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28 HISTOIJY OF DEXTAL SUKGEKY

previous cluipters. Hg must eaeli morning, as soon as he rises, take a coarse
piece of linen and ruli liis teetli inside and outside and cleanse them by a
rubbing once or twice, such rubbing strengthens the teeth and the gums and
prevents decay. After this he should take salt and rub the teeth; this will
secure them to be white, fresh, firm and healtliy. Or he may take salt and
honey mixed, burn it to a powder, and with this powder rub the teeth; or he
may take myrrh and alum, powder it and rub the teeth together; or he may
take burnt alum, dissolved in vinegar, and wash the mouth with it. He may
also take myrrh boiled in wine as a mouth-wash, which strengthens the teeth,
prevents the gums from receding, the forming of bad odors and putrefaction."
Finally he says: "Always after eating (ras// tlic mouth irith trine or beer
that there may be washed off everything that miglit adhere tn the teeth, which
mav make them decav or create bad odors."

AMBEOISE PARE, FATHER OF MODERN SURGERY.
Ambroise I'are began his career in I'aris, about 152.3, as an apprentice to a
barber surgeon. His great skill and ability while still a young man caused tlic
commander of the French forces in the Piedmont campaign of 1537 to take an
interest in him, which resulted in his appointment as master barber surgeon.
This service gave him opportunities to introduce experiments and reforms in
the practice, which deservedly resulted in the bestowal upon him of the title
of the "Father of Modern Surgery."'
Upon his return to Paris he was ridiculed, vilified and maligned, but hav-
ing the support of the men in power on liis side he paid little heed to that. He
proceeded not only to reforms in practice, but also insisted that every surgeon
should he educated in anatomy by dissections and that all should have a syste-
matic medical training, and he instituted schools for their instruction. He
wrote a number of works on various branches of surgery. In his work pub-
lished in 1597 he states that the adherence of the teeth ti> the jaw is caused
by a ligament which goes from the root of the tooth to the jaw. He believed
that teeth continued to grow during the life time of the individual and that
they could distinguish taste. He expressed a belief that frequently in the
extraction of teeth three good ones were removed before the decayed one was
touched. The instrument which he used for extraction was the pelican. He
is also credited with having been the first to close perforations in the palate
by means of obturators.
In an edition of his work, published in 1634, this is written: