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THE SIXTEENTH CENTURT 177
GiAN FiLippo Ingrassia (1510 to 1580), a distinguished Sicilian
anatomist, was one of the first who spoke of the dental germ. He sa\s
that the existence ot the tooth properly so called is preceded by that
of a soft dental substance enclosed in the bone, and which he considers
almost as a secretion of the latter.
Matteo Realdo Colombo, of Cremona, a pupil of Vesalius and his
successor in the professorship of Anatoiin at Padua, added but little,
as regards the teeth, to what his master has taught. He combated
the erroneous idea that the teeth were formed in the alveoli shortly
before their eruption. Having dissected the jaws of many fetuses, and
having always observed in them the existence of teeth, he could affirm
with ever\- certainty that the teeth begin to be formed in intra-uterine
life.
Like Vesalius, Realdo Colombo believed that the permanent teeth
were developed from the roots of the milk teeth; and, therefore, he
advised the utmost caution in extracting these, since, if the whole root
were removed, the tooth would not grow again.
Gabriel Fallopius (1523 to 1562), the eminent anatomist of Modena,
also a disciple of Vesalius, carried out accurate and successful researches
in regard to the development of the teeth, and made them known in his
book, Observation's anatomiccr, published at Venice in 1562, the year
in which he died.
His investigations enabled him to show the falsity of the opinion held
by Vesalius, that the permanent teeth are developed from the roots of
the temporary ones. He was, besides, the first who spoke in clear terms
of the dental follicle.
The teeth, says Fallopius,- are generated twice over, that is, the first
time in the uterus, after the formation of the jaws, and the second time in
extra-uterine life, before the seventh year. The first teeth are, at the
time of birth, still imperfect, without roots, completely enclosed in their
alveoli, and formed of two different substances; the part with which they
must break their way out is osseous and hollowed; the deeper part, in-
stead, is soft and humid and is seen covered with a thin pellicle, a thing
which may also be observed in the feathers of birds when they are still
tender. In fact, the part of the feather which comes out of the skin
is hard and corneous, whilst the part which is embedded in the wings is
soft and humid and has the appearance of coagulated blood or mucus.
So also in the fetal teeth, the part corresponding to the future root presents
itself like coagulated mucus. Little b\' little this soft substance hardens
and becomes osseous, thus constituting the root of the tooth.
^ Portal, Histoire de I'anatomie et de la chirurgie, tome
i, p. 545.
^ Observationes anatomicae, p. 39, et seq.
THE SIXTEENTH CENTURT 177
GiAN FiLippo Ingrassia (1510 to 1580), a distinguished Sicilian
anatomist, was one of the first who spoke of the dental germ. He sa\s
that the existence ot the tooth properly so called is preceded by that
of a soft dental substance enclosed in the bone, and which he considers
almost as a secretion of the latter.
Matteo Realdo Colombo, of Cremona, a pupil of Vesalius and his
successor in the professorship of Anatoiin at Padua, added but little,
as regards the teeth, to what his master has taught. He combated
the erroneous idea that the teeth were formed in the alveoli shortly
before their eruption. Having dissected the jaws of many fetuses, and
having always observed in them the existence of teeth, he could affirm
with ever\- certainty that the teeth begin to be formed in intra-uterine
life.
Like Vesalius, Realdo Colombo believed that the permanent teeth
were developed from the roots of the milk teeth; and, therefore, he
advised the utmost caution in extracting these, since, if the whole root
were removed, the tooth would not grow again.
Gabriel Fallopius (1523 to 1562), the eminent anatomist of Modena,
also a disciple of Vesalius, carried out accurate and successful researches
in regard to the development of the teeth, and made them known in his
book, Observation's anatomiccr, published at Venice in 1562, the year
in which he died.
His investigations enabled him to show the falsity of the opinion held
by Vesalius, that the permanent teeth are developed from the roots of
the temporary ones. He was, besides, the first who spoke in clear terms
of the dental follicle.
The teeth, says Fallopius,- are generated twice over, that is, the first
time in the uterus, after the formation of the jaws, and the second time in
extra-uterine life, before the seventh year. The first teeth are, at the
time of birth, still imperfect, without roots, completely enclosed in their
alveoli, and formed of two different substances; the part with which they
must break their way out is osseous and hollowed; the deeper part, in-
stead, is soft and humid and is seen covered with a thin pellicle, a thing
which may also be observed in the feathers of birds when they are still
tender. In fact, the part of the feather which comes out of the skin
is hard and corneous, whilst the part which is embedded in the wings is
soft and humid and has the appearance of coagulated blood or mucus.
So also in the fetal teeth, the part corresponding to the future root presents
itself like coagulated mucus. Little b\' little this soft substance hardens
and becomes osseous, thus constituting the root of the tooth.
^ Portal, Histoire de I'anatomie et de la chirurgie, tome
i, p. 545.
^ Observationes anatomicae, p. 39, et seq.
