I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



685 



How to Clean Teeth. 



There is, in my opinion, no dentrifice used 

 so baneful in its effects as charcoal. I doubt 

 if there is a dentist, with a fair practice of 

 ten years, but has seen worse effects from its 

 use than from the use of acids. I have had, 

 in my own practice, to insert three sets of 

 teeth where the gums were destroyed, and 

 the teeth dropped out from the use of char- 

 coal. In two of these cases, the gums were 

 permanently discoloured, so that there can 

 be no mistake of its agency. 



The effect of charcoal is purely mechani- 

 cal; it is as sharp as diamond dust, and the 

 finer the worse its effects. Eeing perfectly 

 insoluble in the fluids of the mouth, it in- 

 sinuates itself between the neck of the 

 tooth and the gum, producing ulceration, 

 recission, and final loss of the tooth itself. 

 Next to charcoal, in their bad effects upon 

 the teeth, are the various kinds of boles 

 and earths, under different and high-sound- 

 ing names, and popular as tooth powders. 



I would have my patients use no kind of 

 powders upon their teeth often er than two 

 or three times a month; then I would not 

 have them use the brush, but take some 

 finely prepared chalk, and a stick of red 

 cedar, orange, or hickory, (we should say, 

 soft white pine,) about three inches long, 

 wedge shape, and from one-eighth to one- 

 quarter inch wide; with this polish the 

 enamel, being careful not to irritate the 

 gums. 



The great dentrifice that should be used 

 at all times, and under any circumstances, 

 is soap. Its alkaline properties serve to 

 neutralize the acid contained in the fluids 

 of the mouth, and its cleansing properties 

 will correct the breath, and remove offen- 

 sive odor sooner than any article I have ever 

 seen tried. I have seen the best effects from 

 its use in tenderness and inflammation of 

 the gums denoting acrid secretion, and have 

 never known it to tail in its results. 



Mason and Dixon's Line. 



Repeated inquiries are made as to the 

 origin and application of the term " Mason 

 and Dixon's Line.' ; The following is given 

 as its history : 



"On the 4th of August, 1763, Thomas 

 and Richard Penn, and Lord Baltimore, be- 

 ing together in London, agreed with Charles 

 Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, two mathema- 

 ticians; to mark, run out, settle and fix the 



boundary line between Maryland on one 

 hand, and Delaware and Pennsylvania on 

 the other. Mason and Dixon landed in 

 Philadelphia on the 15th of November fol- 

 lowing, and began their work at once. They 

 adopted the peninsula lines, and the radius 

 and tangent point of the circular of their 

 predecessors. They next ' ascertained the 

 northeast coast of Maryland, and proceeded 

 to run the dividing parallel of latitude. 

 They pursued this parallel a distance of 

 twenty-three miles, eighteen chains, and 

 twenty-one links, from the place of begin- 

 ning at the northeast corner of Maryland 

 to the bottom of a valley on the Dunkirk 

 creek, where an Indian war-path crossed 

 their rout, and here, on the 19th of Novem- 

 ber, 1767 — ninety-three years ago — their 

 Indian escort told them that it was the will 

 of the Sioux nation that the surveys should 

 cease, and they terminated accordingly, 

 leaving thirty-six miles, six chains and fifty 

 links as the exact distance remaining to be 

 run west to the southwest angle of Penn- 

 sylvania, not far from the Board Tree Tun- 

 nel on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. 

 Dixon died at Durham, England, 1777; 

 Mason died in Pennsylvania, 1787." 



Grammar in Rhyme. 



(1.) Three little words you often see, 

 Are Articles — a, an, and the. 



(2.) A Noun 's the name of any thing, 



As school, or garden, hoop, or swing. 



(3.) Adjectives tell the kind of noun, 



As great, small, pretty, white, or broiun. 



(4.) Instead of nouns the Pronouns stand — 

 Her head, his face, your arm, my hand. 



(5.) Verbs tell of something to be done, 

 To read, count, sing, laugh, jump, or run. 



(6.) How things arc done the Adverbs tell, 

 As slovdy, quickly, ill, or well. 



(7.) Conjunctions join the words together, 

 As men and women, wind or weather. 



(8.) The Preposition stands before 

 A noun, as in or through a door. 



(9.) The Interjection shows surprise, 



As, oh! how pretty; ah! how wise. 



The whole are called nine parts of speech, 

 Which reading, writing, speaking teach. 



