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FILLING TEETH 55

filling is approached, and the gold used at this part
has been on the pad for some time, it is as well to
pass each strip rapidly through the flame just before
inserting it. Of course these broad, oblong pieces
are cut up into strips after this annealing. It has
been stated that this hardens the edges and renders
the manipulation difficult and the result uncer-
tain. This is a mistake as far as thin strips are
concerned, for cutting them up after annealing-
makes no difference, either real or apparent. The
only difficulty is, that the gold has a tendency to
stick to the blades of the scissors ; but this is a
small matter, and either passing the blades of the
scissors between the fingers, or changing the scissors,
will greatly prevent this. The same difficulty exists
to some extent in cutting up strips of gold before
annealing, and some operators, to avoid it, place the
gold between sheets of thin paper and cut through
both paper and gold.
Before dismissing the subject of annealing, there
are two little points that may be mentioned. One
is that Watts' crystal gold, if taken from the
fi'eshly opened box, will often work unsatisfactorily
if it is fully annealed. Very light annealing is all
it must be subjected to, but as soon as it has become
stale from exposure it can be brought to a full dull
red heat without detriment. This peculiarity may