Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-02-16

were actually found to have teeth filled
with gold and white cement. Similar re-
mains of the Etruscans have proven that
those ancient people wound gold wire
around their natural teeth for the purpose
of holding in place artificial teeth manu-
featured to fill gaps. But during the mid
die ages dentistry went into the hands of
the blacksmith and barber The monks
were somewhat skilled in its practice, hut
early in the fourteenth century a council
of the Roman Catholic Church. held in
Paris; decreed that monks and priests be
forbidden to perform bloody operations"
The drawing of a tooth was so classed-
rightfully, indeed-and thus was the dem
lists art left for awhile solely to the bar
Der and blacksmith, and later to the barber
alone.
Dentistry I'm Our First Two Wars.
But this is how dentistry came to this
country through the revolutionary war: I
find in the surgeon generals library
record which shows that in ITS there came
to this country with the French fleet
soldier, one Dr. Joseph Lemaire, who was
also dentist. While the French and
American armies were in winter quarters.
side by side, near Providence, r. l., Lee
marie attended to the teeth of the soldiers
of both forces. From Count Rochambeau,
commanding general of the French, he OBJ
tanned permission to teach the dental art
to several young American soldiers. He
later established for himself a large prac-
tice in Philadelphia. One of Lemaire's
pupils was Josiah Flagg. an American revo-
lutionary soldier, who became a regularly
established dentist and who later enlisted
in the second war with Great Britain. But
in these two wars dentistry must have been
a crude and clumsy profession. Laughing
gas and other anaesthetics were unknown,
The surgeon generals museum contains
a collection of the curious surgical instru
ments used in the armies of these periods
Legs and arms were mercilessy sliced off
with great sickles with curved blades and
wide awake, or perhaps unconscious from
sheer agony or loss of blood. Antiseptic
surgery was unknown. Surgical instru-
ments had soft wooden handles, wherein
microbes could roost and propagate to their
hearts content. Dental instruments were
equally as crude
/ further found in the surgeon generals
library the copy of an ancient letter ex-
planning how the foremost of revolutionary
soldiers availed himself of the skill-or lack
of skill-of these pioneer dentists. John
Greenwood, a revolutionary soldier, who
had learned his science from his father an
English emigrant to the colonies, estab-
lished himself in New York as a practicing
dentist after the war closed.
Washington's Teeth.
From the tusk of a hippopotamus DR..
Greenwood carved out full set of artificial
teeth for George Washington, which the
great general wore while he was President.
They were retained in the mouth by pair
VI epiid al springs, pressing the TWO sets
apart when the mouth opened-all of which
probably accounts for the set expression Of
the first Presidents jaws. The letter above
referred to was received by Washington
from DIR. Greenwood, who wrote: Sir: /
send you inclosed two sets of teeth. one
fixed on the old bases, in part, and the set
you sent me from Philadelphia. which,
when l received it, was very black, occa-
stoned either by your soaking them in port
wine Of by your drinking it. :. advise
you to either take them out after dinner and
put them In clean water and put on another
set or clean them with brush and some
chalk scraped fine This pioneer dentist of
the presidential household then instructs the
father of his country how to plug up holes
worn in his false teeth with sealing wax
pressed in with a hot nail. He concludes:
IF you want your teeth more yellow, soak
them in broth or pot liquor but not in tea
or acids. Porter is a good thing to color
them and will not hurt, but preserve them.
q. Sir. the additional charge is Sl5.'
JOHN ELFRETH WATKINS Ii