102 ON THE INFLUENCE OF HEREDITARY 



acquired disease could alter the form of the 

 permanent teeth. 



The question may naturally be asked whether 

 these conditions may not be due to the adminis- 

 tration of mercury. My reasons for giving a* 

 decided opinion that they are not due to mercury, 

 are, that although I have given mercury for here- 

 ditary syphilis, and other affections, to a vast 

 number of infants, I have never seen it in one 

 single instance cause exfoliation of the crowns of 

 the teeth. That syphilis in infants does undoubt- 

 edly cause inflammation of the periosteum of the 

 dental structures, is proved; and it seems, men, 

 far more logical to attribute to it any effects 

 which may ensue, than to a remedy against which 

 there is little or no evidence. 



We must remember, besides, that mercury 

 subdues the very conditions which are likely to 

 cause inflammation of the teeth. I look upon it, 

 therefore, as preventing the full development of 

 those peculiarities, and not as itself causing them. 



Another reason I have for thinking that the use 

 of mercury rather counteracts the development of 

 these conditions is, that I have had several cases 

 in which I have inquired from the mother, and I 

 have found that the patients have never been sub- 

 jected to any mercurial course, yet the type was 

 even more marked in them than in others. The 

 administration of mercury in large quantities 

 during infancy has, I believe, some influence upon 



