HORNS AND TUSKS 317 



phase of the custom is so singular that it deserves mention 

 here. When a Siamese seeks to repair the ravages of time 

 by ordering a set of artificial teeth, he usually requires that 

 they shall be black; sometimes, however, in the case of func- 

 tionaries who often receive Europeans, a set of black teeth 

 is ordered for general use, and a set of white teeth to be sub- 

 stituted when European visitors are to be entertained. 

 When asked to give a reason for this strange custom of black- 

 ening the teeth, or wearing black teeth, a Siamese replied: 

 "We do not wish to have teeth like those of a dog." 



The teeth of various animals were also regarded as possess- 

 ing curative powers. For instance, if the tooth of a mole 

 were taken out while the creature was alive, it was a specific 

 for toothache when attached to the body.* Violent pains 

 in the gastric region were removed by binding on, with a 

 piece of sheep's or goat's skin, a tooth drawn from the left 

 side of a hyena's jaw. A woK's tooth preserved an infant 

 from fear, if attached to its body, and also cured toothache. 

 The larger teeth of the wolf were supposed to have the power 

 to make horses tireless runners. f It is interesting to note 

 in this connection that there were found in the Crimea, in 

 1865, beneath a tumulus, the remains of five horses, the 

 heads being adorned with perforated boars' tusks set in gold 

 and silver, t 



That this superstition, once so deeply rooted, has not yet 

 passed away, is illustrated by the specimens figured by 

 Bellucci. One of these, taken from a prehistoric necropolis 

 of the first Iron Age, is the tusk of a boar and has been partly 

 metamorphosed into odontolite — bone turquoise coloured 

 by coming into contact with some iron or iron salt. It has 

 a bronze mounting at the base to facilitate its suspension 



*C. Plinii Secundi, Naturalis historia. Lib. XXVIII, cap. 8, Venetia, 1507, fol. 211 verso. 



tibid.. Lib. XXVIII, cap. 19, Venetia, 1507, fol. 218 recto. 



JStephani, Compte rendu de la Comm. arch, de St. Petersb., 1865, p. 19. 



