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184 HISTORY OF DENTAL SURGERY

second to one of gold, and there are some places and circumstances in which it
is better, hut not for tlic reasons set I'ortli in the new departure.
"Gutta-percha}—Tliis suhstance came into use as a material for temporar}'
fillings in 18-17-8,= and was very well recei\ed. Its use soon became ahnost
universal."
In the "Xews Letter" for April, 1818, E. Blake, M. D., mentions various
—
uses to which gutta-percha had already been applied "taking impressions of
the mouth, for bands, ligatures and springs for reducing irregularities, in
setting pivot teeth, for temporary stoppings, etc."
"Hill's stopping was introduced in the early part of 1848 and patented in
1849. This was an attempt to render gutta-percha as available for peruuinent,
as it bad proved itself for temporary purposes. It was simply a compound of
gutta-perclia with quick-lime and powdered quartz and feldspar.^ * * *
When first introduced and when prepared according to the patent specification,
it was not of mucli value ; * but it was subsequently improved, being prepared
(as is supposed) after another and secret formula, and obtained very con-
siderable employment, which continues to the present."
Some of the older practitioners have asserted that the Hill's stopping
made in the earlier time, perhaps in the fifties and sixties, was a better
material and would make a more durable filling than that manufactured subse-
quently. It has been continuously manufactured and sold from that day to
this, and it is more readily and conveniently managed for making temporary
stoppings over treatment dressings, whether in deep cavities or in pulp
chambers, than any other material. It is also admirable for root fdlings used
in combination with eucalyptol. It would probably have a much greater use
for all sorts of temporary stoppings if the price were not so high. It has
always been sold at from two to four times the price of most other gutta-
percha stoppings, and an ounce of it costs about twice as much as a pound of
base-plate gutta-percha.
In the "News Letter," January, 1837, C. Gibson Lum, of Vicksburg, Miss.,
said he used gutta-percha (Slayton's) to protect the pulp in deep cavities from
arsenic used to remove the sensitiveness of the dentine, and for other pur-
poses. This indicates tliat at that time some members of the profession had
not vet learned that arsenic cannot be placed in contact with the dentine of a
1 History of Dental and Oral Science in America.
= Dental Cosmos, Vol. VIII, p. 658.
'American .Toiirnal of Dental Science, 2ncl Series, Vol. II, p. 417,
* Dental Cosmos, Vol. IX, p. 357.