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P. 157
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THIRTEENTH TO FIFTEENTH CENTURIES l.")')
other remedies, among wIikIi the juice ot the leaves ot the ceiitaur\ or
ot the peach tree, but especialh' apphcations ot acjua vitic.
When it is thought well to have recourse to opium to calm toothache,
he advises this to be used with the utmost prudence ; and on this point,
he relates having witnessed a fatal case, in the person of a gentleman of
Padua, bv the incautious use of this remed\
In extraction Benedetti repeats all the precautionarx measures recom-
mended b\ the ancients, and he, too, advises that recourse should not be
had to this operation, if not as a last remed\', that is, when every other
means of cure has been found useless/
Giovanni of Vigo. The celebrated surgeon (liovanni of Vigo (1460
to 1520), speaking of abscesses of the gums," sa\s that the abscess must
be hrst brought to maturitx' b\ fitting remedies, if it has not ripened spon-
taneously, then it must be opened with a lancet, and lastly, to cleanse
the diseased part and to aid cicatrization, honey of roses or Egyptian oint-
ment must be used. This latter is thus composed of: "I^—Verdigris,
rock alum, ana tw^o ounces; honey of roses, one ounce; plantain water
and pomegranate wine, ana two and one-half ounces. The whole to be
made to boil, and to be stirred with a small rod, until the mixture is
reduced to the consistency of honey."
For the cure of old fistulas he employs not onh' the above-mentioned
Egyptian ointment, but also arsenic and corrosive sublimate.
Giovanni of Vigo is very brief in speaking on the treatment of dental
caries, doubtless because he attributed little or no value to the numerous
methods of cure recommended by his predecessors. The treatment
advised by him is, however, very noteworthy. He says that by means
of a drill, file, scalpel, or other suitable instrument, it is necessary to
remove the whole of the putrefied or corroded part of the teeth, and then,
to preserve it, to fill the cavity with gold leaf.
This clear and simple manner of speaking of gold filling as a cure for
caries makes us suppose that Giovanni of Vigo was not at all a stranger
to the practice of dentistry, as we must think of man\- preceding writers,
hut, on the contrary, that he was not less skilled in dental operations
than he was in the other branches of surgery. Again, history tells us
that Giovanni of Vigo was surgeon to the Roman court; so it would have
been strange, indeed, if the Pope, if the haughty prelates, accustomed as
they were to all kinds of refinement and comfort, should have intrusted
the care of their teeth to lowborn barbers and quacks, whilst thc\- could
dispose of the services of so eminent a surgeon.
' Alexandri Benedicti Veronensis de re medica opus, lib. vi, de affectibus dentium.
^ Opera domini Joannis de Vigo in ch\'rurgia. Lugdiini, 1521, lib. ii, tract, iii, cap. xiv,
fol. 40.
THIRTEENTH TO FIFTEENTH CENTURIES l.")')
other remedies, among wIikIi the juice ot the leaves ot the ceiitaur\ or
ot the peach tree, but especialh' apphcations ot acjua vitic.
When it is thought well to have recourse to opium to calm toothache,
he advises this to be used with the utmost prudence ; and on this point,
he relates having witnessed a fatal case, in the person of a gentleman of
Padua, bv the incautious use of this remed\
In extraction Benedetti repeats all the precautionarx measures recom-
mended b\ the ancients, and he, too, advises that recourse should not be
had to this operation, if not as a last remed\', that is, when every other
means of cure has been found useless/
Giovanni of Vigo. The celebrated surgeon (liovanni of Vigo (1460
to 1520), speaking of abscesses of the gums," sa\s that the abscess must
be hrst brought to maturitx' b\ fitting remedies, if it has not ripened spon-
taneously, then it must be opened with a lancet, and lastly, to cleanse
the diseased part and to aid cicatrization, honey of roses or Egyptian oint-
ment must be used. This latter is thus composed of: "I^—Verdigris,
rock alum, ana tw^o ounces; honey of roses, one ounce; plantain water
and pomegranate wine, ana two and one-half ounces. The whole to be
made to boil, and to be stirred with a small rod, until the mixture is
reduced to the consistency of honey."
For the cure of old fistulas he employs not onh' the above-mentioned
Egyptian ointment, but also arsenic and corrosive sublimate.
Giovanni of Vigo is very brief in speaking on the treatment of dental
caries, doubtless because he attributed little or no value to the numerous
methods of cure recommended by his predecessors. The treatment
advised by him is, however, very noteworthy. He says that by means
of a drill, file, scalpel, or other suitable instrument, it is necessary to
remove the whole of the putrefied or corroded part of the teeth, and then,
to preserve it, to fill the cavity with gold leaf.
This clear and simple manner of speaking of gold filling as a cure for
caries makes us suppose that Giovanni of Vigo was not at all a stranger
to the practice of dentistry, as we must think of man\- preceding writers,
hut, on the contrary, that he was not less skilled in dental operations
than he was in the other branches of surgery. Again, history tells us
that Giovanni of Vigo was surgeon to the Roman court; so it would have
been strange, indeed, if the Pope, if the haughty prelates, accustomed as
they were to all kinds of refinement and comfort, should have intrusted
the care of their teeth to lowborn barbers and quacks, whilst thc\- could
dispose of the services of so eminent a surgeon.
' Alexandri Benedicti Veronensis de re medica opus, lib. vi, de affectibus dentium.
^ Opera domini Joannis de Vigo in ch\'rurgia. Lugdiini, 1521, lib. ii, tract, iii, cap. xiv,
fol. 40.
