I am not aware that the so-called accepted creed has been the recognised standard of practice in this country. The doctrine that gold, and nothing but gold, should be used for permanent fillings, has certainly been extensively promulgated by those of our Transatlantic brethren who have settled in this country; and I cannot but look upon this new departure, as the natural reaction which might be expected to follow the over anxiety to build up large adhesive gold fillings, on fragments of weak and often disorganized teeth, totally unsuited for such an operation; but until I can see some stronger reason than has been hitherto adduced by the advocates of this new departure, I must, in any case suitable for a good gold filling, confess my unwillingness to abandon for any other of the fillings now in use, a material that we know from past experience is capable, when judiciously applied, of preserving and restoring to a state of efficiency, in some cases for a period of twenty years or even for a much longer time, teeth which otherwise would have been lost in about the same number of months. For the efficient use of this material much must of course depend on the manipulative ability of the operator, but it has often seemed to me a matter of doubt, whether, in the case of those large adhesive gold fillings, the patient has received an equivalent for the tedious and necessarily expensive operation that has been undergone. The choice between contour fillings and separation of the teeth in the case of approximal cavities, must, I think, depend in a measure on the aptitude and judgment of the operator, since the two plans when successfully performed, may be made equally efficient. The latter however—separation—seems to afford greater facilities for operating, and also for cleanliness in those patients who are unable or unwilling to devote the time and attention necessary for that object.