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THE RO.M.IXS SI

the h\giene of the mouth, nothing more is found in the work of Celsus;
and it is also necessar\' to note that the aforesaid precept forms part of a
chapter, in which he speaks of the rules of hfe, which must be observed
b\ weak people, to which class—the author remarks—belong a greater
part of the inhabitants of cities and almost all literary men. According
to Celsus, therefore, perfecth" health} and strong people would not even
need to wash their mouths with fresh water, and perhaps the keen-witted
Roman doctor was not wrong; for it is very probable that the saliva
and mucous secretion of the mouth, m perfectly health;- individuals with
normal constitutions, have the power of combating the pathogenic germs
that produce caries and other diseases of the teeth and mouth. In this
way the fact can be explained of many peasants and the greater part of
the individuals of the negro race having such good teeth, without possess-
ing even the remotest idea of what h\giene of the mouth may be. And
here I venture to refer to a passage in w-hich Celsus alludes to the relation
between diseases and civilization with its vices: "It is probable that
in ancient times, although there was but little knowledge of medicine,
health was for the most part well preserved; this being due to good
habits, not yet spoiled by intemperance and idleness. These two vices,
first in Greece and then among us, have brought upon us a very host of
evils; whence it is that in our days, in spite of the intricate art of medicine
—once not necessary to us, as it is not necessary to other peoples—few
among us attain the beginning of old age."^
In the second book, speaking of the various kinds of disease to which
the different periods of life are subject, he writes: "Children are espe-
cially subject to serpiginous ulcers of the mouth, called by the Greeks
aphthie. . There are also infirmities due to dentition, such as
ulceration of the gums, convulsions, fever, looseness of the bowels; and
it is especially the eruption of the canine teeth which produces these
disturbances. To these, however, very fat children are more particularl\-
liable, and those, also, who have costive bowels."
In Chapter XXV of the fifth book we find the receipt for a narcotic
drug, recommended by the author for producing sleep in persons tor-
mented wqth odontalgic and other pains. This receipt is very compli-
cated, being composed of ten ingredients, among w^hich are acorns,
castoreum, cinnamon, poppy, mandrake, and pepper.
Most important for our subject is Chapter IX, of the sixth book, where the
"
author treats of odontalgia. In toothache, which may be numbered among
the worst of tortures, the patient," says Celsus, "must abstain entirely
from wine, and at first, even from food; afterward, he ma\ partake of
soft food, but ver\- sparingly, so as not to irritate the teeth b\- mastica-

^ Celsus, lib. i, Preface.