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244 THE MICRO-ORGANISMS OF THE HUMAN MOUTH.

The following materials were examined by this method :
1. Copper amalgam (Lippoldt's). Fifteen teeth were treated
as described, and tlie carious dentine examined by culture. In
not a single case did a development of l)acteria take place.
They had either been devitalized or the dentine itself had be-
come antiseptic. In two cases bud-fungi developed ; in one
case mould-fungi.
2. Gold amalgam, ten teeth. In all cases a development of
bacteria took place around the dentine, to say nothing of bud-
and mould-fungi (Fig. 109).
3. Oxyphosphate, eight teeth. Result same as with gold
amalgam.
4. Oxychloride of zinc, eight teeth. In seven cases a growth
of bacteria formed, though very much retarded when compared
with the oxyphosphate or gold amalgam. In one case the piece
remained sterile.
5. Iodoform powder mixed with phosphate cement, one tooth.
Development of bacteria unchecked. In another case the floor
of the cavity w^as covered with powdered iodoform and oxyphos-
phate filled over. Pieces of dentine taken from the cavity after
three days and transferred to the culture plate ^vere soon sur-
rounded by a growth of bacteria and bud-fungi.
6. Powdered sulphate of copper incorporated with cement or
with gutta-percha, or simply strew^n upon the bottom of the
cavity before filling, nine teeth. ISTo trace of bacterial grow^th
appeared in any case.
From these results we are forced to the conclusion that copper
amalgam fillings exert a marked antibacterial influence upon the
walls of the cavities containing them, that oxychloride cements
have an appreciable though markedly less etfect, and that oxy-
phosphate and gold amalgam are wanting in any such action.
"We learn, furthermore, that by incorporating certain antiseptics
into the mass of the filling or covering the bottom of the cavity
before inserting the filling we may produce an ett'ect analogous
to that of copperr amalgam.
Can any application of these results be made in practice ? I
think so, though I am certainly not in favor of being over-hasty
in drawuno^ conclusions.