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rilF. RO.\f.!XS 91
used. Nor are the\' necessar\' for mastication alone, tor tlie foremost
ones regulate the xoice and words, producmg h\ tin- beat ot the tongue
special sounds."
"Men have thirt\-t\vo teeth, women a lesser number. It is, however,
believed that augurv may be taken from the teeth; and to have a greater
number than usual is considered an indication of long life. The presence
of two e\e teeth at the right side of the upper jaw presages favorable
fortune, as was verified in Agrippina, the mother of Domitius Xero;
on the left side, however, the\' are of sad foreboding."
" rhe last teeth, which are called the genuine teeth, appear toward the
twentieth \ ear of age; man\ persons, however, do not have them until their
eightieth \ear. Teeth fall out in old age and then spring up again; of
this there can be no doubt. Mutianus writes of having known a certain
Zancle of Samothracia, in whom teeth reappeared after he had completed
his one hundred and fourth \ ear. Timarcus, son of Nicocles of Paphus,
had two row^s of molar teeth, whilst a brother of his did not change his
incisor teeth at all, which, therefore, w'ore down little b\- little. 1 here
once lived a man who had a tooth in his palate. The canine teeth, when
b\- anv chance thev fall out, do not reappear any more."'
" In the teeth of man there exists a poisonous substance which has the
effect of dimming the brightness of a looking-glass when they are pre-
sented uncovered before it; and if the\ are uncovered in front of young
unfledged pigeons, these take ill and die."-
The second of these two statements is but a prejudice, like many others;
but we find the first very strange indeed, it being a surprising thing that
a man like Plinv should have attributed to an imaginar\- poison of the
teeth what is the simple effect of the moistures of the breath.
In Chapters CXV and CXVII of Book XI are found some observa-
tions which are somewhat interesting to us:
"A man's breath becomes infected by the bad quality of food, b\ the
bad state of the teeth, and still more bv old age."
"Simple food is ver\- beneficial to man; the variet\- of flavors instead
is very harmful. Sour or too abundant foods are digested with difficultx
and also those which are ravenoush swallowed. As a remed\ , vomiting
has come into use; but it makes the bod\- cold and is most pernicious to
the eyes and to the teeth."
There is no doubt that the habit of often provoking vomitus—which,
in those times of excessive corruption and intemperance, had come into
general use—must have resulted in enormous harm to the teeth, especially
by the action exercised upon them b\ the hydrochloric acid contained in
the gastric juice, and b\' the organic acids of fermentation.
' Lib. xi, cap. • ' Lib. xi, cap. Ixiv
Ixiii.
rilF. RO.\f.!XS 91
used. Nor are the\' necessar\' for mastication alone, tor tlie foremost
ones regulate the xoice and words, producmg h\ tin- beat ot the tongue
special sounds."
"Men have thirt\-t\vo teeth, women a lesser number. It is, however,
believed that augurv may be taken from the teeth; and to have a greater
number than usual is considered an indication of long life. The presence
of two e\e teeth at the right side of the upper jaw presages favorable
fortune, as was verified in Agrippina, the mother of Domitius Xero;
on the left side, however, the\' are of sad foreboding."
" rhe last teeth, which are called the genuine teeth, appear toward the
twentieth \ ear of age; man\ persons, however, do not have them until their
eightieth \ear. Teeth fall out in old age and then spring up again; of
this there can be no doubt. Mutianus writes of having known a certain
Zancle of Samothracia, in whom teeth reappeared after he had completed
his one hundred and fourth \ ear. Timarcus, son of Nicocles of Paphus,
had two row^s of molar teeth, whilst a brother of his did not change his
incisor teeth at all, which, therefore, w'ore down little b\- little. 1 here
once lived a man who had a tooth in his palate. The canine teeth, when
b\- anv chance thev fall out, do not reappear any more."'
" In the teeth of man there exists a poisonous substance which has the
effect of dimming the brightness of a looking-glass when they are pre-
sented uncovered before it; and if the\ are uncovered in front of young
unfledged pigeons, these take ill and die."-
The second of these two statements is but a prejudice, like many others;
but we find the first very strange indeed, it being a surprising thing that
a man like Plinv should have attributed to an imaginar\- poison of the
teeth what is the simple effect of the moistures of the breath.
In Chapters CXV and CXVII of Book XI are found some observa-
tions which are somewhat interesting to us:
"A man's breath becomes infected by the bad quality of food, b\ the
bad state of the teeth, and still more bv old age."
"Simple food is ver\- beneficial to man; the variet\- of flavors instead
is very harmful. Sour or too abundant foods are digested with difficultx
and also those which are ravenoush swallowed. As a remed\ , vomiting
has come into use; but it makes the bod\- cold and is most pernicious to
the eyes and to the teeth."
There is no doubt that the habit of often provoking vomitus—which,
in those times of excessive corruption and intemperance, had come into
general use—must have resulted in enormous harm to the teeth, especially
by the action exercised upon them b\ the hydrochloric acid contained in
the gastric juice, and b\' the organic acids of fermentation.
' Lib. xi, cap. • ' Lib. xi, cap. Ixiv
Ixiii.
