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50 ^ FIRST PERIOD—ANTIOUITT

And a little farther on one reads: "From seven to fourteen the larger
teeth come forth and all the others that substitute those derived from the
nourishment of the fetus in the womb. In the fourth septennial period
of life there appear in most people two teeth that are called wisdom
teeth."
There is a passage in this same book De caruibus, in which the great
importance of the teeth for clear pronunciation of words is alluded to:
"The body," says Hippocrates," "attracts the air into itself; the air
expelled through the void produces a sound, because the head resounds.
The tongue articulates, and by its movements, coming into contact with
the palate and the teeth, renders the sounds distinct."
The book De dentitione is written in the form of brief sentences or
aphorisms, and speaks of the accidents that often accompany the eruption
of the deciduous teeth. The most important passages in this short
treatise are the following:
"Children who during dentition have their bowels frequently moved
are less subject to convulsions than those who are constipated."
"Those who during dentition have a severe attack of fever rarely have
convulsions."
"Those who during dentition do not get thinner and who are very
drowsy run the risk of becoming subject to convulsions."
"On conditions of equality, those children who cut their teeth in the
winter get over the teething period the best."
"Not all the children seized with convulsions during dentition succumb
to these ; many are saved."
"In the case of children who suffer with cough the period of dentition
is prolonged, and they get thinner than the others when the teeth come
forth."
In the third book of Aphorisms, where Hippocrates speaks of the
illnesses that prevail in the various seasons of the year and in the various
ages of life, mention is also made of the accidents of dentition. The
twenty-fifth aphorism says: "At the time of dentition, children are
subject to irritation of the gums, fevers, convulsions, diarrhea; this occurs
principally at the time when the canines begin to come forth, and in
children who are very fat or constipated."
The works of Hippocrates are nearly silent on the hygiene of the teeth;
but in the second book, on the diseases of women,'' some prescriptions
are to be found against bad-smelling breath. We translate the passage
integrally:
^> "When a woman's mouth smells and her gums are black and un-
healthy, one burns, separately, the head of a hare, and three mice, after

' Page 252. ^ l^age 253. ' De morbis mulierum, lib. ii, p. 666