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254 THIRD PERIOD—MODERN TIMES

to the extraction of the latter. He says that this is only necessary when
a tooth, either because broken or because its crown emerges too little
above the gum, offers an insufficient hold for the pelican.*
Our historical survey has now reached the end of the seventeenth
century. Embracing at a glance the whole of this last period of time,
we remark, among many facts of minor importance, some events which,
in the history of the development of dental art, stand out in strong relief.
Such are the replantation of teeth used as a special curative method by
Dupont and others; the method of plugging in cases of alveolar hemor-
rhage, the credit of which is due to Riviere and to Tulpius; the descrip-
tion of the maxillary sinus given by Highmore; the rational treatment
of affections of the antrum, inaugurated by Meibom, Cowper, and
Drake; the researches into the microscopic structure of the teeth, bril-
liantly initiated by Leeuwenhoek, who discovered the dentinal tubuli;
the use of models introduced by Purmann into the workmanship of
prosthetic pieces; the employment of hippopotamus' tusks in making
artificial teeth, first recommended by Nuck; and the invention of Guille-
meau, which was the first step toward the use of mineral teeth.

^ Traite complet de operations de chirurgie, par Mons. de Lavauguyon, Paris, 1696, p. 644.