The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1896-07-16
MAN WITHOUT TEETH
WILL THAT be A CONDITION or THE
PARKWAY FuTURei
Less and Less Need For Molsrs Every Day.
Soft Foods Require No Masticstion-Our
Ancestors Required Strong Teeth. but
We Don't Eat ~ They Did.

Soft Foods Require No Masticstion-Our
Ancestors Required Strong Teeth. but
We Don't Eat ~ They Did.
win the human race lose its teeth in the
years to come VIII not our descendants
have much smaller jaws than we have and
no maxillary muscles TO speak ofY
While these ideas may seem fantastic
they are based on solid facts and reasoning
The human race Is likely before many CEN
turtles to DO toothless because each year
there Is less and less use for the teeth.
Especially among the higher and Weather
classes Is this 50. Anything to eat that
requires the muscular exertion Of the Jaws
to any extent Is apt to be thrown aside and
Its place taken by soft, deity prepared
foods that need little effort ON the part of
the teeth.
Thus more and more the teeth are COM
Ing to be useless appendages. Scientists
say now that the progenitors of the human
race had tails, and that they gradually lost
them because they became useless 1t is
known that II limb or any organ Of the
body ceases to be used for any length OF
time 1t will become practically paralyzed
and without life Should IL continue to be
unused for generations 1t would at last dis
appear And this Is the way the teeth are
likely to go.
1t is q fact not to be denied that year by
year our molars play diminishing part In
the functions of life. Seldom nowadays
a set of vigorous white teeth are seen either
In man or woman unless they are artificial
Looking at 1t from the point of view OF
science, there is no reason why the teeth
should be the fine structures of bone pro-
tected by their healthful coating of pearly
enamel that they once were In the early
days before civilization had come with Its
excavations mans teeth were almost as
important to him as his arm. Knives and
forks had not come into play then, and I'M
civilized mans food consisted in great part
Of meat, raw, or so imperfectly roasted
that 1t had to be ground into bits within
the mouth. Nuts and fruits had hard skins
and needed sharp biting before they could
be comfortably devoured The early Asiat-
10 tribes, the Norsemen and the North
American Indian have had the fame Of
their shining, strong teeth come down to
US, and it was no uncommon feat in those
days for man to perform as perfectly
natural thing what would seem at the pres
ent time prodigies OF strength with his jaw
bone.
While even in those early times there
were enervation and sensuousness rampant
among the aristocrats it did not come
down to the middle class or the common
people, who kept on eating food that was
tough. 1t never occurred to them that eat
ing could be made easy by the refinements
and the elegancies of boiling, roasting and
sundry connections. Their nourishment
was purchased at the price Of the sweat of
their arms and the masterful power of
their grinding teeth. One needs only to
read a bit of the literature of the middle
ages to learn that good "trencher men"
were highly regarded. To be u "trencher
man" meant nothing more nor less than
to be able to clear off the great wooden
dishes heaped with meats in an uncom-
monty short time.
So it went along for centuries with the
women as well as with the men, soft foods
being hardly known, even in the halls Of
the highest in the land. AS civilization
became more and more pronounced and
luxuries began to become necessities it was
still only the better class that were affect
ed. The poor had to continue eating what
they best could get and continuing to
make the fullest use of their jaws and
their teeth But within the past half CEN
tury a change has slowly been setting in.
So pronounced is this getting that at the
table Of the laborer at $l.25 a day, as well
as at the board of the millionaire, soft
foods are served and eaten to the exclusion
of nearly all else. The workman's wife,
who cannot afford to buy the fine cut of
meat that the richer man has sent to him,
boils and roasts until she sets before her
husband and children as tender dish as
those that stand on the tables Of the
wealthy.
Candy, too, is much softer than it used
to be- and in place of the hard, sugary
balls, creams, nougats and candied fruits,
to say nothing of the French CONNECTIONS
that are constantly increasing in popular
ity, have come pretty thoroughly into
vogue. Once upon a time molasses candy
was greatly In favor, and candy pulls one
of tho delights of generation that Is now
past.
Science besides has aided In this by de-
vising canned meats and condensed foods,
which are made today in enormous guam
titles and distributed widely. There is
precisely the same amount of nutriment
in these that there Is in meat and vege-
tables in their natural state subjected only
to q small amount of cooking but chem
ical processes take the place of actual mas
tication, and as the food slips down the
throat there Is nothing left, to all intents
and purposes, for the teeth to do. Orig
inally planned for the benefit Of invalids
and for the convenience Of travellers, these
canned and condensed supplies have gone
further in their adaptability to the wants
Of the human race and now are eaten by
thousands who are quite able to masticate
the toughest foods If they only would
New York Journal.