A popular treatise on the teeth: containing a history of the dental art ... also a full ... account of the history of ether or lethean ..

Front matter

YALE MEDICAL LIBRARY

HISTORICAL LIBRARY

LXtLAKP*

Preface

We offer this work to the public without apology or confessions of incompetency. We thought such a work needed, and we have prepared it.

We are not aware of the existence of any mistakes) but presume the critic may find many ; for though it was prepared with all the care which the author deemed a work on this subject required, yet, as it has been written during years of constant professional engagements, from which but a few moments could be snatched at intervals, and at times when both body and mind were fatigued by the labors of the laboratory and office, we trust that lenity will be shown, if some errors have crept in and been overlooked.

Those who may look into this volume for minute and laborious anatomical dissertations, or perfect and entire directions for the performance of every possible operation in dentistry, need look no farther; — such is not our object. We design —

IV PREFACE.

First, To disseminate correct information on the subject of dentistry, in such a form as will interest the general reader.

Secondly, The elevation of the profession, by an expose of dental empiricism, and by affording such information upon the subject of dentistry as will give the non-professional reader the means of practical selfprotection.

Thirdly, To furnish the student and the practical dentist with useful facts and observations on the principles and practice of their profession.

The author is well aware that valuable works on dentistry have been already published ; but those which are really of great value are for various reasons unsuitable for general circulation ; — first, they are too expensive; second, they are too professional, and abound too much with unexplained technical terms, to be acceptable and useful to the mass.

Whether we have produced a readable book, we leave for the public to judge.

For some facts and observations on dentistry, we are indebted to Drs. Harris, Goddard, Elliot, Cutter, and others.

M. G. S.

Newburyport, Jan. 1848.

Index

Absorption, of alveolar process, 270 ; of gums during dentition, 91. Acids, effects on the teeth, 179. Accidents incidental to extraction, 2-11, 257. Ague of face cured by extraction of teeth, S3. Alloy, 293. Alveolar bones or processes, 37. Amaurosis, singular cure of, 78. Analysis of the teeth, 51. Anatomy, knowledge) of, necessary to tho dentist, 02. Antrum, disease of, 72. Arteries which supply the teeth, 239. Aristotle, 19.

Bell, Bichat, Blake, 22. Blindness, case related by a London physician, 84. Blood, ingredients of, 131 ; formation, 136.

Caries, classification of, 139, 142; prevention of, 145. Celsus, 19. Chemieal analysis of food, 13 1. Chlritmanos of Peru, 32. Coins, value of, 293, 297. Convulsions in teething infants, 95. Constitutional varieties of teeth, 140. Consumption caused by diseased teeth, 03. Connection of the teeth with general system, 54. Cuvier, 22.

Deafness, how caused by carious teeth, case of, SO. Dentition, first, 89 ;

second, 99; remarkable, 108. Dyspepsia, case of Mr. ,70; of Mrs.

, 71. Dietetics, 137. Digestion, healthy, impossible with diseased

teeth, 08. Digestive apparatus in man and animals, 122. Dysopsy (or weakness of sight), cure of, 85. East Indians, 211. Enamel, 48. Epilepsy, case by Dr. Rush, 84. Eruptions on the skin, 97. Excision of teeth, 220. Exostosis of teeth, 104 ; of ossa paleti, 2S9. Experiments of Leuwenhteck, 20 ; of Bell and Hayden, 49 ; of Dr. Beaumont on the human stomach, 120 ; of Drs. Stark and Magendie on animals, 127 ; of Hunter on the teeth, 21 ; of M. Mandl on tartar, 173. Extraction of teeth, 233, 237.

filing teeth, 212. Filling, mode of, 218. Fracture of teeth, 254 ; of alveolar process, 249.

Gold pivots, 272; alloy for clasps, 293; coins, 292; table of value, 297 ; to purify, 898; solders, 295j plates, 280. Galen, 19. Glands, 52. Gums, description and diseases of, 183, 195. Gold plate, manufacture of, 278.

INDEX.

Haemorrhage on extraction of teeth, 239-250 ; fatal case of, 245. Hasm orrhage diathesis, 242. Hebrews, 29. Herodotus, 17. Hippocrates, 18. Homer, 19.

Injurious practices, in regard to children, 93 ; hot food and drinks, 197 ; use of tobacco, 197 ; breaking hard substances with the teeth, 196. Inhab itants of Siam and Sumatra, 32. Inflammation of dental pulp, 148. Irregular dentition, 107.

Lancing gums during dentition, 98. Ligatures, 282. Loose teeth, 167. Luxation of teeth, 253 ; of the jaw, 254.

Maxillary bones, 35 ; rupture of the sinus, 250. Mercurial affections of the gums, 194. Monsieur Lafette's Asiatic Puzzalano, 221. Muscles of the face, head, jaw, neck, 40, 41.

Natives of Prince William's Sound, Sandwich Islands, 33. Necrosis of the teeth, 163. Nerves, dental, 59 ; facial, 56 ; connection with general system, 60 ; to destroy sensibility of, 217. Neuralgia (tic douloureux), case by Kcecker, 80; of Mrs. G., 82; of Mrs. W., 79. Nutrition, elements of, 129 ; of young carnivori, 132 ; of graminivorous animals, 132.

Odontalgia [see toothache]. Obturators, 289, 290.

Palate, loss of, 288. Pain, experienced after teeth are filled, 224. Pare's " tooth-mullets," 231. Par vagum, 58. Present state of dental science, 24. Precautions against cold, 238 ; in infantile diseases attending dentition, 97 ; before extraction of teeth, 232 ; insertion of artificial teeth, 269; filing, 213 ; filling, 219.

Qualifications required of dentists in France, Germany, and Prussia, 26, 27.

Recipes, for dentifrices, elixirs, powders, &c. 176-8 ; Hippocrates' tooth powder, 18 ; lotions for diseased gums, 185 ; for reducing the serum and adding to the fibrin of the blood, 244 ; solders, 296 ; steel, 301 ; gold plate, 278. Eemedies, for diseases attending dentition, 95-7 ; rheumatic, sympathetic, acute, and chronic toothache, 152-3 ; for various diseases of the teeth, 163; of the gums, 182. Eheumatic affections of the face and teeth, 151 ; case by Dr. Rush, 84.

INDEX.

Scrofulous affections of the gums, 190; case of Polish lady, 191. Stomach, affected by diseased teeth, 67 ; varieties in different species of animals, 119. Staphyloraphy, 290. Styptics, 243.

Tartar, its composition, 172 ; presence of animalcula in, formation and prevention of, 173-176. Teeth, composition of, 51 ; number, 42 ; relative position of, 45; deciduous, 90 ; permanent, 99; irregularities, 200; anomalies, 106 ; impurity of, 68 ; diseases of, 183 ; preservation of, 176 ; artificial, 258 ; objections to, 259 ; transplanting human, 261 ; origin of mineral, 284- 5. Teeth on pivot, 271 ; on gold plate, 275 ; temporary sets, 270. Teeth of Aaron Burr, 284; preservation of artificial, 291. Tic douloureux [see neuralgia]. Toothache, varieties of, 147 ; causes, 148 ; cure of, 153 ; ulcerated, 162 ; of root, 162. Tumor, fatal case of, 75 ; of the abdomen, containing teeth, 111 ; on the cheek, 87 ; fungous, 188. " Turning dentists," 225.

Ulcerated teeth, 162. Ulceration of root, after insertion of pivot, 274. Uniformity of human teeth, 122. Use of food to adult animals, 129.

Vcsalius, 19. Vascularity of teeth, 50.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

" The proper study of mankind is man."

Pope.

It is a truth, though most strange and unaccountable, that, while we expect our children and youth, in schools and academies, to become acquainted with mental and moral philosophy ; with many of the abstract and natural sciences; with mineralogy, geology, zoology, conchology, botany, and astronomy ; while we teach them to trace with exactness the outlines of remote continents, islands, and rivers, with which they may never have the most distant connection ; while we direct their attention to the course of the planets, the satellites of Jupiter, and the rings of Saturn; to the composition of the tails of comets, and the wonders of the "milky way ;" while we explain to them the doctrines of fractions, cube roots, and the infinite importance of compound interest, — the variations of the needle and course of the trade winds, the theory of storms and the cause of tides, the principle of gravitation and the laws of motion ; while we compel them to spend years in the study of the dead languages, till Greek and Latin 1 verbs become the most momentous objects of their thoughts; while all this and much more is demanded, we yet permit them to remain in ignorance of the structure and economy of their own bodies, the means of preserving health, and the causes of disease; — certainly the most important and useful study that man can pursue.

It was not always so. In every well-regulated ancient government, in Athens, Rome, and Sparta, there was a regular system of physical instruction provided for by law. " This system prevailed for ages, and only went into disuse when monasteries were established, and literary men drew on their monkish cowls, divorcing themselves from practical life, from usefulness, from realities ; turned bookworms ; crawled into cloisters ; wrapped themselves in theories and hypotheses ; wove around their bodies the web of sluggishness and torpor; and, much like other worms, stagnated, dozed, and died in them."

" Such was the worthy parentage of that system of education which refuses a knowledge of the human system, its wants and diseases, and the means of its preservation in health, and which consumes the usually appointed time for study in the perusal of subjects unnecessary to life, health, or happiness. Fit progeny! legitimately begotten ! — its home, the dark ages; its birthplace, a convent; its cradle, superstition ; authority its nurse, aristocracy its advocate, and effeminacy its apologist ; while disease stood sponsor and sloth drawled out its ' lullaby.' "

Shall it ever be thus ? We trust not. We hope to sec the day when physiology shall be made a prominent branch of study in all our public schools ; when a portion of the time now consumed in studies that will never be of any practical benefit will be devoted to the study of the laws of life, the mechanism of the human body, the preservation and enjoyment of health.

Till this is done, we can never hope to see that attention paid to the teeth, which their importance, in connection with the general health, demand. We have been astonished at the ignorance displayed by many persons, otherwise intelligent, in regard to the structure of the teeth, and their connection with the rest of the body. Indeed, many persons, who know their teeth to be diseased, seem to think it of not the least consequence, provided they do not ache. Yet not only the head, but almost every member of the body, participates in the health of the teeth. Usually, as the teeth are found firm, sound, and healthy, so will be the general constitution ; and in proportion as they are diseased, the rest of the body is enfeebled and unhealthy.

The eyes have not unaptly been denominated the " mirrors of the soul." We think, that after the perusal of this volume our readers will admit that the teeth may be regarded as the thermometer of health.

This subject does not concern any particular class of individuals. The causes which induce disease of the tooth, the effects produced by these organs" in a diseased state, are not confined exclusively to the rich or the poor, to the professional man or the day-laborer. The delicate lady that dares hardly trust her frail body in contact with the gentlest breeze of heaven, and the rough, hardy sailor that has weathered every cape from Greenland to Cape Horn, are alike liable to disease of the teeth, and must submit to the same remedies in order to effect a cure. Every one, from the infant of a few brief months to the old man of three score years and ten, is interested in this subject. From the first appearance of the teeth, until their decay and loss, they are instruments of pain or of pleasure. While they remain sound, and their number is unbroken, they are immensely valuable for mastication and also for articulation. No person can give perfect utterance to the various sounds used in speaking, if the beautiful arch which nature has formed, and partially by means of which these sounds are emitted, is broken or irregular. If we add to entireness the elements of strength, regularity, and beauty, we have one of the greatest ornaments to the countenance which nature ever gave.

It seems impossible that purity of character can exist where deformed, discolored, and filthy teeth exist, without an attempt at alleviation. To those who regard personal appearance as of consequence, it is of the highest importance that strict regard be paid to the symmetry and cleanliness of their teeth ; for no other beautiful feature, nor all other beauties and graces of body combined, can hide from view, or recompense the unsightly appearance of neglected, diseased, and offensive teeth. Though a person be formed in "nature's finest mould," in stature and nobleness of mein, like the gods ; with a complexion which is the mingled hue of the rose and the lily ; with hair as fine as ihe web of the silkworm, and flowing as the locks of Apollo ; though the eye be " beaming, bright, and blue," or dark and lovely as the "sweet gazelle's;" yet, if under all this array of beauty, there is seen a mouthful of rotten, unsightly bones, emitting a never-failing stream of diseased and putrid breath, how quickly is our admiration changed to disgust, and our love to loathing!

In addition to the disagreeable appearance, the loss of teeth (as we have before hinted, and as we shall yet say more fully in another place) affects the speech — the tone of voice.

How the charm is dissolved, when you have been gazing at the face of some fair daughter of earth, whom you had well nigh fancied to have been left here by some roving band of angels, if, on addressing her, she replies in such a " mitherablelithp," that you can hardly comprehend her meaning !

Every lady is desirous, and reasonably so, of appearing interesting and agreeable as well as intelligent in conversation ; but how difficult it is so to appear, if, through the loss of teeth, the words are either lisped or mumbled out in such a manner as to render them scarcely intelligible !

A most unpleasing effect is often observed to follow the loss of teeth, in regard to the voice. In some cases, a kind of indistinct, mumbling sound is produced, requiring frequent repetition to be distinctly understood. * Certainly this is enough to spoil the effect of the most beautiful and regular features. 1*

The teeth, when white and well-formed, have always been regarded as very ornamental to the face. That greatest of physiognomists, Lavater, says, " that the countenance is the theatre on which the soul exhibits itself;" and then adds, " As are the teeth of man, so is his taste ; " referring more particularly to his intellectual and moral tastes. Heedersays, " It is exceedingly necessary to observe the arrangement of the teeth, and the circular conformation of the cheeks" (which are entirely dependent upon the teeth). And Chesterfield, acknowledged to be the most finished gentleman of his day, observes in his " Letters to his Son," that " fine and clean teeth are among the first recommendations to be met with in the common intercourse of society."

Indeed, it is impossible to imagine a beautiful face divested of teeth, or whose teeth present an irregular and discolored appearance. The poet Flagg, in his description of a Saxon beauty, says,

" And, like two cornelians, pnre and bright, Shine with a row of pearls of purest white."

We turn from the worshipper of the graces to the utilitarian. He, perhaps, thinks that if his teeth do not positively ache, or only occasionally, if he can just manage to give his food one bite, and then bolt it, it is all he needs of his teeth. But let us examine a little farther. In the first place, as to the mere economy of time and money. A man would be the gainer to have good sound teeth ; for though it might take some little time to put and keep them in repair, yet it would take much less than he now spends idly, or worse than idly, while enduring the toothache, the pains of indigestion, or the lethargy and stupidity arising from headache, after swallowing his half-chewed meat.

Again, in public speakers, singers, &c, the complete arch formed by the teeth is absolutely necessary to their speaking or singing with correct enunciation ; the loss of teeth, by altering the tone of voice, sometimes producing the most ludicrous effect.

Clergymen, while advocating the claims of religion ; lawyers, while pleading the cause of their clients; the politician, while descanting on the policy of nations, party measures, and his mvn pure patriotism ; the merchant, while explaining the superior quality and enormous cheapness of his goods ; all find their ends more easily attained, if, added to other graces and accomplishments, they possess a perfect and agreeable enunciation.

We recollect, on one occasion, attending a political meeting in New York, during a season of great excitement (1840), when a gentleman was introduced to the chairman, as " the eloquent and distinguished

orator from B ." He was immediately invited

to address the meeting, and was introduced to the audience in the same terms of eulogium with which the chairman had received him. Expectation was on

tiptoe to hear the renowned Mr. . But the first

sentence dissipated the allusion. " Mithter thpeaker, I rithe at the earnetht tholithitation," &c. Poor man! we pitied him, especially when, at his frequent and earnest addresses to the chair, " and you, thir," all the more juvenile portion of the audience repeated it after him most audibly. We were wondering how he had gained the reputation of being such an interesting speaker, when a friend at our elbow let us into the secret. Some time previous, he had, by a fall, been deprived of several of his front teeth, and had artificially supplied their places; but in trying to effect an entrance into the hall through the crowd, they became loosened, and fell out, and in the excitement he forgot the circumstance (as his friend supposed), when he consented to address the meeting. The effect was too ridiculous to be soon forgotten.

Having rapidly glanced at some of the disadvantages of defective teeth, we trust the reader will give us a patient and attentive hearing, while we proceed to their history, diseases, and the means of cure.

A

TEEATISE ON THE TEETH

AND TOE

USE OF ETHER.

Chapter I. History Of Dentistry

Contents. — Herodotus. Hippocrate9, his recipe for tooth-powder. Aristotle. Homor. Celsus. Pliny. Galen. jEtius. Vesalins. Eustachius. Aretreus. Artenese. Pars'. Leuwenhceck, his discoveries, &c. John Hunter. Bichat. Blake. Fox. Bell. Cuvier. M. Serres. Present state of the science. Dr. Calvin Cutter's work on Anatomy and Physiology. Obstacles to elevation of the science. Qualifications required by law of Dentists in Germany, France, and Prussia. Itinerant Dentists.

As the subject of dentistry is every day assuming more importance in the public mind, it may not be uninteresting to the general reader to trace, so far as we have any knowledge on the subject, the History of the Dental Art, and the practice of ancient and remote nations in regard to the teeth.

Herodotus, who was born 484 B.C., the oldest Greek writer whose works are extant, and whom Cicero calls the " father of history," is the first of the ancient writers who makes any allusion to the teeth, as connected with the healing art. Speaking of the Egyptians, he says, that the care of the teeth was assigned to particular sets of persons, that there is an individual healer for each distemper : some take charge of the eyes,

18 HIPPOCRATES.

others of the ears, the teeth, the stomach, liver, &c. ; hence the whole country is filled with healers."

Dr. S. G. Morton has a large collection of Egyptian skulls ; and from the fact that there is no loss of alveoli apparent, we infer that their mode of operation was by no means unskilful. It is generally conceded that dentistry, as a distinct branch of medical science, took its rise in Egypt.

Hippocrates, who flourished 460 B.C., a native of the island of Coos, and was the most eminent of ancient physicians, devoted much attention to the teeth, as we find by his frequent allusions to them in the remains of his writings that have been preserved. His description of the origin and growth of the teeth is indeed rather more whimsical than scientific ; but it was the custom of those times to depend more on theory, and less on observation and experiment. He says, " There is a glutinous increment from the bones of the head and jaws, of which the fatty part is dried by heat and burnt up ; and the teeth are made harder than the other bones, because there is nothing cold in them." He extracted teeth " when rotten or loose ; " but he does not tell us with what instruments. He made artificial teeth, prepared from the bones of animals. His recipe for tooth-powder is too good to be lost; we therefore record it for the benefit of such of our readers as are fond of antiquities :

" Take the head of a hare and three mice ; Bum and reduce them to powder ; Add an equal weight of powdered marble."

ARISTOTLE, HOMER, ETC. 19

Aristotle, the Stagyrite, and a disciple of Plato, in writing on the subject of teeth, makes this among other absurd statements — "that the male sex possess more teeth than the female."

Homer thought that the teeth were partly intended as a wall of defence against the too frequent outbreaks of the tongue, to curb that unruly member ; in fact, to prevent the too great use or abuse of " liberty of speech " ! and other such like fanciful ideas.

Celsus, the author of a valuable and elegant treatise on medicine, in eight books, is the first that pretends to give explicit directions for the extraction of teeth. He always recommended "shaking" the teeth destined for extraction, to loosen them ; or " the application of boiling oil or hot iron, to cause exfoliation " ! So we perceive that there has been some advance in the humanity of dentists, at all events, since his day.

Pliny, the Roman naturalist, first discovered the indestructibility of the teeth, as compared with the other bones of the human body.

Galen, 131 A.D., who wrote on the teeth, asserted that they were " possessed of sensibility."

JElius supposed they were open at the roots. He used galbanum and wax for filling. He also recommends the use of the file for irregular teeth.

Andrew Vesalius, an eminent anatomist of Brussels, chief physician to Charles V. and Philip II., believed the deciduous teeth to be germs of their successors ; while

Eustachius (the discoverer of the Eustachian tube), another celebrated anatomist, who flourished about the

same time, describes the two sets, and compares their connection with the gums with that between the nails and fingers.

Aretccus declared that "the cause of toothache was known only to God." And

Artenese, one of the most learned of his times upon this subject, says, "that with all his philosophy he could not account for the toothache."

Pare (in 1579), a native of France, and an eminent surgeon, remarks, " that the adherence of the teeth to the jaw is occasioned by a ligament, which is attached from the jaw to the root of the tooth." Both he and ^Etius taught that the teeth grew during the life of the individual ; supposing that, if they did not, they would wear away by the constant friction upon them. Pare used the same mode of curing toothache as Hippocrates, viz. the red-hot iron, and constructed and secured his artificial teeth in the same way — by means of flax-silk ligatures, gold or silver threads. So that the modes of practice 400 B.C. and in the sixteenth century were not essentially different.

Leuivenhaeck, the most scientific writer on the subject that had yet appeared, gives, in the Philosophical Transactions for 1678, some interesting accounts of his experiments on the teeth. He says, " I have some time since applied a glass (esteemed by several of the gentlemen who had tried it, a very good one), to observe the structure of the teeth and other bones ; which, both to them and myself, then seemed to consist of globules ; but since then, having drawn out one of my teeth, and for further observation applied better

JOHN HUNTER. 21

glasses than the former, the same gentlemen, with myself, agreed from what we plainly saw, that the whole tooth was made up of very small, straight, and transparent pipes. Six or seven hundred of these pipes put together, I judge, exceed not the thickness of one hair of a man's beard. In the teeth of a cow the same pipes appear much bigger ; and in those of a haddock, somewhat less."

The discoveries of this writer excited but little interest at the time, though the tubular structure of the teeth will be the subject of admiration and wonder to succeeding generations.

Passing over some minor discoveries and less important writers, we come to the celebrated

John Hunter, a native of Long Calderwood, Scotland. He published his " Treatise on the Natural History of the Teeth," in 177S. Although his anatomical and physiological researches are admitted to have been of great value, so much so that his anatomical museum was purchased for the use of the public, and given to the College of Surgeons, yet on the subject of the teeth, his practice, in many cases certainly, was very objectionable. He advocated the use of the actual cautery to the nerves of the teeth, and to the ear ; the extraction of teeth, boiling them, and then returning them to the socket ; the transplantation of human teeth, &c. &c. Yet it must be admitted that his examinations were both scientific and minute, though not always successful. He tried a number of experiments to prove the vascularity of the teeth, by feeding growing animals on madder; and strangely enough came 2

22 BICHAT, BLAKE, FOX, ETC.

to the conclusion that they were not vascular. There is much worth studying in his writings ; but, until lately, he has been too implicitly followed.

Bichat, a French physiologist and physician, may be considered as standing at the head of modern improvement in dentistry. Indeed, France has contributed her full quota of scientific writers on this subject. The most eminent modern writers in Great Britain are

Blake, Fox; and Bell. Dr. Blake's work, though considered valuable at the time of its publication, has been superseded by Fox's, and more generally still by that of Bell.

Mr. Fox was a practical and very successful dentist. He did not, however, discern any difference between the teeth and other bones. In part of his practice he must have been incorrect ; for he recommended drilling the teeth to let out the matter — supposing that decay always arose from internal inflammation, and terminated in mortification. Yet it is well known lhat the most efficient agents in the destruction of the teeth are external.

Mr. Bell, a native of Edinburgh, and successor of Mr. Fox in the lectureship of Guy's Hospital, made considerable additions to the stock of knowledge now collecting on the subject of the teeth. He was in general a correct observer. His opinions, however, on many subjects, have been controverted with success.

Cuvier, in his work on Fossil Remains, has many valuable remarks on the nature, organization, &c. of the teeth ; but our prescribed limits will not admit of our extracting them for the use of the reader.

M. SERRES.

M. Serrcs, another French writer, in a work on " the Anatomy and Physiology of the Teeth," goes into a minute disquisition on the origin, growth, and nature of the teeth. The columns below give the result of his observations on the difference that exists between bones and teeth.

A BONE

Passes through a cartilaginous stage.

Has a periosteum.

Is affected by rachitis, and other diseases of the oseous system.

Is destroyed by concentrated nitric acid.

When calcined, leaves a white residue.

Is destroyed in extra-uterine conception.

Is vascular.

A TOOTH

Passes through no cartilaginous stage, but is a transudation from the surface of the pulp.

Has no periosteum.

Is not affected by rachitis, or other diseases of the bones.

Is not affected by concentrated nitric acid.

When calcined, leaves a bluish residue.

Remains untouched in extra-uterine conception.

Is not vascular.

His pathology, however, has not been confirmed by more recent observations.

Within a few years we have had Maury, Defoulon, Delabarre, Brown, Parmly, Goddard, Harris, and others.

There is also published in Baltimore, the "Journal of Dental Science," which has done much to dissem-

24 DENTAL JOURNALS.

inate correct information on this subject. It is published quarterly, and supported by the best dental talent in the country. Its senior editor, Prof. Chapin A. Harris, has probably done more to elevate the profession of dentistry in this country than any other single individual.

Recently, in Philadelphia, has been published Stockton's Dental Intelligencer, which bids fair to be very serviceable to the profession. [Its publisher, Samuel W. Stockton, is favorably and extensively known as the manufacturer of superior mineral teeth.] It is issued monthly at the low price of $1 per annum.

The " College of Dental Science,"' established some years since in Baltimore, has done much to circulate correct information respecting the dental art.

The principles of this art should not be exclusively confined to the dentist. Every family should take some good periodical containing information on this subject. The utility of this plan is illustrated by the following occurrence, which took place in this vicinity only a few weeks since.