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192 HISTORY OF L)EXT.VL SUEGERY

to a far greater degree tlian ever before. Previous practice along these lines
had been cliiefly empirical and rather desultory and without any very general
recognition as necessary and sound practice. In particular. Dr. Black's state-
ment of the relation of cleanliness of tootli surfaces to immunity from decay,
his definitions of the portions of tlie teeth tliat are cleaned by the movements
of food over tlicm, and lience described as self cleansing, the desirability (in
proportion as the liability to caries is great) that cavities be extended to
where their borders will be self cleansing, and the fact that decay does not
begin on a Furface protected by a liealthy gum, whether it be a surface of
enamel or dentine or whether it be the border of a filling, provided it is tight
and is smoothly finislied, liad never been so fullj' set forth previously. Before
this time Dr. Black's name and reputation had become known to the whole
profession of America and Europe. As a result, therefore, of the reputation
of the author and the thoroughness of his discussion of tliis subject, an unusual
impression was made ujion the profession generally, and it is scarcely an ex-
aggeration to say that both the science and practice of dentistry took a step
in advance which promises to be permanent.
In the "Cosmos" for 1895 (Vol. XXXVII, p. 35.3), beginning in the May
number, is a series of five articles, some of them very long, by Dr. G. V. Black,
entitled '"An Investigation of the Physical Cliaracters of the Human Teeth in
Relation to their Diseases, and to Practical Dental Operations, Together with
the Physical Characters of Filling Materials."' This series of papers made
known the results of an enormous amount of experimental work in the labora-'
tory and innumerable tests of natural tooth structures and of filling materials,
for which many instruments of precision had been devised by the author and
made by him or under his supervision. The results of this work seemed tn
make necessary a change in the point of view, and the opinions and modes of
expression of tlie jn-ofession generally as respects tlie relation of the physical
characters of the teeth to liability or immunity to dental caries, and to com-
patibility or suitability for the use of various filling materials. This point of
view and those opinions may be indicated by a short quotation from the
introductory portion of the first of these papers. "It may now be said that
the hypothesis that tlie condition of the tooth structure, in a large degree,
renders the tooth susceptible or unsiisceptible to caries exists in full force in
the minds of a large proportion of tlie members of the dental profession. We
see constantly in dental literature allusions to 'frail teeth,' 'chalky teeth,'
'liard teeth,' 'soft teeth,' 'dense teeth,' that this patient's teeth have become
soft and are melting down rapidly; or that patient's teeth are hard and firm