91 



THE TEETH. 



CIVILISATION, whatever its defects, is usually conducive 

 to beauty ; but in respect to human teeth there is a marked 

 exception. The ugliest savage races the snail- and snake- 

 and caterpillar-eating Australian savage, the man-eating New 

 Zealander of a past generation, the Fejee cannibals of to-day, 

 the Esquimaux, the Calmuck, whatever the savage or half- 

 savage race we may choose for illustration have finer teeth 

 than have human beings nursed in luxury, fed delicately, 

 comfortably clad and housed. The fact is plain to sight, but 

 the explanation varies. To say as many are content with 

 saying that the deteriorated teeth of civilised races are re- 

 ferable to the habits of civilised life is, in point of fact, to 

 evade explanation ; the question being, what are the habits and 

 usages of civilised life to teeth so detrimental ? 



Some hold to the belief that sugar is the cause an opinion 

 I conceive to be untenable, as in the sequel will more appear ; 

 others would refer to vinegar the teeth-deterioration of civilised 

 humanity a verdict irreconcilable with the subsidiary part 

 fulfilled by vinegar amongst the constituents of human food. 

 I believe that, more than to any other cause, the inferiority 

 of teeth in civilised to those of savage life, is referable to the 

 swallowing of hot food and drink ; often in rapid alternation 

 with cold. Be that as it may, failure of teeth seems a part 

 of the price civilised humanity must pay for the boon of 

 civilisation ; hence the due economy of teeth becomes of high 

 importance, whether as a matter of beauty or of utility. 

 Childhood past, a natural tooth lost is usually lost for ever. 



The cases in which a third set of teeth have been pro- 

 duced are so extremely rare, that the event is looked upon, 

 when occurring, as one of Nature's freaks. The loss of teeth 

 has more than a local meaning: it is a sign in itself of 

 lowered vitality, and is a cause of further constitutional defect. 



