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THE SEVENTEENTH CENTLRV 237
following on the extraction or on the tailing out ot teeth. Rli\ sell, how-
ever, makes the observation that atrophy of the al\eolar parietes may
also precede the falling out of the teeth, and rather be the cause than an
effect of it. In such cases the teeth, before falling out, always become
more and more loosened, proportionately to the atro|ihic process. This
pathological condition, against which none of the astringent remedies
habitually used are of avail, is mostly considered, says Ruysch, to be
owing to scurvy; but, he adds, the accumulation of tartar may also
be the cause of it. Substantialh', Ruysch affirms the relation existing
between the accumulations of tartar and the production of that very
fre(|uent disease that was afterw^ard named expulsive periodontitis or
alveolar p\orrhea.
This author also relates two cases of polypous affection of the maxillary
sinus. In one of these cases, the existence of a polypus in the maxillarv
sinus was determined by Ruysch while dissecting a corpse. The other
case relates to a female patient upon whom tw^o surgeons had performed
the extraction of several molar teeth and the extirpation of an epulis
believed by them to be of a malignant character. After the operation they
cauterized the diseased part to a great depth with a red-hot iron, reaching
as far as the maxillary sinus, which remained open, and from which
Ruysch afterward extracted with his little finger several polypi.'
Antoni Van Leeuwenhoek (1632 to 1723), like the preceding author,
a Dutchman, was the first maker of powerful microscopes, by means of
which he made man\- important discoveries; among others, that of the
tubular structure of the dentine or tooth bone. This discovery he made
known and demonstrated in the year 1678, before the Ro}'al Society in
London. In his description of the structure of the teeth, Leeuwenhoek
savs that 600 to 700 of the dentinal tubuli have hardly the consistence of
one hair of a beard.
In the year 1683 he discovered in the tartar scraped from between the
teeth a form of microorganism upon which he laid special stress. I his
observation he embodied in the form of a contribution which was pre-
sented to the Royal Society of London on September 14, 1683. Ibis
paper is of particular importance, not only because of the careful, objective
nature of the description given of the bodies seen by him, but also for the
illustrations which accompany it. From a perusal of the text and an
inspection of the plates, there remains little room for doubt that the
bodies described by Leeuwenhoek were not animalcules, as he believed,
but bacteria.^
Friderici
' Ruyschii observationum anatomico-chirurgicorum, centuria, Amsfelodami,
1691; Portal, op. cit., vol. iii.
-'
Portal, op. cit., vol. iii.
A. C. Abbott, The Principles of Bacteriology, Philadelphia, 1905, p.
•' 19.
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTLRV 237
following on the extraction or on the tailing out ot teeth. Rli\ sell, how-
ever, makes the observation that atrophy of the al\eolar parietes may
also precede the falling out of the teeth, and rather be the cause than an
effect of it. In such cases the teeth, before falling out, always become
more and more loosened, proportionately to the atro|ihic process. This
pathological condition, against which none of the astringent remedies
habitually used are of avail, is mostly considered, says Ruysch, to be
owing to scurvy; but, he adds, the accumulation of tartar may also
be the cause of it. Substantialh', Ruysch affirms the relation existing
between the accumulations of tartar and the production of that very
fre(|uent disease that was afterw^ard named expulsive periodontitis or
alveolar p\orrhea.
This author also relates two cases of polypous affection of the maxillary
sinus. In one of these cases, the existence of a polypus in the maxillarv
sinus was determined by Ruysch while dissecting a corpse. The other
case relates to a female patient upon whom tw^o surgeons had performed
the extraction of several molar teeth and the extirpation of an epulis
believed by them to be of a malignant character. After the operation they
cauterized the diseased part to a great depth with a red-hot iron, reaching
as far as the maxillary sinus, which remained open, and from which
Ruysch afterward extracted with his little finger several polypi.'
Antoni Van Leeuwenhoek (1632 to 1723), like the preceding author,
a Dutchman, was the first maker of powerful microscopes, by means of
which he made man\- important discoveries; among others, that of the
tubular structure of the dentine or tooth bone. This discovery he made
known and demonstrated in the year 1678, before the Ro}'al Society in
London. In his description of the structure of the teeth, Leeuwenhoek
savs that 600 to 700 of the dentinal tubuli have hardly the consistence of
one hair of a beard.
In the year 1683 he discovered in the tartar scraped from between the
teeth a form of microorganism upon which he laid special stress. I his
observation he embodied in the form of a contribution which was pre-
sented to the Royal Society of London on September 14, 1683. Ibis
paper is of particular importance, not only because of the careful, objective
nature of the description given of the bodies seen by him, but also for the
illustrations which accompany it. From a perusal of the text and an
inspection of the plates, there remains little room for doubt that the
bodies described by Leeuwenhoek were not animalcules, as he believed,
but bacteria.^
Friderici
' Ruyschii observationum anatomico-chirurgicorum, centuria, Amsfelodami,
1691; Portal, op. cit., vol. iii.
-'
Portal, op. cit., vol. iii.
A. C. Abbott, The Principles of Bacteriology, Philadelphia, 1905, p.
•' 19.
