Page 59 - My FlipBook

THE GREEKS 59

constituted, and, therefore, li\e longer, in gener;il, than others. It is
also to be noted that these people usually keep all their teeth to a more
or less advanced age; and there is no doubt that among adults ot the same
age, those who have a less number of teeth, by reason of having lost
several of them, are, in general, individuals whose organic constitutions
are less good, whose health is less satisfactor\', and who are, therefore,
destined in all probabilit\' to live a shorter time than the others. It is,
therefore, perfectlv true, hut only in a ccrtani and vcr\ limited sense that
"long-lived individuals have a greater number of teeth."
Geist-jacobi, perhaps in order to dissipate the erroneous significa-
tion of the Hippocratic proposition cited above and to place in e\ idence
that part of it which may be true, has thought well to translate it thus:
"He who lives long keeps manv teeth." But this translation does not
render faithfully the idea expressed in the original Greek, n- i/.ay(M').i:u: -/.liw)::
odovzaz lyo'jaiv (literally, the long-lived have more teeth); a proposition
that the most celebrated commentators of Hippocrates interpret in the
sense given bv us, and which Litre translates excellently well in these
words: ^^ Avoir des dents en plus grand nonibre est un signe de longevite.''
Notwithstanding this prejudice, which survived vigorously tor many
centuries, the regular number of teeth was not unknown at the time of
Hippocrates. This is to be perceived from a brief treatise of the Hippo-
cratic collection, entitled De hominis structura, wherein is written:
" The teeth, together with the molars, are thirty-two."
Among the manv and man\- counsels of practical value registered in
the works of Hippocrates, the following deserves special mention :
"When a person has an ulcer of long duration on the margin of the
tongue, one should examine the teeth on that side, to see if some one ot
them does not, bv chance, present a sharp point."'
In fact, it not infrequently occurs that a lingual ulcer deriving from
irritation produced bv a broken or sharp tooth assumes a malignant
aspect that causes it to be mistaken for a cancerous ulcer, and medical
men may even be so far misled as to advise the extreme remed\- ot
amputation of the tongue. If, however, the consulting surgeon has some
experience, he will not neglect in the first place to examine accuratel\-
the state of the patient's teeth ; it then mostly happens that after the
removal of the offending tooth a complete cure is obtained in a brief
space of time. How much anxiety would not such poor sufferers be
spared if physicians in general were acquainted with the counsel given
by Hippocrates twenty-four centuries ago!
In speaking of fracture of the lower jaw, Hippocrates recommends
binding the teeth next to the lesion together. He distinguishes between

^ Prxdictorum, lib. ii, p. 96.