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noying and alarming nature. This judicious physician had
for a long time suspected the cause, and frequently proposed
to consult me. By the wish of the lady, however, the den-
tist of the family was at last sent for, and three or four teeth
and roots were removed, which, according to the assertion
of the dental attendant, were all that could be extracted.
The disease, however, was only aggravated by this interfer-
ence, and the sufferings of the patient increased more and
more.
About six months after, the doctor again urged a meeting
with me on the subject, and at last I was sent for. I found
the lady labouring under a complete salivation, from an ex-
traordinary sympathy of all the glands, in any way connect-
ed with the teeth. On the previous night, and indeed, for
many nights preceding, she had been suffering such violent
fits of convulsion, as to alarm the whole family. The face
was affected with an acute erysipelatous inflammation, ac-
companied with head-ache, as also with considerable de-
rangement of the digestive functions, such as sickness, vom-
iting, loss of appetite, &c. By examining the mouth, I found
that the previous dental treatment had been but very partial,
and I proposed the removal of every tooth and root which
produced irritation.
The lady consented immediately to my proposal, and the
necessary operations were performed on the 8th of October.
1824, when nine decayed teeth, some of them mere roots,
were extracted. The patient was directed to rinse her
mouth frequently with a diluted astringent lotion. By this
simple local treatment, and by the further medical care of
Dr. Rucco, she was perfectly cured in about a week after
the operation.
Baglivi, one of the best medical writers of a former pe-
riod, observes in his Canones de Medicinee :