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DENTAL ART AMONG THE EGYPTIANS 27

It is very difficult to establish within what limits the activit\ of the
dentists alluded to by Herodotus was displa\ed. It has been affirmed
by some that dental art in ancient Eg\pt was \tv\ far advanced, and
that not only the application of artificial teeth, and even of pivot teeth,
hut also stoppings, were practised h\ the Egyptian dentists of those
days. Here are some data on this subject:
Joseph Linderer' tells us that, according to Belzoni- and others, arti-
ficial teeth made of wood and very roughlv fashioned have been found
in Egyptian sarcophagi.
George H. Ferine, a dentist of New York, in an article on the historv
of dentistry,^ sa^s: "Both filled and artificial teeth have been found in
the mouths of mummiesT^e cavities in the former stopped with gold and
in some cases with gilded wood. Whether these fillings were inserted
during life for the purpose of preserving the teeth, or after death for orna-
mentation, it is, of course, impossible to say. That the Egvptians were
exceedinglv fond of embellishing their persons with gold ornaments and
bright colored materials is a fact which has been clearh' established,
and the discover\' of mummies—of exalted personages no doubt—some
organs of which were gilded and embellished with showy colors proves
that their fondness for display accompanied them even to the grave."
To this may be added, that after an embalmment of the highest class^
it was usual to gild the evebrows, the point of the nose, the lips, and the
teeth of the corpse, and place a gold coin between the teeth, or cover over
the tongue w^ith a thin gold plate.
Dr. G. Van Marter, a dentist in Rome, in an article on prehistoric
J.
dentistry,^ writes, among other things, that the renowned archeologist,
Mr. Forbes, had seen mummies' teeth stopped with gold.
The great defect of all the assertions referred to is that of not being
accompanied by any element of proof, wherewith to demonstrate their
truth. When, for example, we are told that Mr. Purland possesses, in

' Die Zahnheilkunde, Erlangen, 1851, p. 348.
- G. B. Belzoni (1778 to 1823), a celebrated Italian traveller and archeologist, visited
Egypt and Nubia, and wrote, in English, a report on his discoveries, which was published
in 1821. We have not been able to procure this book; we have, however, read the Italian
version, published in Naples in 1831, without coming across any mention of artificial teeth
found in Egyptian sarcophagi. Therefore, unless the work has undergone some mutilation
in the Italian translation, we do not know whence Joseph Linderer can have taken the
above notice.
^ New England Journal of Dentistry, 1883, vol. ii, p. 162.
* According to Herodotus and Diodorus, there were three different modes of embalming in
use among the Egyptians; the most expensive of these cost one talent (about 5600 francs),
the second in order 20 minae (about 1900 francs), while for the less wealthy there was a
third class, at a much more economical rate.
^ See Giornale di Corrispondenza pei Dentisti, October, 1885, p. 227.