagg that it is our dutv to test the material 
 before using it, as one can do so in a few minutes in his office. A little 
 farther on we are told that so difficult is an analysis of the material 
 that it is not known positively what substance Hill incorporated with 
 liis base. His statement that Hill's formula is unknown, because he 
 did not happen to know it, is suggestive and amusing, to say the least. 
 There w;.s no intimation that gutta-percha stopping was not in every 
 way as good now as it was twenty -five or thirty year's ago when Hill 
 and Bevans were using the gum before referred to. He knew, of 
 course, that the best stopping in the market to-day is very much inferior 
 to the article which gave the filling material its deservedly high repu- 
 
tation From such a source of learning and respectability we had a 
 right to look for the whole picture. His assertion, for instance, diat a 
 good stopping cannot be made without steam heat, porcelain slabs, 
 etc., is a dogmatic assumption which he refutes when he further says 
 Hill's stopping lasted thirty years, etc. Hill never used steam heat. 
 
 From my experience with the preparation of the material I am con- 
 fident steam heat is better than dry heat and kneading-sticks. But to 
 say that good results cannot be obtained In the old way is not true. I 
 experimented all one winter to make an improvement in the texture of 
 the manufactured material, as there was such an evident falling off in 
 quality, and I found the whole trouble was with the base. Until the 
 material can be obtained as it used to be, by cutting the tree. T propose 
 to use the filling for what it is worth, as I find, it, not expecting too 
 much from it, or what was once realized. 
 
 The President. The next contribution to the subject of the evening 
 will be a paper by Dr. Bogue, which he will kindly read now. 
 
 Dr. E. A. Bogue then read the following paper, entitled : — 
 
 "Filling Materials and Methods," 
 
 in which, after referring to materials and methods, he continued as 
 follows : — 
 
 '• I think we all owe our thanks to Dr. Flagg for his late discourse 
 on gutta-percha, and especially for the clear way in which he has 
 defined the class of cases where its use as a filling for decayed teeth is 
 indicated. His enthusiasm leads him to say some things, however, that 
 ought to be challenged. If he is right, it can be proven ; if wrong, it 
 is the function of this society to point it out. 
 
 '■As one person, I regret that Dr. Flagg felt it necessary to excuse 
 himself for the exclusive use of plastics, or that he cited the f\ict of his 
 presence before this societ}- as an ' evidence that he had maintained his 
 respectability.' He ought not to need any such evidence. It has been 
 the maxim of this society to 'prove all things, and hold fast that which 
 is good.' So all men having ideas to present have been welcomed. 
 
 "It has been Dr. Flagg's efibrt for more than twenty years, of my 
 personal knowledge, to save teeth that many other practitioners would 
 extract The good that he has accomplished commands sincere respect ; 
 but I cannot say as much for some of his statements and some of his 
 methods. I regret to hear such words as these : 'I want to induce you 
 to try these things, for certainly you must understand that you know 
 little or nothing about plastic fillings. You may have been told that 
 my practice is among the rag-tag and bob-tail from the gutters of Phila- 
 delphia, but you know very well that my patients are among the very 
 
best, the most intelligent, and the most weaUhy of the people of that 
 city, and are typical individuals of their class ; and yet they are perfectly 
 satisfied with the work I do for them.' 
 
 "Comforting tlie declining years of aged people, even if they are 
 millionaires or members of the best society, by preserving their 
 natural teeth, using the gentlest possible means, whether those means 
 be gutta-percha or amalgam, is praiseworthy. But can we denominate 
 as praiseworthy and strictly scientific a sentence like this : ' If / do 
 not know when it is best to extract a tooth, I do not know which of 
 you does.' Or a question so misleading as this: 'If you place your 
 gutta-percha, properly prepared, where little or no wear can come upon 
 it, in such wise that you know just as well as you know anything that 
 a zinc-phosphate filling would not have lasted two little years, a gold 
 filling would not have lasted five years, an amalgam filling would not 
 have lasted more than ten years, and your gutta-percha filling lasted 
 fifteen years, — then I ask of you if gutta-percha properly used is not 
 the most permanent filling material we possess.''' Dr. Flagg leads up 
 to an answer which he seems to desire, but it should be recognized that 
 his premises are not generally to be admitted without question, hence 
 his inferences are often fallacious. Ver}' few men, except Dr. Flagg, 
 have seen many gutta-percha fillings fifteen years old, and Dr. Flagg 
 himself is greatly elated by coming across such fillings. In such cases, 
 undoubtedly it was the best material. 
 
 " But when Dr. Flagg's next sentence asserts interrogativelv thac 
 gutta-percha, properly used, is the most permanent filling we possess, 
 I think his enthusiasm would make his hearers infer more than 
 he actually means ; particularly when he continues by saying, 'I want 
 to leave with you to-night the impression that you can work gutta- 
 percha precisely the same as you work cohesive gold.' Yet farther on 
 he admits the value of copper amalgam in desperate cases. Dr. Flago- 
 counsels us to ' have our gutta-percha tested, so that we know exactly 
 what it is composed of and the proportions of it," and he says ''any 
 man can test it in ten minutes in his office.' Three minutes later Dr. 
 Flagg says: ' We have known positively for half a century that Hill's 
 gutta-percha stopping was not made of quicklime and silex, but do not 
 know what it was made of. So difficult is its analysis that we have 
 not been able to say positively what Dr. Hill made his stopping of A 
 little later in his address Dr. F. says : ' The only way for you to use 
 gutta-percha successfully is to test the various materials before putting 
 them into the mouth. It is the work of a life-time.' 
 
 "'Ten minutes' have lengthened into ' half a century,' and half a 
 
5 
 
 century into a life-time very quickh' — but, as Dr. Flagg says he tells 
 'the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,' we must seek 
 to reconcile these conflicting statements as best we may. 
 
 " Dr. Flagg says next : ' I do not want my material to be looked 
 upon as a crutch.' He will, it is hoped, pardon the suggestion that 
 this society was not aware that gutta-percha was a proprietary article, 
 and it must regard all subjects brought before it as absolutely free for 
 discussion. Dr. Payne asked how Dr. Flagg accounted for the protec- 
 tion of the tooth against decay when the shrinkage of a gutta-percha 
 filling necessarily admits more or less moisture to the cavity, when dis- 
 integration of tooth would ensue if a gold filling leaked.'' (Please 
 notice Dr. Payne's admission of the correctness of the general belief 
 that a leaky gold filling will allow disintegration of tooth-substance 
 around it.) Dr. Flagg I'eplied that the gutta-percha was a non-con- 
 ductor of galvanic or electric currents, and that, the7'efore^ no chemical 
 action takes place between the gutta-percha and the tooth-bone. He 
 sa3s the only action that can take place is the leakage of moisture. 
 
 " Dr. Flagg, speaking of amalgams, says that ' amalgam permits 
 moisture to do good.' He claims to recognize that fact, and, therefore, 
 says that ' amalgams that do not shrink are not as good tooth-savers as 
 amalgams which shrink.' He has much to say about tooth-savers, 
 meaning fillings His practice necessarily leads to inaccuracies both in 
 excavation and in adaptation of filling materials. He has invited the 
 worst class of cases and the worst class of teeth. As it would be a 
 physical impossibility to use gold in most of those cases, Dr. Flagg has 
 elected to use plastics in all of them. The results obtained are the 
 sum of his experience. This experience, though strictly empirical, is 
 most valuable, but it does not justify any one in dogmatic assertions 
 that he cannot prove. All this galvano-electric current assertion comes 
 under that head. 
 
 "If Dr. Flagg could be induced to answer concisely, according to his 
 knowledge, he would agree that the causes of decay in teeth, leaving 
 out of view heredity, which would have to do with form and position, 
 may be summed up in ver}^ few words, viz. : that which causes solu- 
 tion. Now, solution of the enamel never takes place at any point 
 where it is exposed to friction, but only in such spots or crevices as 
 favor the retention of foreign substances which, under the combined 
 influences of heat, moisture and atmospheric contact, speedily produce 
 disintegrating acids in a nascent condition. The experienced dentist 
 knows full well where to look for dental decay. The smaller the 
 crevice the longer it takes for the enamel to break down, but Dr. 
 McQuillen showed many years ago how, between two plates of sound 
 
f, 
 
 enamel, the substances that produce decay may reach the dentine, and 
 so largely disintegrate it as to cause almost total destruction of the 
 crown before the patient is conscious of disease. How, then, can we 
 be told that leakage is a benefit? How can those amalgams that con- 
 tract be vaunted as the best? How can gutta-percha be regarded as 
 anything else than a valuable adiunct to our various filling materials? 
 
 "We must necessarily challenge the statement that 'amalgams that 
 do not shrink are not as good tooth-savers as amalgams whichs brink/ 
 for both palladium and copper are recognized as being the best pre- 
 ventives of decay among all the amalgams, yet these two do not shrink. 
 Dr. Flagg himself counsels copper amalgam in desperate cases. 
 
 " Dr. Flagg goes on to say : ' In five minutes you can tell whether an 
 amalgam will shrink or not.' This is absolutely incorrect in regard to 
 any strange or new amalgam. I have tested several amalgams that 
 have continued to change their form for several days, sometimes shrink- 
 ing, sometimes expanding. 
 
 "I think Dr. Flagg scarcely meant that he could ascertain in thirty 
 minutes the composition of a new amalgam ; still less its quantitative 
 composition. Yet one might infer that from his saying that he could 
 ascertain its composition in thirty minutes. 
 
 " In advocating gutta-percha for front teeth, Dr. Flagg failed to state 
 that this material often becomes so dark on the surface as to be more 
 unsightly than many amalgams, and always changes color, becoming 
 fluffy or soiled. 
 
 " Having thus called attention to a few of the inconsistencies and 
 errors in Dr. Flagg's address, I beg to call attention to another portion 
 of that same address which contains the most precise, accurate and 
 concise description of where and when to use gutta-percha that I have 
 ever heard: 'Gutta-percha is not presented as a material suitable for 
 all sorts of cavities, but only those having circumscribed walls — com- 
 paratively round, shot-hole cavities in the buccal, distal and mesial 
 surfaces of teeth, not on the articulating surfaces; where the cavity is 
 small on the outside and large on the inside, and where the tooth is 
 soft, of frail structure and highly organic ; such cavities as would be 
 prepared for gold filling by cutting away all the surrounding enamel 
 walls until you get to strong walls — in filling such cavities with gutta- 
 percha you conserve the enamel structure all that you possibly can.' If 
 you add frail and loose teeth and badly leaning ones to this categoi'y, it 
 epitomizes the best features of the paper." 
 
 ***** 
 Dr. Ferry. One good result of Dr. Flagg's lecture is the most 
 
excellent paper that we have just listened to from Dr. Bogue. I am 
 in accord with almost every sentiment that he has uttered on that sub- 
 ject. 
 
 REPLY. 
 
 "IN ABSENTIA." 
 
 BY J. FOSTER FLAGG D. D. S., PHILADELPHIA, PA. 
 
 Honors conferred in this fashion are sometimes creditable and some- 
 times discreditable alike to donors and recipients. If creditable, then 
 all is well, but if discreditable, either to donors or recipients, then all 
 is not well. 
 
 At the meeting of the New York Odontological Society, held Feb- 
 ruary 14th, 1888, I had the pleasure of speaking in behalf of gutta- 
 percha stopping, and, after two months had passed, at a meeting of the 
 same Society, held April loth, 1888, reported in July Cosmos^ p. 475, 
 Drs. E. T. Payne, and E. A. Bogue gave utterance to comments upon 
 my effort which are so discreditable to themselves, and which, if true, 
 would be so discreditable to me that I deem it my duty to reply at once. 
 
 First, for Dr. Payne ; I do not admit that my effort would have been 
 more profitable as a paper than it was as an address, and I judge of 
 this matter from the expressions of opinion as to its value which were 
 given me by voice upon that occasion and which have been repeated 
 by scores of letters received since. 
 
 As for members asking questions, I think the report in the Costnos 
 for May indicates that the questioning was pretty lively. 
 
 I wish to antagonize more emphatically than ever, if possible, the 
 " crutch" idea as applied to gutta-percha and to insist upon just that 
 degree of longevity for fillings of this material that I have always 
 assumed, viz. from twice to thrice the durability of gold when used 
 instead of gold in places which are frequently filled with gold and 
 which should be filled with gutta-fercha . 
 
 I deny the assertion that fillings made of the gutta-percha stoppings 
 
of the present day are inferior to those of former times; and the state- 
 ment made by tlie gentleman that such fillings will not last longer than 
 from two to eight years, merely because he does not happen to know 
 any better, is ''suggestive and amusing, to say the least." 
 
 I have hundreds of such fillings made from such gutta-percha which 
 are now more than ten years old and wiiich, with the exception of very 
 trifling wear, are as good as when introduced and which are saving the 
 soft, frail teeth perfectly. 
 
 In my experience the average of well introduced good gutta-percha 
 work of the last decade is equel to, if not superior to, that of thirty 
 years ago; therefore, the inference that such results are obtained is 
 neither " 7nisleading" nor " untrue." 
 
 It is true that I did say that it was a duty that operators should 
 "test" their gutta-percha stopping, that from such "testing" might be 
 known the approximate degree of heat at which it softens (as I ex- 
 pressed it, " its heat-grade") and also exactly its composition, (as I ex- 
 pressed it, '■^ just the proportions of organic and inorganic Tnatter ") 
 and it is equally true that I said that an analysis was a very difficult 
 piece of work, and the attempt to make a point on these two assertions 
 merelv because the gentleman did not happen to know the difference 
 in gutta-percha work between "testing" and ''analysing" is "sugges- 
 tive and amusing, to say the least." 
 
 Regarding my assertion that the formula for ''Hill's stopping," is 
 unknown, I would say that I have, during tiie past twenty-five years, 
 embraced every opportunity to ask those of our profession from whom 
 I deeined it possible I might obtain information as to the formula of 
 this (at first) excellent material, and, in every instance I was told by 
 each individual that he "did not know." 
 
 It was from this fact that I said that our information was " t?ieagre !" 
 
 And now I would ask further if Dr. Payne was a student with Dr. 
 Hill, and if he made some ot that material, and if he knew of what 
 it was composed and what were the proportions^ why has he not 
 published all this long ago.'* 
 
 He tells us that if we used any of Hill's stopping of twenty-five years 
 ago we used that which he made ; but if my recollection serves me, it 
 was just about that time that the quality of Hill's stopping com- 
 menced inarkedly to deteriorate. This might have been merely coin- 
 cidental, but the reminiscence is "suggestive and amusing, to say the 
 least." 
 
 That he thinks he knows I do not doubt, but that he knows I regard 
 as an open question, and if it could be proven by analysis that he 
 
thought he knew, but did not, it would also be " amusing, to say the 
 least." 
 
 Students oftentimes think they know. 
 
 I do not see by what authority the gentleman states that / know, "of 
 course, that the best stopping in the market to-day is very much inferior 
 to the article which gave the filling material its deservedly high repu- 
 tation," for I do not know any such thing. 
 
 The gentleman speaks of Hill's and Bevans' stoppings, but my 
 record of gutta-percha work was not made with either of these. I could 
 not speak for gutta-percha with views based upon that material as 
 given us "twenty-five or thirty years ago." 
 
 I refer to the gutta-percha of the last twenty-five years, with its 
 gradual improvement in lessened quantity of inorganics with mainte- 
 nance and increase of heat-grade ; with its improved toughness and 
 with its improved working qualities. 
 
 If the gentleman is not aware that as crude gutta-percha has deteri- 
 orated, gutta-percha stopping has nobly held its own, he should post 
 himself before speaking, because "from such a source of learning and 
 respectability we have a right to look for the whole picture." 
 
 And so, because Hill never used steam heat, the statement that it is 
 essential to use it now, is a " dogmatic assumption ! " 
 
 Hill had the crude gutta-percha of the cut-down trees. We, of 
 to-day, have only the crude gutta-percha of the tapped trees — therefore, 
 Hill could dispense with that care and nicety of manipulation which 
 we of to-day find essential to the production of an acceptable result. 
 
 It seems to me that to assume that my assertion was a dogmatic 
 assumption is itself a dogmatic assumption ! 
 
 The gentleman states that he "experimented all one winter" to 
 improve the texture of the manufactured material, but he found the 
 whole trouble was with the base. 
 
 I have been systematically experimenting for the same purpose for 
 more than twenty years, and I feel that I have been rewarded for mv 
 labor, which, however, would only seem to indicate that I can do more 
 in twenty years than the gentleman can in "one winter" — which I 
 guess is true ! 
 
 Second, for Dr. Bogue ; after having, in a paper on "Filling Mate- 
 rials and Methods," asked questions, given answers and drawn deduc- 
 tions just such as would have been accepted twenty years ago, but 
 which I think would be seriously questioned in discussions of the pre- 
 
10 
 
 sent dav, the gentleman kindly covers me over with dental sweetness 
 and tlien swallows me ! 
 
 Truly Bogiie-ish — and as such a position is not agreeable to me I 
 shall strive to bring about a repetition of the history of Jonah and the 
 whale. 
 
 The jaws open with this, as if quoting from me : " I regret to hear 
 such woids as these, 'I want to induce you to try these things, for cer- 
 tainly vou must understand that you know little or nothing about 
 plastic fillings.' " 
 I never said so ! 
 
 \Vliat I said was this, as reported: "I want to induce you to try 
 these things, for certainly you must understand that from such stand- 
 points as I offer here to-night you KXOW little about plastic fillings," 
 which sentiment, I think, would not be cavilled at by, at least, a ma- 
 jority of those present, and I firmly believe would be most decried only 
 by those least informed. 
 
 The jaws again open wider with this: "Can we denominate as 
 praiseA'orthy and strictly scientific a sentence like this, ' If / do not 
 know when it is best to extract a tooth, I do not know which of you 
 does,' " as if quoted from me ! ! 
 I never said so ! 
 
 In speaking of banding together loose and shaky teeth, I said: "It 
 lias been said that teeth in this condition had better be extracted. Is it 
 best? And if / do not know when it is besc to extract a tooth, I ask 
 you who of you does.'"' 
 
 Siinply a question, and no assertion. I do not see that seeking 
 information is 2/«-praiseworthy, or that the position or question was 
 absolutely z<«-scientific. 
 
 Again, the gentleman insinuates that I advocate the use of gutta- 
 perclia "precisely as I would use cohesive gold!" and he kindly calls 
 that " enthusiasm " when the context of the report will show that in 
 truth I was speaking against that kind of use of gutta-percha which 
 would be likely to result from tlie idea that it was a temporary filling; 
 then it was that I said that I wanted "to leave with you to-night the 
 impression that you can work gutta-percha precisely the same as you 
 work cohesive gold," meaning carefully, with accuracy, and with the 
 idea that with such work it would be compensatingly permanent ; and 
 this, / have reason to believe., was generally and thoroughly so 
 understood. 
 
 The gentleman next, by a series of gyrations and one utter misquota- 
 tion, lengthens '"ten minutes" into "half a century" (not the slightest 
 connection between the statements except the placing of them together 
 
11 
 
 by the gentleman !) and the half century into a life-time, thus giving 
 " not the truth, nor any part of the truth, but everything but the truth " 
 in contradistinction to my usual method. 
 
 In "testing" gutta-percha the aim is to find out txuo things — the 
 relativity between the organic and inorganic comiDonents, and the 
 " heat grade " of the material tested — with these two factors one versed 
 in gutta-percha can tell much as to the qualitv of his material — for 
 those who do not know the diflerence between •■ testing" and •■ ana- 
 lyzing" it does not tell — much ! 
 
 "Testing" can be done in ^"^ ten mimites." 
 
 The gentleman then mixes the next two quotations and draws his 
 deduction with a child-like innocence wdiich, for New York, is 
 refreshing ! 
 
 He says that / say : '• The only way for you to use gutta-percha suc- 
 cessfully is to test the various materials before putting them into the 
 mouth. It is the work of a life-time "!!!!!!! 
 
 The admiration marks are mine, but I could not help putting them 
 there, for again, 
 
 I never said it ! 
 
 After, as he quotes, urging the "testing" of the various materials 
 .(gutta-percha stoppings) before putting them in the mouth, I said : 
 "The testing of the value of the various inorganics is the work of a 
 life-time." 
 
 The whole range of amalgam remarks in which the gentleman 
 indulged are so indicative of utter superficiality that I shall simply pass 
 them over as beneath my notice, merely intimating that his testing of 
 '•amalgams that have continued to change their form for several days, 
 sometimes shrinking, sometimes expanding," is probably about as valu- 
 able and reliable as was his " little bottle and warm water bath " experi- 
 ment to determine whether or no amalgam fillings would produce 
 mercurial ptyalism ! 
 
 But when the gentleman not only misquotes me, but italicizes the 
 word I NEVER USED to give point to his assertion, I think it time 
 that I should strongly denounce such unworthy and despicably unsci- 
 entific conduct. 
 
 He says that / said : "I do not want my material to be looked upon 
 as a crutch," and comments upon this as follows; "He will, it is 
 hoped, pardon the suggestion " (how velvety soft is the odious phrase- 
 ology !) " that this society was not aware that gutta-percha was a pro- 
 prietary article, and it must regard all subjects brought before it as 
 absolutely free for discussion." 
 
 I NEVER SAID SO ! 
 
12 
 
 After referring to Dr. Atkinson's former endorsement of gutta- 
 percha as a " crutch," what I did say is this — " I do not want it to be 
 welcomed on anv such terms as that. I do not want this material to 
 be looked upon as a crutch. I wish it to be looked upon as a reliable 
 friend in need I" 
 
 Thus it will be seen that as no " proprietary " word or thought was 
 indulged in bv me. all his Mephistophilish sarcasm falls harmlessly to 
 pieces from its own rottenness, as it has not the slightest foundation 
 in truth to rest upon I 
 
 Ex'.raci jrom Odonlological Society Report, p. 4S7, July Cosmos. 
 
 The President. Gentlemen, we have Dr. Niles, of Boston, with us to-night, and we 
 would be glad to hear from him. 
 
 Dr. E. S. Niles. This is too great a subject for one 10 speak upon impromptu. We 
 have considered the subject of amalgam in the American .\cademy of Dental Science 
 for the last two meetings, and I must say that the result of the di.ccussion is rather 
 unsatisfactory. In fad, the present information on the subject discourages me in the 
 use of amalgam. I now speak exclusively of copper amalgam. Since I have been in 
 practice, I have been more or less dissatisSed with these fillings, as I think we all 
 have, and have looked forward to some day when I might take up the subjecl for the 
 purpose of making some saiisfaclory ex[>eriraents. I regard the present investigation 
 of amalgams as superficial, for the reason that when we speak of amalgams we may 
 refer to any number of compounds, all of which may vary in their composition. 
 
 Etc., etc. for a page or more of remarks all of which seem to indi- 
 cate that when the gentleman has "experimented" he^ perhaps (.''). 
 will know more of the '■ great " subject upon which he is tr\ing to speak. 
 
 He next continues as follows: "I was going to say in regard to the distinguished 
 professor who addressed this society at its last meeting, that I am sorry he d'^es not 
 lell us fully and conclusively of what his compounds are composed, and in a way that 
 would enable us to make similar preparations for ourselves. I am sorry to say that 
 such is not the case, as ray own experiments, as well as the experiments of my 
 brethren in Boston and other cities have proved. Some years ago, while attending 
 school in Philadelphia, I boarded not far from Dr. Fiagg's. and we used to have on the 
 table what the mistress was pleased '.0 call 'scrapple.^ I was very much interested 
 to know of what it was composed, and was told it was made of bits that came from 
 ttie table, into which she pat eggs, pepper and various things. It might, therefore, be 
 made of one thing one day. but of entirely different things the next. In reflefting 
 upon this subject I have wondered whether the making of mysterious comoounds in 
 Philadelphia was confined to the manufacture of 'scrapple' alone, or whether other 
 combinations in that city may not have a similar origin. 
 
 "As long as the profession consent to use alloys the composition of which they are 
 not familiar with, no complaint can be entered against those who make amalgams or 
 ■ scrapple ' alloys." 
 
 What a powerful reflector ! 
 
 From his not knowing " fully and conclusively " of what my com- 
 pounds are composed it is evident that he has not read •'' Plastics and 
 Plastic Filling," in which work he would find just what *' bits that 
 
13 
 
 come from the table " are best adapted for each particular kind of 
 '•'• scrapple y 
 
 When it is remembered that -''scrapple' is a compound of Indian 
 meal and pork scraps (hence its name) it would seem that some Phila- 
 delphia wag was playing upon the credulity of the scholar from Bos- 
 ton^ whose thirst for knowledge would evidently have been satisfied 
 with the information that " fish balls'' were composed of chicken and 
 turnips. 
 
 And when it is also remembered that the scholar from Boston is 
 the gentleman who conferred upon dentistry the inestimable boon of 
 the "hermetically sealed tubes" for the maintenance of the integrity 
 of phosphoric acid menstruum just two years after it had been experi- 
 mentally proven a7id taught that such menstruum "changed" practi- 
 cally at the same time, whether kept in hermetically sealed bottles, ordi- 
 narily stopped bottles, or in vjide mouthed vessels open to the air'. 
 
 And when he is further recognized as the author of the exciting 
 Newark anecdote of the young lady who asked him '' if he was from 
 Boston?" to which he replied that he ' was from Boston," to which 
 she replied that she, 'also, was from Boston" — so they were both 
 from Boston', it goes without question that to repel an attack from 
 such a source would be merely to inaugurate another '' Mosquito War ! " 
 
 I visited New York in the acceptance of cordial and repeated invita- 
 tion ; I took with me for presentation, the carefully prepared results of 
 many years of conscientious endeavor to add to the resources of our 
 profession in its work of doing good. 
 
 I was unconscious of having either thought, said or done anything 
 which was other than interesting, instructive and acceptable. 
 
 I was not only congratulated and thanked upon that occasion, but I 
 have since received, from there, several written acknowledgments of 
 interest and satisfaction. 
 
 I am accustomed to personal abuse, and I have always striven to 
 live above it, but I must openly and decidedly protest against such 
 comments and papers as those of Drs. Payne and Bogue, which with 
 impertinent assurance accredit me with views which I do not hold ; 
 with knowledge which I do not acknowledge, and with fallacious 
 deductions from what might be admitted if I "could be induced to 
 answer concisely !" 
 
 And I must also say that I was not prepared to find, as I did from 
 the April proceedings, that I was not only left alone to fight for myself 
 
14 
 
 (wliich, I am thankful I feel completely able to do.) but such vile 
 ertbrt was characterized as " excellent ! " 
 
 Candid, fair and honorable criticism of my views 1 have always 
 earnestly invited, and when by time or argument I have been proven 
 in the wrong I have always cheerfully and thankfully acknowledged it. 
 
 But when malicious sneers, deliberately concocted mis-statements and 
 italicized perversion of the truth are returned for kindly effort, I think 
 the right will be conceded me to feel that, hi certain degree^ I have 
 been foolishly ''casting pearls before swine." 
 
% 
 
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES 
 
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 provided by the library rules or by special arrsmgement with 
 the Librariam in charge. 
 
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 DATE BORROWED 
 
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