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upon the slightest touch, they will become hard and firm, and
not inclined to bleed any more than when in perfect health.
The gums, from having been pressed away from the teeth,
and hanging loose around them, will immediately embrace
them
: if abandoned, in many instances grow to the tooth,
If
and a perfectly healthy state of the gums will follow.
these effects do not take place, and the gums continue swol-
len and inflamed, and hang in a loose flabby manner around
the teeth, we may be assured that the tartar is not all re-
In
moved, or that some of the teeth have lost their vitality.
this case, we should examine the teeth in the most careful
manner, and if any tartar is left, as generally we shall be
able to detect some beneath the gum, pressing upon the alve-
oli, or between the teeth, upon the removal of which, the
best effects follow.
It should be remembered by every ope-
rator, that this operation, if properly and faithfully done, is
one of the most useful in dental-surgery, but if not well per-
formed is of little benefit, if not an injury to the patient.

SECTION IV.

REMOVAL OF CARIOUS PORTIONS PROM THE TEETH, AND
THE SEPARATION OP THEM WHEN IN A CROWDED
STATE, &C. &C

We have before noticed and detailed the progress of ca-
ries in the first part of this work, and considered that in the
great majority of cases, decay of the teeth proceeded from
external agencies, and was produced by a vitiated state of
the saliva, and that the decay usually commenced externally,
and in those parts of the tooth where the enamel was thin-