DR. CLAPP:—I had occasion yesterday to cut off two central incisors for a lady eighteen years of age. The pulp chamber was entirely obliterated, entirely filled. I imagine that the pulps near the apex of the root are still alive, and it seems to me that the presence of the pulp is a great advantage to the teeth as long as they are in a healthy condition, and I must say that I hesitate to destroy pulps. As Dr. Taft says he has not destroyed the pulps in half a dozen teeth in four years, I do not believe that my proportion is greater than that in eighteen years. I would like to inquire of the Society its opinion of the advisability of removing softened dentine over the pulps that would be undoubtedly exposed by the removal of such softened dentine. DR. BIGELOW:—I do not rise to relate any experiences in capping pulps, but there is one question that has come up in my mind many times that I would like to have answered, if possible, by some of these gentlemen that believe in capping, and practice it regularly. We were taught in the school that in an inflammatory condition we might expect to find heat, pain, redness, swelling—we might expect to find one or all of these symptoms in an inflammatory condition of the tissue. It is said of the bones, that an inflammatory condition might exist and yet have neither swelling, redness, nor pain, but there might be heat. Now the question that comes up in my mind is, how are we to know, really, when the pulp is in an inflamed condition, and what treatment to give it before capping? Very often patients come to us with teeth that have been aching, and there is perhaps a swelling of the pulp and a certain redness; I say swelling—the throbbing generally indicates a swollen condition, in which cases the pulps are evidently inflamed; but what I would like to know is, how are we going to tell whether these pulps are in an inflamed condition or not? I would like to know the proper treatment for an inflamed pulp. In cases where I have attempted to subdue the inflammation, I have not had great success. DR. SMITH:—In the absence of all symptoms, I should conclude that there was no inflammation. DR. BIGELOW:—I don't know whether all the symptoms were absent or not, and that is just the point; there may have been heat, but not knowing positively there was an increase in temperature, an inflammatory condition might exist, and we might work blindly. DR. SMITH:—I know of a prominent physician who treated a woman for the "Grippe" when her real trouble was fatty degeneration of the liver. He worked as near to the symptoms as he could get, but he diagnosed the case wrong. He is a prominent, eminent physician, and I simply speak of it to show the uncertainty of symptoms in a diagnosis. So in this case, there might be inflammation, but if there was an absence of all the symptoms, I should conclude that there was no inflammation and should treat it accordingly.