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THE SEVENTEENTH CENTIK)- 'IWW

anatomical tacr ot" the highest importance, especially from the point of
view of dentisti\ and surgery.
rhere is no doubt that the existence ot the maxillar\- sinus was already
known before Highmore, the celebrated anatomists Vesalius, Ingrassias,
luistachius, and Fallopius having spoken ot it very clearh'; onl\- through
ignorance of the hist()r\- of anatonu has it been afHrmed 1)\ main that this
ca\it\' was discoN'ered b\' Highmore, to whom is onh due the merit of
ha\ing described the maxillar\' smus, by him called aiitnmi, most accu-
rateh', and of having made known the possibility ot a comnumication
between it and the mouth. Highmore calls attention to the fact that the
inferior wall of the antrum often presents small projections, which cor-
respond with the tops of the alveoli, and that the osseous lamina which
interposes between these latter and the maxillary sinus is often extremely
thin; for which reason, it may easily happen that, in extracting one of the
teeth below the cavity, one may bring away together with the tooth the
small osseous plate that forms the bottom ot the alveolus, thus leaving
the maxillary sinus open at its interior part. With regard to this, he
refers to a most interesting case which atterward acquired a high degree
of notoriety. It relates to a lady who had sul^'ered from toothache for
some years, and who from time to time had had several decayed teeth ex-
tracted, without, however, tinding relief. The pain only ceased after the
patient had had the left upper canine removed. But after this operation
an incessant flow of humors from the alveolus of the extracted tooth took
place. The patient, in great anxiety at this circumstance and desirous
of seeing clearh- into the causes of it, herselt explored the affected part
with a silver probe, the entire length of which penetrated into the cavit\-,
producing in the patient the effect of its having reached the eye. Still
more amazed, and urged on by the desire ot becoming still better ac-
quainted with the extent of the evil, she now made use of a long feather,
which she had previously stripped, and discovered to her painful surprise
that this new instrument of exploration entered to so great a distance
that it, according to her idea, penetrated into the skull. From this she
derived argument for the belief that the morbid phenomenon had its
origin in her brain. Believing herself affected with a serious malady,
she consulted Highmore, who had the satisfaction of being able to tran-
quillize her completely by making her understand that the jaw bone is
hollow in the inside, and that its cavity had remained open underneath
in consequence of the extraction of the canine tooth; and also, that the
feather had not penetrated to such a distance as she supposed, but had
curved inside the bone. As to the discharge which had given so much
trouble and alarm, Highmore considered it quite a natural circumstance,
derived simply from the opening of the antrum, as he held that in many
cases the maxillary sinus contains mucus, and that this condition was.