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THE DECAY OF THE TEETH. 121

roded teeth are to be treated with astringents, (ialen exphiined
the loosening- of the teeth " by an excess of nioistnre, whieli
impairs the nerves,"
This view i« also held by Aetins of Amida (550), partially,
too, by Ebn-Sina (Avieenna, 978-1036), and Serapion'^ (1002).

Inflammation Theory of Decay.
A great nnmber of writers even up to the present time have
regarded tooth-decay as a proces-s of inflammation. As early as
131 A.D., Galen mentions a kind of inflammation which is called
forth in the tooth by excessive nourishment. Enstaehius"^ (1574)
expresses himself more definitely : '*• RedandanUa, quamrls denies
SLibstantiam duram habeant ac jyrope lapideam, simdcm in eis ojf'ec-
tionem excdat cujusmodi est circa caniosas partes inflammatio quod
sane ut admiratione dignuni sit tamen ex alirnenti copia arcidere posse
ct Galcnus testatur et ndio ipsa confiiynat."
John Hunter'^ (1778) approaches the inflammation theory
when he says (after ha^'ing designated caries as mortification),
" I am apt to suspect that during life there is some operation
ffoino; on which iiroduces a change in the diseased i)art."
Kappis (1794) expresses the same views.
Joseph Fox"" (1806) says, " The diseases to which the teeth are
subject have their origin in inflammation."
Thomas Bell" (1831) characterizes caries of the teeth as gan-
grene, and says, " The trne,i)roximate cause of dental gangrene
is inflammation."
E. Neumann,^^ Ilertz,'^ Ivoecker,®- and others entertained the
same ^iews.
Koecker writes, " Caries, in tact, is that state of the tooth in
which mortification has taken place in one part and inflamma-
tion in the part contiguous to it, the former originally produced
by the latter, and the latti-r continually kept up by the former."
In more recent times the inflammatory theory of dental decay
has derived its chief and almost only support from the contribu-
tions of Frank Abbott, Ileitzmann, and Boedeckcr.*' These
authors have strenuously advocated the view that " there occurs
a primary inflammation in dentine independent of pulpitis or