Page 256 - My FlipBook

240 HUNTER ON THE TEETH.
whole is destroyed, exactly similar to the wasting of the fangs
of the temporary Teeth in the young subject.*
I have all along supposed, that where this practice is at-
tended with success, there is a living union between the
Tooth and Socket, and that they receive their future nourish-
ment from this new master. My reasons for supposing it
were founded on experiments on other parts,-]- in animals
and also observations made on the practice itself ; for first I
observed that they kept their colour, which is very different
from that of a dead Tooth ; for a living Tooth has a degree
of transparency, while a dead one is of an opaque chalky
white.
Secondly, there are instances of their becoming diseased,
in the same manner as an original living Tooth ; at least
the following case favours strongly this opinion.
In October, 1 772, a gentleman, of the city of London, had
a Tooth transplanted, which was perfectly sound, and fixed in
its new Socket extremely well ; about a year and a half after
two spots were observed on the fore part of the body of the
Tooth, which threatened a decay ; they were exactly similar to
specks, or the first appearance of decay, which come upon
natural living Teeth. Pain is also sometimes felt in the
transplanted Tooth.
But what puts it beyond a doubt is, that a living Tooth,
when transplanted into some living part of an animal, will
retain its life ; and the vessels of the animal shall communi-
cate with the Tooth ; as is shown by the following experi-
ments.
I took a sound Tooth from a person's head ; then made a
pretty deep wound with a lancet into the thick part of a cock's
comb ; and pressed the fang of the Tooth into this wound,
and fastened it with threads passed through other parts of the
comb. The cock was killed some months after ; and I in-

* Vide Natural History, page 140.
f Vide Natural History, page 156.