, 1884-12-07
oDoNToRIllsR.
Some Sense and a sEdftle Nonsense
Concerning tho Teeth
The Philosophy OF Tootb-Growing-
Art VS.. ADMINISTRATIONS orthe
Nafions-Anssquify OF the
Dentist.


brooklyn Eagie1
Every dentist insists upon II thathe, above
all others, is the one who has made the most
delicious discoveries in odontology. We hear
very little about dentists failures, because
those unhappy beings who require a new
mouthful OF teeth shrink from saying much
about It, A good box of ivories is a precious
treasure when real, and a costly o@e when
artificial We ought TO have our fair pro-
portion OF incisors to bite through the beef
and mutton; and Of other teeth to break and
10 crack harder substances, by means of saw
Ike serrations and hle-llke roughness. A
Boston odontologist tells US that the teeth OF
the lower animals perform many more kinds
IF work than those of man-weapons OF
pffense and defense, aids TO locomotion,
means Of anchorage, instruments for uproot-
ing or cutting down trees, and apparatus
tor the transport and working of building
materials. As to our own species, he proceeds
tosay TINT the milk teeth, or children's teeth,
ought to be twenty In number, comprising
four front teeth, or ~incisors, two dog teeth,
Or cininea, and four double teeth, or molars,
In each jaw. IL is rather Notifying TO learn
that n pig who is HIS own dentist beats us
hollow in this respect, since he has no less
than fSty-four teeth.
Some old folks cut their teeth when far ad-
rnnced toward -centennrianism. An old
woman living near New Haven cut an in
eisive tooth in the lower jaw when rs years
old; 1t confirmed n strange hAllucination
with which she had long been possessed
that she had been dead and was come to life
again. with the usual infantine career OF
t~eething, etc. Another lady living in Phila-
telphia about n dozen years ago cut an en-
hrely new set OF teeth when about 80 years
old, after having been many years toothless.
In 1882 "A woman in Richmond cut eight new
teeth in the s7th year of her age-thus wind
Ing up n toothless period Of many years. A
dame OF Boston, after being toothless from
10 70 % years OF age, cut several new teeth.
Edward Progers. aged 90, died in 1713 Of tho
anguish OF cutting teeth, and had several
ready to cut, which so infamed his gums
that he died thereof.
As II to take revenge for these duplicn-
tions, or rather tripll ,ations, Of teething,
nature sometimes requires US to dispense
with dental apparatus altogether. In a Lon
don cemetery there is the following epitaph;
Elizabeth Cook, a poor woman, aged 80, and
who never had a tooth, was buried june IL,
1Tp5." On the other hand, some folks greatly
exceed the orthodox number OF thirty-two.
Dampier, In his account Of the Philippine
Islands, says: -The next day the sultan
came ON board again and presented our cap
tain with a little boy; but he was too
small TO be serviceable on board, and so the
captain returned thanks and told him he was
too little for him. Then the sultan sent for
a bigger boy, whom the captain accepted.
This boy was very pretty and tractable, but
what was wonderful in him he had two rows
Of teeth, one within the other, ON each jaw.
None of the other people were so, nor did l
ever see the like"
The pearly teeth Of the poet and novelist
would not be valued by some Of the eastern
and ~Polynesian nations. The Chinese blacken
their teeth by chewing the fruit Of the areca,
or betel, nut. The Tonquinese and Siamese
benus and bellies, in bringing about the same
result by nearly the same means, almost
Etarve themselves for three or four days
while the dyeing is going on, lest the food
should disturb the dye. The Sunda islanders
sometimes blacken all the teeth but two
with burned cocoanut covering the two ex-
cepted teeth with thin plates Of gold or silver.
Tn Macassar people sometimes pull out two
front teeth in order to supply their place
with teeth of pure gold or silver. Two Ital-
ian girls, twins, AVE been known to have
natural teeth Of a Light red rose c~olor-both
the milk teeth and those which succeeded
them.
The charms, omens, signs, spanaceas relat-
ing to the teeth constitute quite q formidable
item in folk lore. In some parts Of the coun-
try there Is a superstition that IL you put ON
your right stocking, right shoe, and right
trouser-leg before the loft, you viii never
have a toothache. To drink out of a skull
taken from a graveyard; to take q tooth
from such a skull and wear it around his
neck; to apply the tooth to your own living
but aching tooth; to put a double nut into
your pocket; to pair your finger-nails and
toe-nails and wrap up the pairings in paper
all 49, l1.ww- -.s-.a - -
you catch a mole in a trap, cut on one Of his
paws and wear 1t as a charm, you will soon
zee the effect provided a right paw be used
for n le.s tooth, and vice versa When an
aching Doth is extracted, mix 1t with salt
and burn it. There isl certain custom Of call
ing the toothache the "love pain, /" for which
the sufferer is not entitled to any com
miseration- Whether no Tor she) fully as
sents to this, may perhaps be doubted. Many
other items Of tooth lore have no connection
with toothache- For instance, II the teeth
are set wide apart, there will DO good luck
and plenty Of travelling for the unfortunate
possessor. Whom a tooth Is drawn, u you re-
frain from thrusting your tongue into the
cavity, the new tooth to grow In its place
will be a lucky one. A letter written In 1918
by a lady TO her son spoke of the efficacy OF
wolves teeth set in gold to assist children in
cutting teeth
Why do some peoples teeth come out more
readily than othorsi The reasons for this are
probably many. About the middle Of the
last century Peter Kahn, a Swede, visited
the United States and wrote sensibly about
what no saw. He observed n frequent loss Of
teeth among settlers from Europe, especially
women. After discussing n rejecting
many modes Of explanation, he at
tributed it to hot tea and other
hot beverages, and came 10 a general
conclusion that "hot feeders lose their
teeth more readily than cold feeders He
also noticed that "the American Indians
have better teeth than the whites.n He 40
counts for the difference In this strange way:
that the reds keep the mouth shut, whereas
the whites keep it open. The teeth, he says,
require moisture to keep their surfaces in
good working order; when the mouth Is open
the mucous membrane has a tendency to dry
up, the teeth loose their needed supply Of
moisture, and thence come discoloration.
tooth-ache, decay, looseness, and eventual
loss of teeth. He scolds the human race gen
orally for being less sensible than the brutes
In this respect, and the white rnce specially
In comparison with the rod. We keep our
mouths open far too much; the Indian war
rior sleeps, hunts, und smiles with his mouth
shut and respircs through the nostrils.
Among the virtues attributed by him to
closed lips one is excellent-when you are
angry, keep your mouth shut
There Is reason TO believe that tho Groekz
and Romans know something about false
teeth Martial. in one Of his epigrams, sayl
that That's teeth wsrs discolored. willis