The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-06-11

We May In Time Become a TOothless
People.
New York Commercial Advertiser.

New York Commercial Advertiser.
We were startled recently by the an,
nouncement from a physician, who seemed
fast becoming a toothless people. Infants
in arms have decayed teeth, and the sweet
sixteener must be regarded with suspicion
as an artificial creature until she opens ner
mouth wide and demonstrates beyond a per-
adventure that her teeth are her own. False
teeth, an assumed complexion, and rats
making a showing of a wealth of hair which
the stern searchlight of married life would
prove a fluffy mockery, may partly be the
cause of the modern decrease In marriage.
Neither man nor woman is what they seem
in polite society. and man and woman are
wary In consequence.
There Is no reason why We shouldn't be-
come a toothless nation. Our ancestors
needed their teeth to eat food with. They
killed their game. and cooked it within a
few hours of its death. Cumming such
steaks would not have suficed; they had to
tear at them, somewhat after the manner
of the beasts. Now we can exist on spoon
v~ictuals. if we wan to. Take any fashion
able bill of fare, and see how many of the
dishes require teeth. Oysters and clans may
be gulped down whole, soup is drunk. ana
the solid dishes are so soft that the express
sion has arisen of their melting In the
We deserve no teeth. AS the fishes in IN
d~erground lakes lose their eyes, so we are
losing our teeth; and were 1t not for our
mouth for the sake of looks, We should
probably let them go. We can be brought
up on the bottle if we want TO. and. for the
matter of that, need not even take the
trouble of digesting our food, since we can
buy it all predigested.
1t may be the cause or the result of better
manners Where our ancestors gnawed their
tough food. we take into our mouths meat
that has grown so tender through hanging
for weeks in the icehouse that we can mas
ticate IL politely with closed lips. Horses
and dogs and hopelessly vulgar people are
the only ones who manifestly chew. The
rest of US might be mumbling our prayers
when we eat. One remnant of the time when
we really had to chew remains in gum We
chew that from ataviSm, as a dog turns
around before lying down. from the instinct
which comes to him from his ancestors, who
had to turn around in the long grass to
make themselves a kind of nest to lie In.
But chewing gum is not polite now. and will
| probably not survive many generations even
among the vulgar. 1t will then be forgotten
by all except the philosophers. who like to
remember the curious customs of bygone
ages and trace their origin and significance.
| Man keeps those things which are neces-
sary to him. The savage, who supplied all
his known wants. had no use for bargain
ing; hence. when the white man came In
contact with him and began bartering for
his ivory or gold or furs, he gathered riches.
| Civilized man, on the contrary, takes his
a shrewd bargain. And the older the civili-
cation, the. greater this bargaining instinct
Is developed; teeth, on the contrary, are no
longer necessary, and they are dropping
tor says. we may save them, if we will, in
earliest infancy begin the care OF them, and
make 1t so constant as to be
1t may be that We shall save our teeth
/ for vanity is strong in us, and We have the
example of the pocket handkerchief. That
is a product of civilization, and of compare
lively late civilization; yet 1t Is now a part
Of mans nature. 1t is a contest between
nature and vanity: but if we will brush our
teeth we may continue TO live through a
straw.