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186 HISTORY OF DENTAL SURGERY

durable than the oxychlorides, and is so sticky that its adhesiveness is a material
factor in the retention of crowns and inlays, and, in the estimation of many
practitioners, of iilliugs also, especially in places where it is difficult to obtain
quite sufficient anchorage otherwise.
The "Cosmos" for 1879 (Vol. XYI, p. 696) has an article by Dr. C. N.
Pierce describing in detail tlie process of its manufacture. It had then been
in use for some time.
At the meeting of the Mississippi Valley Association of Dental Surgeons,
in March, 1892, ("Cosmos,^' Vol. XXXIV, p. 393), Dr. W. V. B. Ames, of
Chicago, read a paper on "A New Oxyphosphate for Crown Setting." This
is made of black oxide of copper and phosplioric acid, the oxide of copper
replacing the oxide of zinc of the ordinary cements. It will absorb a larger
proportion of the powder than the zinc cements. It needs to be very thor-
oughly spatulated and may be used very thin. It is jet black in color, but
does not stain a tooth if there is no free copper in it. If there is it stains the
tooth deeply and the copper salts deposited appear to be a permanent anti-
septic, often preserving a tooth from decay after the filling is gone.
At that time Dr. Ames appears to have expected this form of cement would
be most useful for setting crowns and bridges, but it has not come into any
considerable use for that piirpose, probably because of its black color. It
has, however, proved very useful for filling the temporary teeth, and some-
times for the enamel defects in the occlusal surfaces of the first permanent
molars as a temporary filling when, for any reason, tin or gold cannot be used.
The application of heat after it is in the cavity causes it to set very rapidly.
In addition to what has been said in regard to tlie various materials used
for filling it is necessary to give some .account in a general way of fillings and
filling materials. In the "Cosmos" for February, 1881, Periscope, Dr. Xavier
Landerer, of Athens, quotes a friend of his who gathered old Helenic skulls.
"Among several hundreds, some perhaps two thousand years old, we found two
with 'stopped teeth.' One was filled with a mass as hard as stone, which on
analysis proved to be hydraulic lime, made from volcanic ash, santorin earth,
and lime. The hollow of one tooth in the other skull had been filled with gold
thread or gold leaf. The metal used was pure."

GOLD FILLING—HERBST METHOD.
Dr. G. C. Claudius, of Grenoble, France, described the Herbst method, at
the July meeting of the Odontological Society of France. He said it was
first mentioned and described by Dr. Bodecker in the January, 1884, meeting