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DENT.iL .1RT AMONG THE EGVPTIINS 25

which the pain alluded to often assumes, and the e\entual issumg of hlood
from the cavity of a tooth affected by caries and pulpitis, when the pulp
is exposed. At anv rate, the Egyptian doctors of remotest antiquit\'
undoubtedly did not ignore the presence of blood in the interior of the
tooth.
From what we have related, it clearly appears that at that remote
epoch many remedies were alreadx' in use for combating dental affec-
tions. These must consequenth have been frequent enough, which
demonstrates the erroneousness of the opinion held b\- some, who affirm,
as does Mummery,^ that in ancient times diseases of the teeth were
extremely rare.
Besides this, it is fully evident, from the Ebers pap\ rus, that at the time
in which this w^as written, dental pathology and therapy were still in a
very primitive condition, and formed a part of general medicine, from
w^hich they showed as \ et no tendency to separate; so true is this, that
the remedies intended for the treatment of the teeth do not constitute a
special section of the work, but are to be found among medicaments of
an altogether different nature. Thus, at page Ixxii of the papyrus- we
find, first, three remedies against the itch; then five remedies for the cure of
pustules in various parts of the body; next an ointment and a potion for
the benrnit blisters in whatever part of the body they may occur; after this,
three medicaments against the bennut blisters of the teeth; and lastly,
a plaster for curing crusts and itching in whatsoever part of the body. _
One finds no mention of dental surgery in the Ebers papyrus. No
conclusions could be drawn from this fact if the work only spoke of
medical treatment, for then it might reasonably be supposed that the 1
compiler had purposely occupied himself with this subject only; but,
on the contrary, the Ebers papyrus frequently makes mention of opera-
tive interventions, and among these, of the use of the knife and of the red-
hot iron for the treatment of abscesses and of certain tumors. Therefore,
there being no mention made in the papyrus of any dental operation, not
even of extraction, gives us reason to suspect that at that remote epoch
no surgical operation w^as carried out on the teeth, and that, as \et, no
instruments existed for practising extraction.
In the time of the celebrated historian Herodotus, of Halicarnassus,
w^ho lived in the fifth century previous to the Christian era (about from
500 to 424 B.C.), that is, more than a thousand }ears after the time in
which the Ebers papyrus was written, the dental art in Eg\pt had made
remarkable progress, and was exercised by specialists. In fact, in the

' On the Relations of the Human Teeth to those of the Lower Animals, by John R.
Mummery. Trans. Odontological Society of Great Britain, May, i860.
- See German translation by Joachim, p. 120.