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THE FORCE USED IN MASTICATION. 165

one off. A cusp that has been weakened by decay may occa-
sionally be wedged off in a similar way by softer material, such
as bread crusts, but it is rathei rare that a perfect tooth is broken
by any accident in the mastication of food.

Force Required in the Mastication of Food.
ILLUSTRATIONS: FIGURE 166.
The force required in the mastication of different charac-
ters of food is important in this connection. Our artificial modes
of preparing foods have the tendency to render them softer and
softer as so-called improvements are made. During recent years
these have followed each other with great rapidity. In almost
every line of foodstuffs, the so-called improvements have ren-
dered them easier of mastication. I give here a table of the
force required for the crushing of meats from trials in 1895
{Dental Cosmos). The instrument used is the phagodyna-
mometer. Figure 166.

PHAGODYNAMOMETER RECORDS.
CRUSHINO POINT OP MEATS.
Boiled corned beef, nice and tender 30 to 35 pounds.
Beefsteak, medium done, chuck 40 " 60 "
Beefsteak, well done, chuck 45 " 60 "
Beefsteak, rare done, very tender, loin 35 " 40 "
Beefsteak, round 40 " 50
"
Beefsteak, well done and rather tough 60 " 80
"
Mutton chops 30 " 40
"
Mutton steak 35" 45
35 "40 "
Roast veal, tender and nice "
Eoast loin of veal 30 " 35
"
Eoast beef 45 " 60
"
Eoast beef, loin 35 " 50
"
Pork chops, loin 20" 25 "
Eoast pork 30 " 35
"
Broiled ham, tender and nice ' 40 " 60 "
Cold boiled tongue, central part 3 " 5
"
Cold boiled tongue, near root 15 " 20
The following were selected by an experienced butcher as
the toughest of meats. Only pure muscular tissue was used.
Cut from shank of an old animal:
Fried, rare done 60 to 80 pounds.
Fried, well done 70 " 90 "
Cut from the neck 70" 90 "
Earely the needle reached 100 pounds before the crush
occurred.
These were made from meats placed on sale within two
hours after killing and generally used the same day. This was