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THE ROMANS s?

When there is a large carious liollow in the rooth to he extracted,
Celsus recommends that it should first he hlled up either with lint or
with lead, in order to prevent the tooth from hreaking under the pressure
of the instrument. " 1 he latter," he coiituiues, "must he made to act in
a straio;ht direction, in order to a\()id fracture ot the hone. 1 he dant^er
of fracture is still greater in the case of short teeth ; often the forceps,
not heing able to grasp the tooth well, takes hold of the hone with it and
fractures the latter. When after the extraction of a tooth much hlood
flows from the wound, this indicates that some part of the bone has been
broken. It is necessar\' then to search for the detached piece of bone
with the probe and to extract it with the forceps. If this be not success-
ful, an incision must be made in the gums just as large as is necessar\
for the extraction of the fragment. When this is not taken out, it often
happens that the jaw swells in such a manner as to prevent the patient
from opening his mouth. In such a case it is necessary to apph' to the
cheek a hot cataplasm of flour and figs, so as to induce suppuration, after
which the gums must be lanced and the splinter of bone extracted."
When the teeth show blackish stains, Celsus advises such stains to be
scraped away, and the teeth afterward to be rubbed with a mixture of
pounded rose leaves, gall-nuts, and mvrrh, and the mouth to be trequentl}'
washed with pure wine. It is necessary besides, says the author, to keep
the head well covered, to walk a great deal, and to partake of no acid food. \y
"If by effect of a blow^ or other accident some of the teeth become
loose, it is necessary to bind them with gold wire to the neighboring
firm teeth, and besides to keep in the mouth astringent substances, for
example, wine in which the rind of pomegranates has been boiled, or
into which some burning hot gall-nuts have been thrown."
"When in a child a permanent tooth appears before the fall of the milk
tooth, it is necessary to dissect the gum all around the latter and extract
it; the other tooth must then be pushed with the finger, day by da\-,
toward the place that was occupied by the one extracted; and this is to
be done until it has firmly reached its right position."
"Now and again it happens that when a tooth is pulled out its root
remains in the socket; it is then necessary to extract it at once, with the
forceps adapted for the purpose, called by the Greeks rizagra.'^
The last book of the work of Celsus treats chiefly of fractures and
dislocations. In the first chapter the position and form of the bones of
the whole human body are described, although not very exactl}'. Speak-
ing of the teeth, the author says: "The teeth are harder than the bones,
and are fixed, some on the max illa (lower jaw) and some on the oxer-
hanging bone of the cheeks."^

' Celsus did not know of the upper maxillary bones as distinct bones. The same may be
said of the other bones of the head. Celsus speaks of the osseous sutures and openings,
hut not of the different bones of the skull and face.