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THE SIXTEENTH CEXTL R) Ki!)
llie barbers and tooth-drawers, he sa\s, must well reiiieiiiber this
rule, in order to avoid extracting, thoughtlessl\- and with no benefit,
sound teeth, since then the pain persists in spite of the operation. Also,
it must be borne in mind that, in case of violent pain, it is necessary
to operate as soon as possible, so that the patient ma\ not faint or be
attacked b\ the talhng sickness, it the pain shoidd be communicated to
the heart or bram.
The idea that Molent dental pams could give rise to s\ncope or to epi-
leps\' (in regard to which we onl\ observe that even very recent writers
enumerate dental caries among the causes of the so-called reflex epileps\)
is also found in Giovanni d'Arcoli, who expresses himself in regard to this
in the followmg terms: "Such ver\' violent pains are sometimes followed
b\" s\ncope or epileps\ , through in|ur\ communicated to the heart or
brain."'
"The most atrocious pain," says Ryff, "is when an apostema ripens
in the root;" literal translation of words written about a centur\ before
by Arculanus: " Fortissima dolor est, qui provenit ab apostemate, quod
in radice dentis maturatur."
Likewise taken from Arculanus is the observation (already made,
however, b\ much more ancient writers) that "when the cheeks sw^ell,
toothache ceases." Arculanus, however, expresses himself in a less
absolute manner, and therefore more correspondmg to the truth, since
he says "the pain generally ceases" (secundum plurimum dolor sedatur).
Even in regard to the therapeutics of dental pains, Ryff does not
tell us an\thing new-. Dr. Geist-Jacobi gives this author the merit of
having made, in regard to the cure of dental pains, a distinction between
cura luendosa (that is, imperfect, palliative, tending simply to calm the
pain) and cura vera (that is, directed against the causes of the disease).
But this very important distinction is also taken from Arculanus, who in
his turn took it from Mesne. In fact, after having spoken of the general
rules relative to the cure of dental diseases, Giovanni of Arcoli adds :
"As to the particular therapy, it is divided mto cura rucudosa and cura
vera, as may be found in Mesue. And the cura tuendosa is so called
because it calms the pain by abolishing sensibility, not by taking away
the cause of it. Such is, for the sake of example, the cure, consisting in
fumigations of henbane, made to reach the diseased tooth b\- means of
a small tube, adapted to a funnel."
The third part of R\ ff 's pamphlet has as its title :
"How the pains of the gums should be calmed or mitigated in suckling
infants, so as to promote the cutting of the teeth without pain."
This part, as Geist-jacobi informs us, is ver\- brief, not taking up more

' Joannis Arculani. Commentaria, Venetiis, 1542, cap. xlviii, De dolore dentium, p. 192.