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132 SECOND PERIOD-THE MIDDLE AGES

be performed should be made of very good Indian or Damascene iron,
and have the handle longer than the jaws; these, moreover, on the inside
must be toothed, or striated after the manner of files, so that they may
have a perfectly firm grip, without slipping.
From the foregoing quotations and on examining the annexed figures, it
very clearly appears that the extraction of teeth was performed by Abul-
casis with excessive timidity and in a manner which must have been
torturing to the poor patients. These had to undergo, first of all, the
^ detachment of the gums, then the prolonged shaking of the tooth either
with the fingers or with the forceps, then the attempt at extraction by
means of a stronger pair of forceps, but, so far as can be seen from the
figure, very little fitted for the purpose; and finally, in many cases, fresh
maneuverings to extract the tooth with an elevator.

Fig. 39
^

=0

Fig. 40

;n VaVa^a^^a^a^V'v^ /.

Forceps for performing the extraction after the tooth has been loosened (Abulcasis).

Nothing better, in truth, could have been done with such imperfect
instruments. But it is possible that even then there perhaps existed,
for the extraction of teeth, other instruments, so shaped as to be able
to act with greater force. Abulcasis himself alludes to the existence
of dental instruments not mentioned by him. It is probable, therefore,
that the barbers, in spite of the scorn with which Abulcasis overwhelms
them, used, for the extraction of teeth, forceps far more suitable than
those described by him. These individuals, certainly unfurnished with
a scientific education, must have had, however, a great practice in the
extraction of teeth, being perhaps almost the only ones to whom recourse
was had for this operation. They performed it very quickly, as may be
argued from the words of Abulcasis himself. It is no wonder, therefore,
that not un frequently the work of these fatiii toiisores'- was the cause

' Lib. - Silly barbers.
ii, cap. xxxt, p. 191.