Excerpt from The Practical Manual of Dental Casting: Being the Recorded Experiences of Many Able and Eminent Men in the Dental Profession Cavity preparation was a number of years ago placed on a definite scientific basis by the lamented G. V. Black and his co-laborers, and I sometimes feel like offering an apology when I am invited to discuss the subject. Remembering the above facts, however, I have gradually arrived at the conclusion that it is only the frequent discussions and repeated demonstrations that the importance of correct cavity forms can be impressed upon the profession in general. The failure of many of the profession to appreciate the importance of the subject, can to my mind, be attributed to one of two factors; that is to say, either ignorance of the laws of cavity preparation or carelessness in regard to the evils resulting. For the first condition there can be no excuse, since these laws may be learned readily by consulting any modern textbook on operative dentistry. "Ignorance is the curse of God; knowledge the wings wherewith we fly to heaven." There is no profession in which minutae of detail is of greater importance than in the profession of dentistry. This being the case, then, I take it that the sin of carelessness is one of the greatest shortcomings of which the dentist possibly could be guilty. A recent writer is responsible for the following remarkable effusion: "I am more powerful than the combined armies of the world. "I have destroyed more men than all the wars of the nations. "I am more deadly than bullets, and I have wrecked more homes than the mightiest of siege guns. "I steal in the United States alone over $500,000,000 each year. I spare no one and I find my victims among the rich and the poor alike, the young and the old, the strong and weak. Widows and orphans know me. "I loom up to such proportions that I cast my shadow over every field of labor, from the turning of the grindstone to the moving of every railroad train. "I massacre thousands of wage earners in a year. "I lurk in unseen places, and do most of my work silently. You are warned against me but you heed not. "I am relentless. "I am everywhere - in the house, on the streets, in the factory, at railroad crossings, and on the sea. "I bring sickness, degradation and death; yet few seek to avoid me. "I destroy, crush, or maim; I give nothing, nothing - but take all. "I am your worst enemy. I am Carelessness." About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.