Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1871-09-21
Our Teeth.

iHE charms, omens, signs, panaceas, re-
lating to the teeth, constitute quite a form
liable item in folk lore. In some parts of
Sussex there is a superstition that if YOU
put on your right stocking right shoe, and
right trOwser-leg before the left, YOU will
never have toothache. To drink out of
skull taken from graveyard; to take a
tooth from such skull, and wear it round
the neck; TO apply the tooth to your own
living but aching tooth to put double
nut into your pocket; to pare your finger
nails and toe-nails, and wrap up the par
lngs in paper-all are charms against the
toothache. If you catch mole in trap,
cut Oft one of his paws and wear it as 8
charm, you will soon see the effect" pro-
vlded right paw be used for left tooth,
and vice oersa. When an aching tooth is
extracted, mix it with salt and burn it.
There is at Norfolk custom of calling
the tootache the Glove PAIN" for which
the sufferer is not entitled to any commits
Grafton; whether he (or she) fully assents
to this may perhaps be doubted Many
other items OF tooth lore have no connec-
ton with toothache. For instance: if the
teeth are set wide apart, there will be good
luck and plenty of travelling for the to1tu.
nate possessor When tooth is drawn,
IT you refrain from thrus'ing your tongue
into the cavity, the new tooth to grow in
It's place will be a lucky one Lady Went
worth, in letter written in 1913, to her
BOD, Lord STAFFORD, spoke of the efficacy
OF wolves teeth set in gold to assist chill
dren in cutting their teeth: "They are
very lucky things: for my twoc first one
did dye, the other bred his very i'll, and
none of we rest did for l had one for al
the rest" Bless the good lady her gram.
mar and her logic are about on par.
Why do some peoples teeth come out
more rapidly than others? The reasons
for this are probably many. About the
middle OF the last century Peter Kahn, a
Swede, visited America and wrote sensibly
about what he saw. He observed a frc.
quent loss of tc:th among settlers from
Europe. esp, cialiy wo1uell. After discuss
ing and rejecting many modes Of cxplaa.
ton, he attributed it to hot tea and other
hot beverages, and came to q general con-
clusiOn that shot feeders lose their teeth
more readily than cold feeders Mr. Cat
lin, who some years ago had an interesting
exhibition Of Indian scenery, dresses,
weapons, etc, noticed that North Amer.
lean Indians have better teeth than the
whites. He accounts for the difference in
this strange way, that the reds keep the
open. The teeth, he says, require mois.
ture to keep their surfaces in good work
ing order; when the mouth is open, the
mucous membrane has a tendency to dry
up, the teeth lose their needed supply Of
moisture, and thence comes dlscoloration,
toothache, ticdolorcux, decay, loosencss
and eventual loss of teeth.
During the days Of the resurrectionists
or body snatchers, when grave yards were
subjected to pillagc for supplying a1Iato-
mists with subjects for dis. cction, the teeth
from the dead bodies formed a frequent
article of sale to dentists. Sometimes
graves were opened for tho teeth alone, as
being small and easily concealed articles
Mr.. Cooper, the surgeon, relates an in
stance of man feigning to look out for a
burial place for his wife, and thus obtain.
ing access to the vault OF meeting house,
the trap-door of which he unbrltcd; at
night he let himself down into the vault
and pocketed the front te tn Of the whole
OF the buried congregation, by which he