98 COSMETICS. 



natural teeth those mingled tints of green, blue, yellow, &c. 

 that, taken together, go to make-up a general result of gray- 

 ness of some preponderating shade. If this be so of natural 

 teeth naturally, by how much more will the tint of teeth be 

 varied from white by the thousand contingencies of coloured 

 food and drink, of physic, and perhaps of smoking ? 



A common failing with middle-aged and elderly, nay too 

 often young, people is, that they choose artificial teeth of the 

 most brilliant whiteness they can find. Nothing can be more 

 absurd. To commit this error is to reveal to any apprehen- 

 sion of ordinary acuteness the secret of false teeth. Another 

 common error is that of having artificial teeth more regular 

 and more block-like than is ever seen in nature. If the most 

 regular set of naturally-grown teeth be examined as to abso- 

 lute mechanical evenness, they will be found deficient in this 

 quality, and still that very defect shall conduce to the general 

 result of beauty. The fact is certain, though the foundation 

 of it lies too deep for easy revelation maybe for any that 

 some degree of irregularity of feature is needed to awaken in 

 an appreciative mind the highest sentiment of beauty. Few 

 of us but can remember to have seen faces so wholly regular, 

 so feature by feature unexceptionable, that the result fell tame 

 and unimpressive on the eye. As regards the teeth, it will 

 generally be found that the most pleasing expression, male 

 and female nay, the highest types of male and female fea- 

 ture-beauty is correlated with some sort of irregularity in 

 the teeth. In one the precise irregularity is, perhaps, that a 

 tooth slightly overlaps; in another the front teeth are slightly 

 parted, it may be. Of whatever sort the natural peculiarity 

 may have been, the dentist should be allowed to follow it in 

 his copy. Here, too, in a general way, the remark may be 

 made, that if by any chance a set of teeth gives admiration 

 for its pure white tint and general evenness of run, when seen 

 on a table or under a case, that set will not be satisfactory 

 when placed to do duty, for beauty and utility, in the mouth. 



