Chapter VI: is dedicated to the stopping of decayed teeth. The sole (3)

Bunon was, besides, the first author who studied accurately dental hypoplasia, and it is greatly to his honor that his ideas and observations about this pathological condition have been accepted and confirmed in substance by the greater part of the authors who have come after him, having remarkable worth even at the present day. According to him, this congenital defect of the teeth is owing to infantile maladies, such as hereditary syphilis, infantile scurvy, malignant fevers, smallpox, or measles; the harmful effects of these maladies, however, are limited to the teeth in progress of development, and have no influence on those that have already come forth. Erosion, as this defect was termed by Bunon, sometimes affects the first teeth, but is to be found much more frequently in the second or permanent ones. Those most often affected are the first molars, and in frequency follow the incisors, the canines, the premolars; the second and third molars are the most rarely affected.

Bunon studied with great accuracy the means of preventing anomalous positions of the permanent teeth, owing, according to him, almost always to want of space. In certain cases he advises the extraction of the milk tooth in order to facilitate the eruption of the permanent one, and, necessity urging, he does not hesitate to sacrifice one of the permanent teeth to procure the advantage of a normal position of the others. With regard to this subject, the following passage is worthy of note, for in it we find sketched out the theory of preventive extraction as a means of facilitating the eruption of the wisdom tooth: “It is better to have the teeth incomplete as to number than to have the ordinary number badly arranged; for the mouth will appear none the less well furnished because of having one or two teeth the less; the other teeth will be commodiously distributed, and the last molars will find sufficient room when they come forth; thus, the disorders which these teeth often occasion will be avoided.”[546]

After caries, Bunon considers dental tartar as the most potent enemy to the vitality of the teeth. He distinguishes three principal species: the black, the lemon or light yellow, and the brownish yellow; however, he allows of two other varieties of less frequent occurrence, the red and the green tartar.

At a period when an extraordinary confusion obtained with regard to gingivitis, because of the great number of varieties allowed, Bunon strongly affirms the unity of this morbid process, and considers tartar as the constant cause of it, without denying, however, that other causes of various kinds may contribute at the same time to produce it.

In cases of scorbutic stomatitis, Bunon advises, and very rightly, the complete removal of tartar from the teeth before having recourse to any other local treatment. He also insists on the necessity of attending to the teeth and gums, and especially of freeing the former from tartar before undertaking the specific treatment of syphilis, considering the good state of the teeth and gums as one of the most important prophylactic measures against mercurial stomatitis.

Anyone who takes the trouble of reading Bunon’s works attentively cannot help admiring his depth of insight, his spirit of observation, his exquisite clinical sense, and his ingenuity. As illustrating this last quality of his, we may cite two cases of fracture of the lower jaw that he succeeded in curing in a short time by the method of binding the teeth, the preceding attempts of experienced surgeons having entirely failed. One of these cases is particularly interesting. The seat of the fracture corresponded with the bicuspids, which, however, had fallen out from the effects of trauma; the neighboring teeth were also loosened. Bunon filled the empty space left by the bicuspids with a piece of ivory, provided with two holes; then, by an ingenious crossing of threads passing from the second molar on the one side to the second bicuspid on the other, very tightly tied, he formed, so to speak, one single block, and succeeded in bringing about the consolidation of the shaking teeth and the complete cure of the fracture, which was effected in less than a month.

_From an old painting in oil._]

The unfavorable judgments passed on Bunon by some writers result, in a great measure, from the circumstance that one finds quoted in his books certain modes of treatment that today appear positively ridiculous. But those who, very wrongly and with deplorable levity, consider Bunon as nothing more than a vulgar empiric, ought to reflect that even the greatest men cannot altogether avoid the influence of the ideas and the prejudices of their time. Some tribute they are almost fatally bound to pay to these prejudices. It is, therefore, not to be wondered at, if one finds in Bunon’s works, as well as in those of many other old writers, indications given of more or less strange remedies. Thus, as facilitating the eruption of teeth, he recommends among other remedies the rubbing of the gums with a mixture of honey, fresh butter, hare’s brains, and oil of lilies, or with the fat of an old cock, dog’s milk, and pig’s brains. Against the disorders and dangers of the teething period he also advises rubbing the nape of the infant’s neck, the shoulders, the back, and the lower limbs, always taking care, however, to rub from above downward, thus offering opposition to the flow of humors toward the upper parts of the body.

These means and methods of treatment reflect, so to speak, the medical ideas and the curative practices of that time, and come down, in part, from remote ages, as evidently appears from what is said in different parts of this book. But such small blemishes ought certainly not to be taken into account in passing judgment on Bunon’s works, the most substantial part of which is made up of very original ideas and observations. The high intrinsic value of Bunon’s works gives him a just right to be considered one of the most illustrious forerunners of modern scientific dentistry.

BARTOLOMEO RUSPINI, an Italian dentist, exercised his profession in London with great success for more than thirty years. He was patronized by all the greatest personages of the Kingdom and also by the Royal family, from whom he received special marks of distinction. He attained a very conspicuous position, and with the aid of the London Freemasons’ Lodge, of which he was an influential member, but chiefly by the results of his professional work, he was able to found an orphanage that was called by his name, being moved to do this by his great love for children, whose dental maladies and disorders had always been an object of particular study for him. In 1768 he published _A Treatise on the Teeth, Their Structure and Various Diseases_. This book was remarkably well received and went through a number of editions, the last in the year 1797. Ruspini did not, in reality, contribute very much to the development of dental science. He is, however, to be especially remembered as the inventor of a very good mouth mirror, a means of examination which afterward gradually came into general use.

* * * * *

Having brought our history of dentistry up to the end of the eighteenth century, in order to complete our work we must now speak of an innovation in dental prosthesis, which, although gradually brought to perfection in the following century, was first introduced at that time. We allude to the

INVENTION OF MINERAL TEETH.

The merit of this invention is due, in part, to an individual outside the dental profession, namely, to the French chemist Duchâteau, of St. Germain en Laye, near Paris, who first had the idea of employing porcelain as material for dental prosthesis. However, his idea would not have yielded fruitful results had it not been for the coöperation of the dentist Dubois de Chemant, who succeeded in putting it into practice.

The circumstances connected with this invention were the following: The chemist Duchâteau had for some time worn a denture of hippopotamus ivory, but as usually happened with all the prosthetic pieces of that time, which were made of organic material, and were, therefore, subject to decay, this denture had acquired a very disagreeable odor, resulting from the action of the buccal humors. Besides which, Duchâteau being obliged, by reason of his profession, to continually taste pharmaceutic preparations, his denture had gradually become impregnated with medicinal substances that imparted a nauseous taste to everything he ate. The unpleasantness of this was a subject of much consideration with him, and thus it was that, to remedy the evil, he gradually matured the idea of having a porcelain denture made, on the model of the ivory one. In the year 1774 he applied to the porcelain manufactory of M. Guerhard in Paris for the carrying out of his design. The first trial was not successful, for in the baking the paste contracted so much that the denture was no longer of the right dimensions. To remedy this, he now had another and larger denture made, to allow for its contraction in the baking. But the results did not correspond with his wishes, and many trials were still necessary before Duchâteau was able to obtain a denture which he judged fit for use, although not without defects. As this denture, because of its dead whiteness, produced an unpleasant effect, he had a yellowish tint, resembling that of the natural teeth, given to it, and, as is usual with painting on porcelain, fixed this color by baking a second time.

However, this denture proving unserviceable, Duchâteau was obliged to put it aside and begin new experiments. These were made with a special kind of porcelain paste used in France for the first time in 1740, which vitrified in baking at 12° to 25° by Wedgwood’s pyrometer, whilst the usual porcelain required a temperature of 72° to 75° by the same test; but the results thus obtained were no better than the preceding ones, and upon these new failures Duchâteau applied to the dentist Dubois de Chemant, of Paris, for his collaboration. Together they made fresh attempts, modifying the composition of the paste by adding a certain quantity of pipe clay and other coloring earths to it. These modifications enabled them to carry out the baking of the pieces at a much lower temperature, and after various experiments the final result was a denture that fitted the gums well enough, and which, in point of fact, Duchâteau was able to wear.

Encouraged by this success, he tried to manufacture like dentures for personages of high rank, hoping to gain money thereby, but his want of knowledge of the dental art prevented him from succeeding in his undertaking. However, in 1776 he laid this new process before the Royal Academy of Surgeons in Paris, receiving the thanks of that body as well as an honorable mention.

Whilst Duchâteau, discouraged by failure, was giving up all idea of deriving profit from the practical application of his invention, Dubois de Chemant, on the contrary, did not cease working for a moment, in order to bring the new method of prosthesis to perfection. Little by little he introduced important modifications into the composition of the mineral paste used in the manufacture of the dentures, incorporating therewith Fontainebleau sand, alicant soda, marl, red oxide of iron, and cobalt. His experiments and researches aimed at three principal ends, viz.:

1. The obtaining of mineral teeth offering all the gradations of color presented by natural ones.

2. The arriving at a rigorous calculation of the contraction of the mineral paste in the baking, so as to be able to make prosthetic pieces of the desired form and dimensions.

3. The perfecting of the means of attachment of the prosthetic pieces, and, in particular, of the springs.

By working with intelligence and perseverance, Dubois de Chemant gradually obtained satisfactory results, and when, in 1788, he published his first pamphlet on mineral teeth, he had already made dentures and partial prosthetic pieces for a certain number of persons, who wore them to great advantage.

As to the chemist Duchâteau, from 1776 to 1788, that is, during the twelve years subsequent to his communication to the Academy of Surgeons, he did absolutely nothing at all. He is, therefore, entitled to the credit of having had a happy idea and of having endeavored to put it into practice; but the merit of having given life to the idea, abandoned for so many years by him with whom it originated, is exclusively due to Dubois de Chemant; he is, therefore, with reason considered the true inventor of mineral teeth.

Dubois de Chemant, however, was so unjust as to take the whole credit of the invention for himself, declaring in his writings that the original idea had been exclusively his own, and was in no way due to Duchâteau.

In 1789 Dubois de Chemant made his invention known to the Academy of Sciences and to the Faculty of Medicine of Paris; both pronounced in favor of it, and in consequence of the opinion given by such high authorities, he soon after obtained an inventor’s patent from Louis XVI.

Dubois’ successes now aroused the envy of many of his colleagues, and especially of Dubois Foucou, the king’s dentist, who, together with the greater part of the dentists of Paris and the chemist Duchâteau, brought an action against him, accusing him of having usurped the invention of Duchâteau, and demanding, for this reason, the annulment of the inventor’s patent that had been granted him. But the law courts, in an opinion dated January 26, 1792, rejected the demand for annulment, recognized the patent of invention as fully valid, and condemned Dubois Foucou, Duchâteau, and their confederates to the costs of the judgment.

Paris being at that time in full revolution, Dubois de Chemant was induced to emigrate to England. He established himself in London, and there obtained a patent without much difficulty, according him the exclusive right, for fourteen years, of manufacturing dentures of mineral paste.

Dubois de Chemant wrote several pamphlets in order to make known to the public this new kind of dental prosthesis and its advantages; some of these were published in Paris (1788, 1790, 1824), and others during his long residence in London, where he remained from 1792 to 1817. In these pamphlets he upholds the great superiority of “the incorruptible teeth of mineral paste” over all other kinds of artificial teeth; he calls special attention to the fact that teeth of bone, ivory, and of every other organic substance whatever gradually become spoilt through the action of the saliva, of oral heat, of food and drink, etc., and not only lose their primitive color and assume a dirty hue, most unpleasant to the eye, but acquire a bad odor, at times quite insupportable, becoming, besides, a cause of irritation to the gums and the mucous membrane of the mouth, not to speak of their gradual softening and wearing out, which renders them unserviceable after a certain time. All these disadvantages were avoided by using the new prosthetic material, this being incorruptible and inalterable.

The prosthetic appliances by Dubois de Chemant were made in one single piece that represented the gums and teeth, whether in the case of one or more teeth, or of whole dental sets. He used to take a cast of the parts on which the prosthesis was to be applied, and by a process, the details of which are not known; he succeeded in obtaining prosthetic pieces that fitted the parts perfectly, notwithstanding the difficulties resulting from the shrinking of the paste in baking. If the piece required retouching, he did this by means of special tools for grinding down porcelain. He could, besides, drill holes in the porcelain for the application of the means of attachment. In fact, Dubois de Chemant was the creator of a new method of prosthesis applicable to any and every case, and which gained the praise and admiration of the great doctors and scientists of that day, among whom may be mentioned Geoffroy, Vicq d’Asyr, Descemet, Bajet, Petit Radel, Darcet, Sabatier, Jenner, and others. The Paris Faculty of Medicine gave it as their judgment that the prosthetic pieces manufactured by Dubois de Chemant united the qualities of beauty, solidity, and comfort to the exigencies of hygiene.

These eulogies must, however, be received with a certain reserve, as, beyond doubt, the mineral teeth of that time still left much to be desired. In England, where, as we have already said, they had been introduced by the inventor, they at first obtained a great success, which was, however, of short duration, and Maury[547] tells us that toward 1814 they had fallen into great discredit and had been entirely abandoned; this signifies that practically they did not fulfil the expectations held out.

DUBOIS FOUCOU and FONZI. Among the first who occupied themselves with the manufacturing of mineral teeth, contributing also to their improvement, are to be named Dubois Foucou, to whom we have already made reference, and Fonzi, an Italian by birth, who exercised the profession of dentist in Paris. Dubois Foucou made some improvements in the coloring of porcelain teeth, and in 1808 published a pamphlet in which he explained his mode of proceeding in manufacturing them.[548] In the same year Fonzi made known a new kind of teeth,[549] which he called _terro-metallic_. These differed from those of Dubois de Chemant in that they were all single teeth intended to be applied on a base by means of small hooks of platina, with which each tooth was furnished. In addition to this important innovation, Fonzi also discovered the means of imitating in some degree the semitransparent tint peculiar to natural teeth.

Notwithstanding this, the teeth made by Fonzi, of which there are still some specimens in various dental museums, had anything but a good appearance, and there still remained much to be done before mineral teeth reached the height of perfection which they attained later on.

Earliest specimens of mineral teeth.]

The credit of having introduced many new improvements in the manufacture of mineral teeth belongs especially to the Americans. Among those who particularly distinguished themselves in this department of dental art, we may note Charles W. Peale, Samuel W. Stockton, James Alcock, and Dr. Elias Wildman. But the most brilliant results, as is well known, were obtained by the celebrated Samuel S. White, who, by an intelligent and persevering activity, dedicated almost exclusively to improving mineral teeth and to bringing them into general use, contributed vastly to the progress of modern dental art. Samuel S. White undoubtedly stands forth as one of the noblest and grandest figures in the history of dentistry, and his name will ever be recorded with honor and veneration by dentists of all ages.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] See Introduction to the German translation of the Ebers’ papyrus, by Heinrich Joachim, Berlin, 1890.

[2] The Egyptians had three different kinds of writing: the hieroglyphic, the hieratic, and the demotic. The hieroglyphic style, which is the most ancient and is chiefly to be found on monuments and in religious texts, consists of figures representing every kind of object; the hieratic or sacerdotal style is an abbreviation of the hieroglyphic writing; the demotic or popular style, the least ancient, resulted from further abbreviations of the hieratic.

[3] See page 185 of the German translation of Dr. Joachim.

[4] See the German translation by Joachim, page 162.

[5] A fruit resembling cherries.

[6] On the Relations of the Human Teeth to those of the Lower Animals, by John R. Mummery. Trans. Odontological Society of Great Britain, May, 1860.

[7] See German translation by Joachim, p. 120.

[8] Herodoti Halicarnassei historia, 1570 fol. Euterpe, page 53.

[9] Herodoti Halicarnassei historia, lib. vi.

[10] Die Zahnheilkunde, Erlangen, 1851, p. 348.

[11] G. B. Belzoni (1778 to 1823), a celebrated Italian traveller and archeologist, visited Egypt and Nubia, and wrote, in English, a report on his discoveries, which was published in 1821. We have not been able to procure this book; we have, however, read the Italian version, published in Naples in 1831, without coming across any mention of artificial teeth found in Egyptian sarcophagi. Therefore, unless the work has undergone some mutilation in the Italian translation, we do not know whence Joseph Linderer can have taken the above notice.

[12] New England Journal of Dentistry, 1883, vol. ii, p. 162.

[13] According to Herodotus and Diodorus, there were three different modes of embalming in use among the Egyptians; the most expensive of these cost one talent (about 5600 francs), the second in order 20 minae (about 1900 francs), while for the less wealthy there was a third class, at a much more economical rate.

[14] See Giornale di Corrispondenza pei Dentisti, October, 1885, p. 227.

[15] [The oft-quoted statements of Mr. Purland with reference to Egyptian dental art are recorded in the transactions of the first monthly meeting of the College of Dentists, an extinct English dental association, and published in the Quarterly Journal of Dental Science, 1857, vol. i, p. 49, where the following note by the secretary appears: “Mr. Purland repudiated the idea of the Chinese having been the first to manufacture teeth, and referred to numerous specimens in the British Museum, manufactured between four thousand and five thousand years ago by the Egyptians, who he considered were the original makers. On the subject of flint, Mr. Purland said he had discovered pieces of wood in the centre, and remarked upon the artificial teeth he had found in mummies.”

Again, at page 63 of the same journal, in an article entitled “Dental Memoranda,” by T. Purland, Dentist, Ph.D., the author says:

“Belzoni and others discovered rudely manufactured teeth in the sarcophagi of the Egyptians. As regards the use of gold leaf, Sir Gardner Wilkinson observes, as a singular fact, that the Egyptians stopped teeth with gold.

“It is true that rudely manufactured teeth have been found in the heads of Egyptian mummies, but it is equally true that teeth of a very superior make and adaptation have also been found, some carved in ivory, others in sycamore wood, and some have been found fixed upon gold plates. Of these varieties, some are deposited in the valuable and extensive museum belonging to Joseph Mayer, Esq., F.S.A., of Liverpool; others are in the museums of Berlin and Paris, and I am in possession of a tooth found pivoted to a stump in the head of a mummy in the collection of a lamented friend.

“Of stopping with gold, several instances have come to my notice, particularly in a mummy in the Salt collection, sold by Sotheby, in 1836, in which three teeth had been stopped. I have endeavored to trace the mummy, but in vain.”—E. C. K.]

[16] Giornale di Corrispondenza pei Dentisti, October, 1885, p. 229.

[17] Geist-Jacobi, Geschichte der Zahnheilkunde, p. 9.

[18] Geist-Jacobi, Geschichte der Zahnheilkunde, p. 9.

[19] Ibid.

[20] Ibid.

[21] The incisors represented in the cut of Renan’s work do not at all give the anatomical form of upper incisors, but of lower ones. Therefore, either the figure itself has been badly drawn, or the piece found by Dr. Gaillardot was part of the inferior and not of the superior jaw. In the latter case, the figure in Renan’s book ought to be reversed, in the manner here shown:

The same figure reversed, as it ought to be if the piece found at Sidon belonged to a lower jaw.]

Examples of dental prosthesis as practised by the Hindus at the present time.]

Neither do we understand on what ground Dr. Gaillardot has based his affirmation of the piece discovered having belonged to a female skeleton, as it is well known that there is no characteristic difference between a male and a female jaw.

[Interesting examples of the survival of this primitive type of dental prosthesis are found among the Hindus at the present time. The two illustrations (Figs. 5 and 6) are from photographs of specimens of work done by native Hindu dentists. Fig. 5 is a roughly carved artificial tooth of ivory attached by a gold wire ligature to the adjacent natural teeth, all of which, with the artificial tooth attached, were subsequently lost by alveolar disease. Fig. 6 is a similar carved artificial tooth of ivory attached to the adjoining teeth by a thread ligature, the supporting teeth with the attached ivory tooth also having been lost by alveolar disease. These specimens were removed and sent to the writer by Dr. H. B. Osborn, of Burma, during the present year (1909).—E. C. K.]

[22] Renan, Mission de Phénicie, p. 472.

[23] The number varies according to the different translations. So, instead of the Latin dentes elephantis, we find in English and in other languages the word _ivory_.

[24] J. Bouillet, Précis d’histoire de la Médecine, Paris, 1883, p. 24.

[25] La médecine chez les Chinois, par le Capitaine P. P. Dabry, Consul de France en Chine, Membre de la Société Asiatique de Paris, 1863.

[26] One of these books, Nuei-King, is said to have been written twenty-seven centuries before the Christian era, by the Emperor Houang-ty, the founder of Chinese medicine.

[27] See Bouillet, work quoted at p. 31.

[28] Dabry, op. cit., p. x (introduction), pp. 1, 2, 4, 10, 11.

[29] This author wrote toward the end of the seventeenth century; one of his works is entitled De Acupunctura.

[30] Dabry, op. cit., p. 424.

[31] See Histoire de la Chirurgie depuis son origine, par MM. Dujardin et Peyrihle, Paris, 1774 to 1780.

[32] London, 1811.

[33] Die Zahnheilkunde, etc., 1851, p. 347.

[34] J. Bontii, De medicina Indorum, 1642, lib. iv.

[35] Carabelli, Handbuch der Zahnheilkunde, 1844, i, 8.

[36] Linderer, op. cit.

[37] [The newer civilization of Japan has caused this custom to largely fall into disuse.—E. C. K.]

[38] Carabelli, loc. cit.

[39] Linderer, loc. cit.

[40] Carabelli, op. cit., p. 17.

[41] The Greek name Asklepios became in the Latin, Æsculapius; the two names are therefore equivalents.

[42] See Cicero, De Natura deorum, lib. iii, chap. xxii.

[43] [Homer speaks of them as “two excellent physicians,” and refers to Machaon as “a blameless physician,” and admits that “a medical man is equivalent to _many_ others.” Their renown was continued in a poem of Arctinus, wherein one was represented as without a rival in surgery, the other as sagacious in detecting morbid symptoms.—C. M.]

[44] Praktische Darstellung aller Operationen der Zahnarznei-kunst, von Johann Jakob Joseph Serre, Berlin, pp. 7 to 13.

[45] Guardia, Histoire de la Médecine, p. 250.

[46] Hippocratis opera, Genevæ, 1657 to 1662, De natura hominis, p. 225.

[47] Page 251.

[48] Page 252.

[49] Page 253.

[50] De morbis mulierum, lib. ii, p. 666.

[51] The use of carbonate of lime or chalk as a dentifrice evidently goes back to antiquity.

[52] Unwashed wool—that is, wool not cleansed of the fat secreted by the skins of the animals from whom it is taken—was much in use by the doctors of antiquity. One now obtains _lanolin_ from it.

[53] The obole was about three-quarters of a gram.

[54] The cotyle was a little more than a quarter of a liter.

[55] Page 507.

[56] Page 21.

[57] See Daremberg, Dictionnaire des Antiquités Grecques et Romaines, article “Chirurgie.”

[58] The various editions here offer numerous variations, but the sense is everywhere obscure.

[59] See Bouillet, Précis d’Histoire de la Médecine, p. 94.

[60] On Epidemics, lib. ii, section i, p. 1002.

[61] De morbis vulgaribus, lib. iv, p. 1131.

[62] That is a very short root.

[63] Page 1138.

[64] De morbis vulgaribus, lib. v, p. 1157.

[65] Page 1157.

[66] De morbis vulgaribus, lib. vi, section i, p. 1164.

[67] Ibid., vii, p. 1223.

[68] Page 1229.

[69] De morbis vulgaribus, lib. vii, p. 1238.

[70] The title of these seven books of Hippocrates might cause a false idea to be conceived. They do not precisely treat of epidemics in the sense given to the word in the present day; instead, they describe the maladies which predominated during four years, in successive periods of time, according with the variations of the atmospheric conditions. (See Litré, Introduction to the books on Epidemics.)

[71] De morbis vulgaribus, lib. iii, p. 1009; lib. vi, section iii, p. 1176.

[72] De morbis vulgaribus, lib. iv, p. 1138; Aphorisms, lib. iv, No. 53, p. 1251.

[73] Coacæ prænotiones, No. 235, p. 157; Prædictorum, lib. i, No. 48, p. 71.

[74] Coacæ prænotiones, No. 236, p. 157.

[75] Loc. cit., No. 237.

[76] Loc. cit., No. 239.

[77] Loc. cit., No. 241, p. 157; No. 648, p. 222.

[78] De morbis vulgaribus, lib. iii, p. 1083.

[79] Ibid., lib. iv, p. 1121.

[80] Prædictorum, lib. ii, p. 111.

[81] De affectionibus, p. 521.

[82] De internis affectionibus, p. 549.

[83] Paul Dubois, Aide-mémoire du chirurgien-dentiste, Paris, 1894, 2me partie, pp. 415, 416.

[84] Prædictorum, lib. ii, p. 108.

[85] De internis affectionibus, p. 534.

[86] De humoribus, p. 49.

[87] De morbis vulgaribus, lib. ii, section vi, p. 1050.

[88] Prædictorum, lib. ii, p. 96.

[89] De articulis, p. 799.

[90] Loc. cit.

[91] De articulis, p. 800.

[92] Aphorism, lib. v, No. 18, p. 1253.

[93] De liquidorum usu, p. 426.

[94] De locis in homine, p. 419.

[95] De morbis vulgaribus, lib. i, p. 948.

[96] De partibus animalium, lib. iii, cap. i.

[97] Ctesias, of Cnydus, wrote various works, somewhat earlier than Aristotle; one of which, the History of India, is very interesting, but also contains not a few fables.

[98] This, as well as other errors of Aristotle, we shall find repeated throughout the lapse of centuries by many authors, Galen not excluded, who, in fact, by the authority of his name, gave them valid confirmation.

[99] The distinction between arteries and veins was, at that time, not yet well known, though we already find, in this passage of Aristotle, allusion made to the relations between the teeth and the bloodvessels.

[100] According to the testimony of Celsus, a very serious author and in every way worthy of belief, Herophilus and Erasistratus dissected not only corpses, but also living men, namely, malefactors consigned to them by the kings of Egypt, in order that they might make researches into the normal conditions of the organs during life, and their mode of functioning. See Cornel. Cels., De re medica, lib. i, Preface.

[101] Cœlii Aureliani de morbis acutis et chronicis, lib. viii, Amstelædami, 1755, Pars ii, lib. ii, cap. iv, De dolore dentium.

[102] Herophilus et Heraclides Tarentinus mori quosdam detractione dentis memoraverunt.

[103] Arretium, Cære, Clusium, Cortona, Fæsulæ, Falerii, Pisæ, Russellæ, Tarquinii, Vetulonia, Volaterræ, Volsinii.

[104] Deneffe, La prothèse dentaire dans l’antiquité, p. 51.

[105] Dr. Cigrand in his book The Rise, Fall, and Revival of Dental Prosthesis, after having spoken of the Phœnician dental appliance described in Renan’s work, adds: “There are scores of specimens of Phœnician dental art in home collections and also at the Columbian World’s Fair.” However, until these specimens of Phœnician dental art are described and their origin is exactly known, their authenticity will always remain a matter of doubt. [Cigrand is in error. The specimens he speaks of were mainly imagined.—W. H. TRUEMAN.]

[106] Deneffe, op. cit., pp. 60, 61.

[107] Deneffe, op. cit., p. 63.

[108] Plinius, lib. xxix, cap. v.

[109] This article forms part of the tenth table. The Law of the Twelve Tables was lost, but citations and passages are to be found in Cicero and in the works of other Roman jurisconsults, and by the aid of these it has been possible to reconstruct, at least in part, this very ancient code of laws. See Dionysii Gothofredi, Corpus juris civilis. Amstelodami, 1663; and also Thesaurus juris romani cum prefat. Ottonis, Tome iii, Trajecti ad Rhenum, 1733.

[110] Josef Serre, Zahnarznei kunst, Berlin, 1804, p. 6.

[111] Geist-Jacobi, Geschichte der Zahnheilkunde, p. 26.

[112] See note, p. 15, Hist. Relations of Medicine and Surgery, Allbutt. (C. M.)

[113] A. Corn. Celsi de Medicina libri octo, Patavii, MDCCXXII.

[114] Celsus, lib. i, Preface.

[115] Wine with honey.

[116] [_Minium_ is an ancient name for red oxide of lead; it was also applied to mercuric sulphide or vermilion, and the term vermilion was also used as a designation for _granum tinctorum_ or _kermes_, the _coccus ilicis_, a variety of cochineal extolled by Galen for its medicinal properties. The exact nature of the meaning of minium in this connection is not altogether clear.—E. C. K.]

[117] A species of herb (all-heal).

[118] Peucedanum officinale, hog’s fennel.

[119] A species of wild grape thus called because it is red like minium (vermilion).

[120] Species of mineral. [An impure copper sulphide.—E. C. K.]

[121] Condensed juice of the seeds of the momordica elaterium, a bitter, irritating, and drastic substance.

[122] According to De Giorgi (Sinonimia chimico-farmacotecnica, Milan, 1889), scissile alum is one of the many names for blue vitriol or sulphate of copper.

[123] [The _cyperus rotundus_, recommended by Dioscorides in the treatment of ulcers in the mouth. Esteemed also by the Arab medical writers Serapion, Avicenna, and Rhazes. Not the cypress, _cupressus sempervirens_.—E. C. K.]

[124] Here is meant the paper made of papyrus and called in Latin charta.

[125] Trisulphide of arsenic.

[126] Celsus did not know of the upper maxillary bones as distinct bones. The same may be said of the other bones of the head. Celsus speaks of the osseous sutures and openings, but not of the different bones of the skull and face.

[127] C. Plinii Secundi, Historiæ Mundi, lib. vii, cap. ii.

[128] Lib. xxiv, cap. cxi.

[129] Lib. xi, cap. lxiii.

[130] Lib. xi, cap. lxiv.

[131] Cap. cvi.

[132] Dipsacus fullonum.

[133] Cap. cviii.

[134] Lib. xxviii, cap. ii.

[135] Lib. xxviii, cap. xi.

[136] Lib. xxviii, cap. xiv.

[137] Ibid., cap. xxvii.

[138] Ibid., cap. xxix.

[139] Ibid., cap. xlix.

[140] Ibid., cap. lxxviii.

[141] Lib. xxix, cap. ix.

[142] Lib. xxix, cap. x.

[143] Lib. xxix, cap. xi.

[144] Lib. xxx, cap. viii.

[145] Lib. xxx, cap. ix.

[146] Lib. xxx, cap. xlvii.

[147] Lib. xxxi, cap. xlv, xlvi.

[148] Lib. xxxii, cap. xiv.

[149] Trygon pastinaca, a large fish whose tail is armed with sharp and strong bones.

[150] A measure equal to 0.274 liter.

[151] [The sextarius was accorded different values, thus a sextary of oil was ℥xviij, of wine ℥xx, and of honey, ℥xvij.—E. C. K.]

[152] [Lat., the purple fish, a carnivorous marine mollusk.—E. C. K.]

[153] Lib. xxxii, cap. xlviii.

[154] A kind of lignite, now called jet.

[155] Ignatius, because he has white teeth, is always laughing; if he be present at the felon’s trial, whilst the counsel is moving all to tears, he laughs; he laughs even when everyone is mourning at the funeral pyre of a dutiful son, whilst the mother is weeping for her only child. He laughs at everything, everywhere, and whatever he be doing; this is his weakness, which methinks is neither polite nor elegant. Wherefore, I must tell thee, O good Ignatius, even if thou wert a citizen of Rome, or a Sabine, or of Tibur, or one of the thrifty Umbrians, or of the fat Etruscans, or wert thou a black and large-toothed Lanuvin, or a Transpadane, if I may speak of my own people, or belonging to any people that cleanly wash their teeth; even then I would not have thee be always laughing; for nothing is more silly than a silly laugh. Now, O Celtiberian, in thy Celtiberian land, each is accustomed, with the water he has himself emitted, to rub his teeth and gums. Wherefore the cleaner are thy teeth, the more surely stale dost thou accuse thyself of having drunk.

[156] Rerum geographicarum libri. Lutetiæ Parisiorum, 1620. Lib. iii, p. 164; quippe qui urina in cisternis inveterata laventur, eaque cum ipsi, tum eorum uxores dentes tergant; quod Cantabros facere et eorum confines ajunt (Carabelli, Systematisches Handbuch der Zahnheilkunde, Wien, 1844, i, 12).

[157] Handbuch der Zahnheilkunde, Berlin, 1848, ii, 412.

[158] Medio recumbit imus ille qui lecto, Calvam trifilem segmentatus unguento, Foditque tonsis ora laxa lentiscis; Mentitur, Esculane; non habet dentes.

[159] Lentiscum melius; sed si tibi frondea cuspis Defuerit, dentes penna levare potest.

[160] Antiq. du Bosphore au Musée de l’Ermitage, pl. xxx, 8 et 9 (Dictionnaire des antiquités grecques et romaines, par Daremberg, Saglio, etc.).

[161] Mittheilung. d. antiq. Gesellschaft in Zürich, xv, pl. xi, 32 (Daremberg and Saglio, ibid.)

[162] Caylus, vol. vi, pl. cxxx, 5.

[163] Dentifricium ad edentulam: Quid mecum est tibi? me puella sumat, Emptos non soleo polire dentes.

[164] Lib. xii, epig. xxiii.

[165] Dentibus atque comis, nec te pudet, uteris emptis. Quid facies oculo, Lælia? non emitur.

[166] Nostris versibus esse te poetam, Fidentine, putas, cupisque eredi? Sic dentata sic videtur Ægle, Emptis ossibus, indicoque cornu. (Lib. i, epig. lxxii.)

[167] Lib. ix, epig. xxxviii.

[168] Nec dentes aliter quam serica nocte reponas.

[169] Horat. Sat. viii, lib. i.

[170] Eximit aut reficit dentem Cascellius ægrum.

[171] Suffire autem oportet ore aperto alterci semine carbonibus asperso, subinde os colluere aqua calida; interdum enim quasi vermiculi quidam eiciuntur.

[172] Gum of the cedar tree.

[173] Dentifricium, quod splendidos facit dentes et confirmat, chap. xi, lix.

[174] A Roman measure of capacity, equal to a little more than half a liter.

[175] The origin of the theriac, according to what Galen writes in his book De antidotis, is to be traced back to Mithridates, King of Pontus, who lived from the year 132 to the year 63 B.C. This king, patron of Art and Science, was, for his times, an eminent toxicologist. By making experiments on condemned criminals he sought to discover by what drugs the action of the various poisons, both mineral and vegetable, and those inoculated by the bites of poisonous animals might be counteracted. He afterward mixed the various antidotes together for the purpose of obtaining a remedy that might prove a preservative against the action of any poison whatever. This universal remedy, the receipt of which was carried to Rome by Pompey, the conqueror of that great king, was named _mithridatium_, after the name of him who had composed it. Andromachus modified the mithridate; he took away certain ingredients and added others, reducing the number of them from about eighty to sixty-five. The principal modification was that of introducing into the composition of this drug the flesh of the viper; wherefore, Galen is of the opinion that the theriac (so called from the Greek word _therion_, a noxious animal) was more efficacious than the mithridate against the bite of the viper. The theriac still exists in the French pharmacopeia, although considerably simplified. In every 4 grams it contains 5 centigrams of opium.

[176] A species of solanaceæ of the Physalis genus, probably the Physalis alkekengi.

[177] Galeni de compositione medicamentorum secundum locos, liber v.

[178] J. R. Duval, Recherches historiques sur l’art du dentiste chez les anciens, Paris, 1808, p. 19. (See Carabelli, p. 13.)

[179] Galen admits three kinds of nerves: soft or sensitive nerves, originating from the brain; hard or motor nerves, originating from the spinal marrow; medial nerves, motor-sensitive, originating from the medulla oblongata.

[180] Galen distinguishes seven pairs of cerebral nerves; his third pair corresponds to the trigeminus.

[181] Galeni de usu partium corporis humani, lib. xvi.

[182] Galeni de compositione medicamentorum secundum locos, lib. v.

[183] Medicus, chap. xix.

[184] Trigonella fœnum græcum, a papilionaceous plant.

[185] [About twenty-eight fluid ounces.—E. C. K.]

[186] Under the name of _root_, the ancients meant also the _neck_ of the tooth.

[187] Swallow, I tell thee, as this water will not be again in my mouth, even so my teeth will not ache for the whole year.

[188] The cure of teeth affected by warm painful disease; according to Adamantius the sophist.

[189] Ætii tetrabibl., ii, sermo iv, cap. xxvii.

[190] Ibid., cap. xxxi.

[191] Ætii tetrabibl., ii, sermo iv, cap. xix.

[192] Ibid., i, sermo iv, cap. ix.

[193] Ibid., ii, sermo iv, cap. xxiv.

[194] Tetrabibl., ii, sermo iv, cap. xxv.

[195] Ibid., cap. xxvi.

[196] [The author quoted directs hydromel to be made from one part of honey and eight parts of water boiled until it has ceased frothing.—E. C. K.]

[197] Pauli Æginetæ de re medica, lib. vi, cap. xxvii.

[198] Lib. vi, cap. xxviii.

[199] Ibid., cap. ix.

[200] Ibid., cap. xxix.

[201] Rasis opera, Venetiis, 1508.

[202] Haly Abbas Pract., lib. v, cap. lxxviii.

[203] Ibid., cap. xxxiii.

[204] Serapionis practica, Venetiis, 1503.

[205] Avicennæ opera in re medica, Venetiis, 1564.

[206] Abulcasis de Chirurgia, lib. i, cap. xix, p. 47; Latin translation by Channing with the Arabic text in front, Oxford, 1778.

[207] Cap. xx, p. 47.

[208] Cap. xxi, p. 49.

[209] Zegi was the name given by the Arabs to blue vitriol.

[210] Lib. ii, cap. xxviii, p. 181.

[211] Lib. ii, cap. xxix, pp. 181 to 183.

[212] This great Mahommedan surgeon was, it seems, very religious. His book begins with the words: “In the name of the merciful God, Lord perfect in goodness,” and almost every chapter ends with “If God so wills,” and the like.

[213] These two manuscript codices are found in the Bodleian Library at Oxford.

[214] Lib. ii, cap. xxx, p. 185.

[215] The Arabic word used by the author means more precisely “those who apply cupping glasses.” Channing has translated it by _tonsores_, barbers.

[216] An advice already given by Celsus.

[217] Lib. ii, cap. xxxi, p. 191.

[218] Silly barbers.

[219] Lib. ii, cap. xxxi, p. 187.

[220] Lib. ii, cap. xxxii, p. 193.

[221] Lib. ii, cap. xxxv, p. 197.

[222] Lib. iii, cap. iv, p. 545.

[223] [In connection with the practice of applying medicines to the teeth or upon the gums, with the object of rendering the operation of tooth extraction less difficult, the use of arsenical compounds as an ingredient of these topical applications is of peculiar interest. In an Italian translation of the writings of Johannes Mesue, published at Venice in 1521, the following interesting reference to the use of arsenic appears:

“The son of Zachariah Arazi compounds a medicine to assist the extraction of the teeth. ℞—Pyrethrum, colquintida root and the bark of the mulberry root, the seed and leaves of almezeron, huruc, and yellow arsenic, milk of alscebram or pieces of it, ground very thoroughly with vinegar; then pour some of it over bdellium and halasce, of each, equal parts, dry and dissolve in strong vinegar and make trochisi of it, and with them anoint the roots of the tooth from hour to hour; this facilitates the extraction of it.

“There is also another medicine with which one fills the decayed tooth and breaks it: ℞—Seeds of almezeron and milk of alscebram compounded with liquid pitch, and fill with it the decayed tooth. Another one: ℞—Bauras, bark of the willow, of each, one part; yellow arsenic, two parts; compound with honey and place it upon and around the tooth and immediately extract it.

“The fat of the green frog which lives upon the trees breaks teeth which are anointed with it the same as when you anoint them with milk of alscebram or titimallo, and similarly also the milk of celso with yellow arsenic.”

In this connection it is also interesting to note that the ancient Arabian medical writers referred to the red sulphide of arsenic or realgar as sandarach. The term Sandarach was clearly used by these writers to designate two different medicaments—one the gum-vernix, exudate of the Juniper tree, and which we now know as Sandarach gum. They also apply the term to red arsenic, as above stated. Avicenna clearly distinguishes between the two kinds of Sandarach, and says with regard to the gum-vernix or Juniper Sandarach that it is the best of all known remedies for toothache. While, as shown by Dr. Guerini, many of the medicaments used as topical applications to facilitate the extraction of teeth were wholly without any possible effect of that character, it cannot be doubted that the application of arsenical preparations, such as those referred to by Mesue, could not fail to set up an arsenical necrosis about the roots of the tooth, rendering it loose and easy of removal, but necessarily with the disadvantage of producing a dangerously extensive necrosis of the tissues.

_Mesue Vulgar._—Impresso in Venitia per Cesaro Arrivabeno Venitiano a di vinti octubrio, mille cinquecento e vintiuno.

Delle Medicini Particulare, Libro Quarto, Capitolo XLI.—E. C. K.]

[224] Joannis Mesue opera, Venetiis, 1562.

[225] Sprengel, Geschichte der Chirurgie, Part II, p. 279.

[226] Linderer, Handbuch der Zahnheilkunde, Berlin, 1848, ii, 403.

[227] Bruni Chirurgia magna.

[228] Sprengel, Geschichte der Chirurgie, Part II, p. 280.

[229] Sprengel, loc. cit.

[230] Sprengel, loc. cit.

[231] La Grande Chirurgie de Guy de Chauliac, chirurgien maistre en médecine de l’Université de Montpellier, composée en l’an 1363, revue et collationnée sur les manuscrits et imprimés latins et français par E. Nicaise, 1890.

[232] Of these copies, twenty-two are written in Latin, four in French, two in Provençal, three in English, one in Netherlandish (Dutch), one in Italian, and one in Hebrew.

[233] Nicaise, La Grande Chirurgie de Guy de Chauliac, Second Chapitre: De l’Anatomie de la face et de ses parties, p. 47.

[234] Here, as elsewhere, is preserved the old orthography of the text.

[235] Nicaise, p. 711.

[236] Teeth may be produced not only in infancy, but also at a later age.

[237] Nicaise, p. 205.

[238] Pietro of Albano (1250 to 1316), the writer of many books, among which one bearing the title of Conciliator differentiorum philosophorum et præcipue medicorum, is often quoted by Guy de Chauliac and by many others under the name of Conciliator.

[239] Nicaise, p. 505.

[240] Appropriatæ barbitonsoribus et dentatoribus.

[241] In one Latin manuscript of 1461 instead of _dentator_ we already find the word _dentista_.

[242] Nicaise, p. 506. To make clear the meaning of these names, the following must be noted: The _rasoirs_ (_rasoria_) were instruments with one cutting edge alone, which were used in performing any kind of incision. _Raspatoria_ (râpes, _i. e._, rasps) signified almost certainly scrapers, not rasps. The _spatumes_ were instruments with one or two cutting edges, of various shapes, but usually small. _Esprouvettes_ (Latin, _probæ_) were the sounds or probes. _Scalpra_ means scalpels, but in this case has especially the meaning of _déchaussoirs_, gum lancets. _Terebelli_ (French, _Tarières_) are the trepans or perforators.

[243] Nicaise, p. 507.

[244] By the word _apostema_, Guy de Chauliac, and many other writers, indicate every pathological condition in which the normal elements of the tissues are separated from one another, by a humorous or gaseous gathering, or by any phlogistic or neoplastic formation. The word signifies, in Greek, _removal_, just like the Latin word _abscessus_. In fact, these two terms were often used as synonyms; but at other times the word apostema had a wider meaning, and included, besides the abscess, the phlegmon, the furunculus, the anthrax, erysipelas, herpes, and other dermal affections, especially the pustulous ones, edema and other serous gatherings, subcutaneous emphysema and other gaseous gatherings, glandular tumefactions, cysts, benignant and malignant tumors.

[245] De la dent esbranlée et affoiblie, Nicaise, p. 509.

[246] “De l’humidité qui amollist le nerf et le ligament.”

[247] Evidently the author speaks of a “little gold chain,” because, as he is not versed in the practice of dentistry, he does not know that it was a simple gold wire which was used for keeping loose teeth firm. A small chain as thin as a thread could not be possibly made, and would even then be excessively weak.

[248] This name was first given to medicaments containing gall-nuts, then, by extension, also to compound remedies not containing such substance, and to which was given the name of _aliptæ_, v. Nicaise, p. 677.

[249] According to Nicaise, the Cyperus esculentus (in French, “souchet”) is here referred to.

[250] In the Latin text: Buccelletur cum scalpro et lima.

[251] Here lavement means mouth wash, not injection.

[252] Cum raspatoriis et spatuminibus radantur.

[253] Treatise vi, doctrine i, chap. viii: “Des membres qu’il faut amputer,” etc., Nicaise, p. 435.

[254] According to Joubert several solanaceæ had this name, among others _Solanum nigrum_ and _Solanum somniferum_ (Physalis somnifera L.), which probably corresponds to the _Strychnos hypnoticus_ of Dioscorides.

[255] Valesci Philonium, etc.; Francofurti MDXCIX, cap. lxiv, De dolore dentium, p. 195 et seq.

[256] Plant belonging to the order of the Polygonaceæ.

[257] “Materia lapidea paullatim abradatur ferro et dentifriciis partim mundificativis, et partim stypticis. Deinde colluantur denies sæpe vino albo, et fricentur sale torrefacto.” Cap. lxvii, De colore dentium præter naturam, p. 202.

[258] “Quoniam, licet ex parte corrosi sint, attamen dolore sedato masticationem iuvant, et alios firmiores reddunt.” Appendices, p. 205.

[259] “Ossa fiunt ex spermate et sanguine menstruo; dentes autem ex sanguine, in quo remansit virtus spermatis.” Appendices, p. 205.

[260] Petri de Largelata chirurgiæ libri sex, Venetiis, 1480.

[261] _Bartolomæi Montagnanæ_ Consilia, Venetiis, 1497.

[262] Johannis Platearii Salernitani practica brevis, Lugduni, 1525.

[263] Joannis Arculani commentaria in nonum librum Rasis ad regem Almansorem, etc., Venetiis, 1542.

[264] This Arabian word was used to indicate the last molars.

[265] “Regimen autem implendo dentem corrosum est, ut impleatur in causa calida cum frigidis, et in frigida cum calidis. Secundo, ut non impleatur cum labore et vehementia addente in dolore, et ex propriis est gallia cum ciperis aut cum mastiche, et eligantur ex suprascriptis, calida aut frigida secundum opportunitatem, in contrarium dyscrasiæ dentis, sed ubi non fuerit multus recessus a mediocritate impleatur cum foliis auri.” Cap. xlviii, p. 195.

[266] In the Venetian edition (1542), however, all the figures which Arculanus inserted in his work are found in the beginning of the book, in a single table, together with the indication of the use to which each single instrument was destined.

[267] Alexandri Benedicti Veronensis de re medica opus, lib. vi, de affectibus dentium.

[268] Opera domini Joannis de Vigo in chyrurgia. Lugduni, 1521, lib. ii, tract. iii, cap. xiv, fol. 40.

[269] [The editions and translations of Vigo seem to have been endless. A French translation of his treatise on the wounds caused by firearms is said to have fallen into the hands of Paré, and had an inspiring influence upon the barber’s boy.—C. M.]

[270] Lib. v, cap. v, De doloribus dentium, fol. cxvii to cxix.

[271] Handbuch der Zahnheilkunde, Berlin, 1848, ii, 406.

[272] Geist-Jacobi, Geschichte der Zahnheilkunde, p. 80.

[273] A religious order of knights, established toward the close of the twelfth century, viz., during the third crusade. The original object of the association was to defend the Christian religion against the infidels, and to take care of the sick in the Holy Land.

[274] Geist-Jacobi, Geschichte der Zahnheilkunde, p. 82.

[275] Geist-Jacobi, p. 88.

[276] Albert von Haller, Bibliotheca chirurgica, i, 190.

[277] Nuetzlicher Bericht, wie man die Augen und das Gesicht schaerfen und gesund erhalten, die Zaehne frisch und fest erhalten soll. Würzburg, 1548.

[278] See Giornale di Corrispondenza pei dentisti, 1895, xxiv, 289.

[279] Joannis Arculani. Commentaria, Venetiis, 1542, cap. xlviii, De dolore dentium, p. 192.

[280] “The first dental book in the German language” (see Giornale di Corrispondenza pei dentisti, loc. cit.).

[281] A Latin translation of the French name _Du bois_.

[282] De humani corporis fabrica, libri septem.

[283] De humani corporis fabrica libri septem, cap. xi, De dentibus, pp. 40 to 42 (complete edition of the works of Vesalius, published at Leyden in 1725).

[284] Lib. i, cap. xlii, p. 141.

[285] From _gena_, a cheek.

[286] Blandin, Anatomie du système dentaire, Paris, 1836, p. 19.

[287] Portal, Histoire de l’anatomie et de la chirurgie, tome i, p. 545.

[288] Observationes anatomicæ, p. 39, et seq.

[289] _In utero duodecim dentes formantur in malis, et totidem in maxilla_ (in the uterus are formed twelve teeth in the upper jaw and as many in the lower). Fallopii Gabrielis observationes anatomicæ, Venetiis, 1562, p. 39.

[290] This sharp reproof and accusation of ignorance are made for the benefit of the immortal anatomist Andreas Vesalius, to the number of whose adversaries Eustachius likewise belonged. What unjust fury of party passion!

[291] Chap. xviii, p. 54.

[292] Chap. xxii, p. 65.

[293] Chap. xxiii, p. 70.

[294] Chap. xxv, xxvi.

[295] Chap. xxvii, xxviii.

[296] The inferior orifice of the foramen incisivum.

[297] It is superfluous to say that these cases are unreal and simply dependent upon erroneous observations; for instance, in the case of the second molar being extracted before the erupting of the third, the second molar figured as, and supposed to be, the latter, when, finally, the wisdom tooth appeared, it was believed to be the last molar renewed. It is no rare thing, also, in these days, not only for unprofessional persons, but also for medical practitioners, to fall into errors of this kind, especially because, in similar cases, the wisdom tooth, having but a limited space in which to erupt, is in the habit of filling the void left by the second molar, where it meets with less resistance.

[298] Page 93.

[299] Œuvres complètes d’Ambroise Paré, accompagnées de notes historiques et critiques, par J. F. Malgaigne, Paris, 1840, vol. i, p. 231.

[300] The lower molars, being seated on the roots and not suspended like those of the upper jaw, are not in want of so many roots to assure their stability.

[301] Vol. ii, p. 307.

[302] ... if they are divided, shaken, or separated from their alveoli or little cavities, they must be reduced into their places and should be bound and fastened against those that are firm with a thread of gold, silver, or flax. And they must be held thus until they are quite firm and the callus is formed and have become solid.