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THE ROM.INS 119
Tartar incrustations must be renioxed either with scrapers or h\ means
ot a small file/
During the period of dentition one must not give children an\- food
which recjuires mastication, and to soften the gums the\ must he anointed
with hen's fat or with hare's brain.
To preserve the teeth and to keep them healthy, Paul of /^>gina recom-
mends all tainted food to be avoided, and also all possibility of indiges-
tion and frequent vomitings; the use of very hard or glutinous food or of
such as ma\ easih' leave a residuum betw'een the teeth, for example,
dried fitrs, and likewise ver\ cold food and such as set the teeth on edtje.
He also advises that hard things should never be broken with the teeth
and that the latter be carefully cleaned, especially after the last meal of
the day/'
Paul of y^gina also belongs to the class of compilers; but in utilizing
the writings of the great physicians who had preceded him, he gives
evidence of exquisite good sense, and not infrequently subjects the asser-
tions of his predecessors to an intelligent and enlightened criticism.
Besides, he inserts here and there observations and experiences of his own
that are not without interest. He has always been, and rightly so, con-
sidered one of the greatest physicians of ancient times, the great reputa-
tion which he justly held among the Arabs contributing not a little to his
renown.
This author is the last of the Byzantine period, and with him, therefore,
we must close the earlier part of the histor\' of dentistrw If, before
passing to the middle period, we cast a glance over the ground already
traversed, it is easy to perceive that dental art, in ancient times, reached
its highest degree of development at the time when the Roman en diza-
tion was in its greatest splendor, when, in the capital of the world, wealth,
luxur\-, and the refinements of social life marvellously increased its
needs, and by this also gave an impulse to the evolution of all human
activity. But ancient civilization, after having reached its culminating
point, soon fell into decadence, and this necessarily would result in a
hindrance to the development of dental art. From the days of Archi-
genes right up to those of Paul of ^gina, dentistry did not make the
least progress; indeed, as far as prosthetic dentistry is concerned, there
was probably a retrograde movement, it being very likely that when Italy
was subject to the dominion of the barbarians and when Christianity
—which but recently had asserted itself—was strongly imposing on the
human mind a deep contempt for all that regarded the welfare and beauty
of the human body, no one could, an\- longer, think of artificially repairing
the losses sustained by the dental system through disease or m)ury.
' Lib. vi, cap. xxviii. - Ibid., cap. ix. ^ Ibid., cap. xxix.
THE ROM.INS 119
Tartar incrustations must be renioxed either with scrapers or h\ means
ot a small file/
During the period of dentition one must not give children an\- food
which recjuires mastication, and to soften the gums the\ must he anointed
with hen's fat or with hare's brain.
To preserve the teeth and to keep them healthy, Paul of /^>gina recom-
mends all tainted food to be avoided, and also all possibility of indiges-
tion and frequent vomitings; the use of very hard or glutinous food or of
such as ma\ easih' leave a residuum betw'een the teeth, for example,
dried fitrs, and likewise ver\ cold food and such as set the teeth on edtje.
He also advises that hard things should never be broken with the teeth
and that the latter be carefully cleaned, especially after the last meal of
the day/'
Paul of y^gina also belongs to the class of compilers; but in utilizing
the writings of the great physicians who had preceded him, he gives
evidence of exquisite good sense, and not infrequently subjects the asser-
tions of his predecessors to an intelligent and enlightened criticism.
Besides, he inserts here and there observations and experiences of his own
that are not without interest. He has always been, and rightly so, con-
sidered one of the greatest physicians of ancient times, the great reputa-
tion which he justly held among the Arabs contributing not a little to his
renown.
This author is the last of the Byzantine period, and with him, therefore,
we must close the earlier part of the histor\' of dentistrw If, before
passing to the middle period, we cast a glance over the ground already
traversed, it is easy to perceive that dental art, in ancient times, reached
its highest degree of development at the time when the Roman en diza-
tion was in its greatest splendor, when, in the capital of the world, wealth,
luxur\-, and the refinements of social life marvellously increased its
needs, and by this also gave an impulse to the evolution of all human
activity. But ancient civilization, after having reached its culminating
point, soon fell into decadence, and this necessarily would result in a
hindrance to the development of dental art. From the days of Archi-
genes right up to those of Paul of ^gina, dentistry did not make the
least progress; indeed, as far as prosthetic dentistry is concerned, there
was probably a retrograde movement, it being very likely that when Italy
was subject to the dominion of the barbarians and when Christianity
—which but recently had asserted itself—was strongly imposing on the
human mind a deep contempt for all that regarded the welfare and beauty
of the human body, no one could, an\- longer, think of artificially repairing
the losses sustained by the dental system through disease or m)ury.
' Lib. vi, cap. xxviii. - Ibid., cap. ix. ^ Ibid., cap. xxix.
