b METHOD OF TAKING IMPRESSIONS 



its incorrectness will it fail to secure to the person 

 for whom it is made those delicate advantages 

 which constitute the great value and merit of such 

 work. The failure in remedying indistinct enun- 

 ciation that follows the introduction of an artificial 

 palate into a mouth of which an imperfect model 

 had been obtained, or the pain inflicted by artificial 

 teeth when constructed upon an incorrect model, 

 is too well known to all upon whom it devolves 

 to adapt these contrivances, not to make the 

 question, — How can we most easily and certainly 

 secure a correct model of the mouth ? — ^worthy 

 the attention of this Society. 



Perhaps the diflftculties I have sometimes expe- 

 rienced in obtaining a satisfactory impression have 

 arisen principally from my own awkwardness, and 

 would not have been felt by another ; but whether 

 it has been so or not, I presume it will not be 

 denied that there are cases which offer great diffi- 

 culties, even to the most expert manipulator ; and 

 if in these instances the plan I have adopted, with 

 much advantage, should render the task of taking 

 an impression more easy, I shall feel that the 

 subject has not been brought before you in vain. 



The class of cases in which I have experienced 

 great difficulty in obtaining a correct impression 

 of the mouth has been that in which the roof has 

 been preternaturally high, and the ruga3 have been 

 strongly marked. But the most difficult cases are 

 generally congenital cleft palates, where, in addi- 



