Page 158 - My FlipBook

160 SECOND PERIOD—THE MIDDLE AGES

It may, however, be seen from the very book of Giovanni of Vigo,^
that in his days doctors and surgeons w^ere, in general, Httle skilled in
dental matters. Speaking of the extraction of teeth, he says: "For
this operation there is need of a practised man, and, therefore, many
medical and surgical authorities have expressed an opinion that this
operation should be left to expert barbers and to the itinerant quacks
who operate in public places. He, therefore, who desires to perform
this manual operation in the best manner will derive great advantage
b\' frequenting men who are expert in performing it and by seeing and
impressing well on his memory their manner of operating."'

[' The editions and translations of Vigo seem to have been endless. A French trans-
lation of his treatise on the wounds caused by firearms is said to have fallen into the
hands of Pare, and had an inspiring influence upon the barber's hoy.—C. M.]
- Lib. V, cap. V, De doloribus dentium, fol. cxvii to cxix.