OPERATING CHAIR. 109 



lowered while seated. The headpiece, although 

 attached to the chair, and fixed as to height, is 

 nevertheless moyshle forwards and backwards, and 

 it has a ratchet-frame behind, by which the head 

 may be easily and instantly placed, and supported 

 for a considerable period without fatigue to the 

 patient, either with the face parallel to the ceiling, 

 as is necessary in operations upon the upper 

 molars, for example, or in any other position 

 between that and the erect posture required in 

 operations upon the teeth of the lower maxilla. 

 The extreme facility with which the movement of 

 the headpiece is effected, and the security with 

 which it fixes itself, however placed, are, I think, 

 deserving of your particular notice. One hand 

 only is required to move the headpiece, and its 

 position can be changed at any moment during 

 an operation, without the removal of the other 

 hand of the operator from the patient's mouth. 

 Another peculiarity of the headpiece is, that it 

 has hvo depressions for the head to rest in, 

 according to the side of the patient on which the 

 operator may require to place himself. I have 

 employed one of these chairs since May of this 

 year, and have found this double resting-place for 

 the head to be extremely convenient. In conclu- 

 sion, I will only remark upon the general aspect 

 of this chair, that there is nothing formidable in 

 it, no machinery is visible, nor anything that is 

 suggestive of the concealment of any. 



