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THE A N TISEP TK ' A CTION OF FILLIXG-MA TERIA LS. 245

Personally, I have always had much faith in the preservative
properties of copper amalg-am fillings, because I have had abun-
dant opportunity to observe the splendid results obtained by its
use even when very little care was taken in its insertion. The
experiments which I have made have naturally served to
strengthen my confidence in this material, in consequence of
wiiich I have been using it to some extent in my practice.
At the cervical margin I often put a layer of copper amalgam,
and then fill the rest of the cavity Avitli some other material.
In cases of complicated caries extending under the gum and very
near tlie pulp, where phos}ihate fillings are utterly unreliable,
and even combined with ifutta-percha often verv unsatisfactorv,
and where it is not considered wise to risk a permanent filling
at once, I protect the neck of the tooth by copper amalgam,
allowing a very thin layer to extend over the floor of the cavity
in order to thoroughly sterilize the dentine and keep it sterile.
I then fill the remaining part of the ca^dty with cement or gutta-
percha, with tlie intention, in case all goes well, of replacing it in
some months by a permanent material.
I am inclined to believe that the use of antiseptic materials
may be accompanied by excellent results also for capping ex-
posed pulps, particularly wdien they are not in a healthy con-
dition, or contain germs of infection, as well as for covering the
floor of the cavity in all cases where the pulp is protected by
but a thin layer of dentine, which is very often more or less
softened, or even infected with bacteria. For this purpose sul-
phate of copper, incorporated with gutta-percha or with some
soft cement like oxysulphate, Avould, I am convinced, go fiir to
eflfectually sterilize the thin layer of dentine covering the pulp, and
thereby to prevent not only the decomposition of such softened
dentine as may have been left over the pulp, but also the infec-
tion of the latter, which is very often the cause of pulp-troubles
arising under fillings.
The sulphate of copper, however, seriously stains dead teeth
in the course of three days, and w^ould probably act with equal
rapidity upon living teeth, so that its use would be on that ac-
count very much restricted, if not altogether contraindicated.
Dr. Cunningham, of Cambridge, informs me, however, that he

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