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THE ROM.IXS 107 ,
fame as a ph\ sician and as an operator, and clistinguishecl hiiiiselt |:)arrie-
ularh h\' daring amputations and trepanmngs. Me recommends \ arious
remedies against odontalgia, among which are mouth washes of strong
hot vinegar, in which gall-nuts or halicaccabum' have been boiled. He
usually introduced into carious teeth a mixture of turpentine and vitriol
of iron (sorv crgxptiiim), or a mixture of pepper, and oil of spikenard or
of almonds, and this was also dropped into the ear, on the side on which
the pain was felt.
Archigenes, too, like other great ph\ sicians of that time, recommended
various remedies taken from the animal kingdom against diseases of the
teeth, w^hich now seem verv strange to us, but at that period appear to
have been in great use. Thus, it would be of great benefit to hold in
the mouth for some length of time a mixture of vinegar and water in
which a frog has been well cooked. The slough of a serpent, burnt and
then reduced, b\- the addition of oil, to the consistenc\- of solidified hone\',
would be a valuable remed\', which being introduced into a carious
hollow, and plastered all around the tooth and on the surrounding parts,
would cause the most violent pain to cease. And, moreover, desiring
to cause a diseased tooth to fall out, it would be enough to apph to and
press upon it a piece of the unburnt slough of a serpent. Two excellent
anti-odontalgic remedies to be introduced into carious hollows would
be roasted earth-worms and spikenard ointment mixed with the crushed
eggs of spiders. It would be also of use to drop into the ear on the side
of the aching tooth some oil of sesamum in which earth-worms have been
cooked.
When the pain is situated in broken teeth, Archigenes advises then, to
be cauterized with a red-hot iron.
Against bleeding of the gums, he recommends rubbing them with very
finely pulverized alum and myrtle and the application of astringent and
tonic liquids.
When odontalgia appears to depend upon an inflammatory condition,
he advises the aching teeth to be plastered up with a mixture composed
of red nitre, pounded peach kernels, and resin.
Archigenes repeatedly recommends the cleaning of the teeth and of
the carious cavities before appUing to the former or introducing into
the latter the appropriate remedies.
But Archigenes' principal merit, so far as concerns the art of dentistrx
consists in his having guessed that odontalgia, in certain cases, arises
from a disease of the interior part of the tooth (viz., from inflammation
of the pulp) and in having discovered an excellent method for curing
^ A species of solanaceae of the Physalis genus, probably the Physahs alkekengi.
- Galeni de compositione medicamentorum secundum locos, hber v.
THE ROM.IXS 107 ,
fame as a ph\ sician and as an operator, and clistinguishecl hiiiiselt |:)arrie-
ularh h\' daring amputations and trepanmngs. Me recommends \ arious
remedies against odontalgia, among which are mouth washes of strong
hot vinegar, in which gall-nuts or halicaccabum' have been boiled. He
usually introduced into carious teeth a mixture of turpentine and vitriol
of iron (sorv crgxptiiim), or a mixture of pepper, and oil of spikenard or
of almonds, and this was also dropped into the ear, on the side on which
the pain was felt.
Archigenes, too, like other great ph\ sicians of that time, recommended
various remedies taken from the animal kingdom against diseases of the
teeth, w^hich now seem verv strange to us, but at that period appear to
have been in great use. Thus, it would be of great benefit to hold in
the mouth for some length of time a mixture of vinegar and water in
which a frog has been well cooked. The slough of a serpent, burnt and
then reduced, b\- the addition of oil, to the consistenc\- of solidified hone\',
would be a valuable remed\', which being introduced into a carious
hollow, and plastered all around the tooth and on the surrounding parts,
would cause the most violent pain to cease. And, moreover, desiring
to cause a diseased tooth to fall out, it would be enough to apph to and
press upon it a piece of the unburnt slough of a serpent. Two excellent
anti-odontalgic remedies to be introduced into carious hollows would
be roasted earth-worms and spikenard ointment mixed with the crushed
eggs of spiders. It would be also of use to drop into the ear on the side
of the aching tooth some oil of sesamum in which earth-worms have been
cooked.
When the pain is situated in broken teeth, Archigenes advises then, to
be cauterized with a red-hot iron.
Against bleeding of the gums, he recommends rubbing them with very
finely pulverized alum and myrtle and the application of astringent and
tonic liquids.
When odontalgia appears to depend upon an inflammatory condition,
he advises the aching teeth to be plastered up with a mixture composed
of red nitre, pounded peach kernels, and resin.
Archigenes repeatedly recommends the cleaning of the teeth and of
the carious cavities before appUing to the former or introducing into
the latter the appropriate remedies.
But Archigenes' principal merit, so far as concerns the art of dentistrx
consists in his having guessed that odontalgia, in certain cases, arises
from a disease of the interior part of the tooth (viz., from inflammation
of the pulp) and in having discovered an excellent method for curing
^ A species of solanaceae of the Physalis genus, probably the Physahs alkekengi.
- Galeni de compositione medicamentorum secundum locos, hber v.
