, 1875-01-30
Iarrels of ChIaese Dentistry.

Roaming in quest oi novelty through
that mine OF maryclS, a Chinese city, We
were a witness the other day of strange
but not uncommon scene We had halted
in front of the stall Of astrcct-apOiEcCary
surgeon and general practitioner, and
were turning over with our eyes his stock
Of simples, dragons'Jeeth, tigers claws
and like drugs used as ingredients in the
native pharmaCOpTia, when along came
man, holding his hand up To his jaw and
apparently in great pain. He sat down
by the doctor and explained to him that
he was suffering with the tDothache, to
get rid of which he would like 10 have
his tooth removed. The doctor opened
his patients mouth and inspected the
aching tooth; then he took a small phlal
from his stock of medicines, and into the
palm of his hand he shook few ScrupleS
of a pink-colorcd powder. He next
licked his finger and dipped 1t into the
powder, and inserting this into the mans
mouth rubbed il on the aching tooth and
gum. He repeated this three or four
times, and then concluded by turning
the patients head upside down; when,
To the no small aStoniShment of many of
the byStanders. among whom was appar-
entity the man himself, the tooth dropped
out and fell on the ground. The doctor
then asked him ifhe had felt any pain, 10
which he replied that he had not, and
the payment of Il small fee brought the
scance 10 close. At our application
the tooth was picked up and very ciyilly
exhibited 10 US by the owner himself,
and was evidently fresh from a human
Jaw, though there had not been the
slightest efusion OF blood from the
mouth. The thought had naturally suS-
gested Itself 10 Us that the whole thing
was Il hoax and that the patient was an
accomplice; but If so the doctor was no
novice at slcight-Ofhand, and the eX
preston of astonishment on the ether
mans face when ne found his tooth gone
was as perfect a specimen OF histrlonlc
emotion as has ever been our lot 10 be-
hold
That night We had visions of large
establishment in Regent street with an
enormous placard announcing Painless
Dentistry" over the door, and crowds OF
dukes and duchesSes mounting and de-
SCcnding our stairs To have their teeth
extracted by some mysterious process
impurted from China and known 10 our
selves alone. Next day we proceeded 10
rummage through our Chinese medical
library and see what we could hunt up
on the subject of dentistry The result
of this search We generously offer 10 our
readers, thus perhaps sacrificing the
chance of securing a colossal fortune.
In the " New Collection of Tried Pre-
scriptions. "a sort Of domestic medicine
published for the use of families IN cases
of emergency when no physician IS at
hand, We find the following remarks:
METHOD roR EXTRACTING ACHING TEETH.-A
tooth ought not 10 be taken out, for by 20 DONG
the remaining teeth vii De looseued- l. inc pam
l. very acute and lute-ie-rs with eating nE C-li n
mo rhpn the tooth NAV be extracted otherwise
il >hoEld he left. Take n Dream about ten Ounces
;v yy.i.rbf rin i nDeu and insert uuetruth OF an
ounce Of powdered arsenic. Then sew uP tAe
hodv and hang II mp In the wind where y ! mol
-yp1sed 70 the sun OF accessible 10 cats and rate
After being thus hung Tor seven DAYS klnd OF
hosr-.rost ,giil have formed upon the scales gi
tae i-h- Preserve ihi-- using fgT eaGA et, ,oC.n
sb0ut Il much a. covers one scale hen Fr-
arfred. spread II on piece Of any KIND ui pas
rgr. ur-~- IL with the nnse- on 70 the acLlL-
place and let IL sick there. Then .ct the patient
cough and The tooth viii Ia. ont Of Ii-eI. MS
prescription has been tested by Dr. Wang
ANOTHER NErHoD.-Take q head Of garlic and
mound II up 20 pulp. Mix i thoroughly with
one or two candar-ens weight Of white dragon
b5-es. and apply ! 70 the suffering part II
Hy-Ie while The tooth viii drop out.
II will be noticed that the above pre-
scriptiOns are neither without one or
other of two characteristics always TO be
found in the composition Of Chinese
remedies. In the first recipe the ingre-
dients are simple enough, and all that Is
REQUIRED is time, seven days being neces-
sary for rs preparation Now as II Is
very unlikely that anyone would collect
rbe " "hoar-frost" deposit from the scales
Of q Dream stuffed with arsenic N an
ticipa,i1n of future tOOthache. and as