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Diseases of the Teeth. 65
be occasioned by any excitementfwhich produces irregular
action; and as the bone of the tooth is very dense, and posses-
ses little living power, a death of some part of it may speedily
follow an inflammation of the vessels of the membrane which
are contained within the cavity.
" If a sound tooth that has been recently extracted be broken,
the membrane will be found to be firmly attached to the bone
But when this mem-
of the tooth, forming the inner cavity.
brane becomes inflamed, it separates from the bone, and the
death of the tooth is the consequence.
" That this is the proximate cause of caries, appears to be
highly probable by remarking that a caries of other bones is
caused by a separation of those membranes which cover them,
and which are attached to them. Thus a separation of the
periosteum will cause a death of a part of the tibia, or that of
the pericranium, a caries of some part of the bones of the head.
*.' This opinion is also confirmed by comparing the symp-
toms which accompany inflammation in a bone with those
which are occasionally felt by persons in their teeth, previously
to any appearance of caries.
"During the inflammation of a bone, there is an obtuse,
rather than an acute pain ; the parts which surround or cover
it feel sore, and cannot bear pressure ; and when there is an
opportunity of making the comparison, an inflamed bone is
found to have a darker appearance than a healthy one.
" Very similar to these are the symptoms which are ob-
served by every one when their teeth have been affected by
what is commonly termed a cold. At this time a dull, uneasy
pain is felt extending along the jaw, the teeth are tender, and
cannot be pressed together with the ordinary degree of force;
and it may almost always be observed, that the teeth thus
affected, have a darker appearance than those which are per-
fectly free from pain.
" When these inflammatory symptoms subside, the pain in
the teeth goes off; but, as inflammation may have caused a
death of some part of one or more teeth, the decomposition of
3*