Chap. 8.] 
KEMEDIE8 FOE TOOTH-ACHE. 
431 
introduced^* into a hollow tooth ; and as to the cabbage cater- 
pillar, it will make hollow teeth come out, by the mere contact 
only. The bugs^^ that are found upon mallows, are injected 
into the ears, beaten up with oil of roses. 
The small grits of sand that are found in the horns of snails, 
introduced into hollow teeth, remove the pain instantaneously. 
Ashes of empty snail- shells, mixed with myrrh, are good for 
the gums ; the ashes also of a serpent, burnt with salt in an 
earthen pot, and injected, with oil of roses, into the ear opposite 
to the side affected ; or else the slough of a snake, warmed with 
oil and torch-pine resin,^''' and injected into either ear. Some 
persons add frankincense and oil of roses, a preparation which, 
of itself, introduced into hollow teeth, makes them come out 
without pain. It is all a fiction, in my opinion, to say that 
white snakes cast this slough about the rising of the Dog-star ; 
for such a thing has never been seen in Italy, and it is still 
more improbable that sloughing should take place at so late 
a period in the warmer climates. We find it stated also, that this 
slough, even when it has been kept for some time, mixed with 
wax, will extract a tooth very expeditiously, if applied there- 
to : a snake's tooth, also, attached to the body as an amulet^ 
allays tooth-ache. Some persons think that it is a good remedy 
to catch a spider with the left hand, to beat it up with oil of 
roses, and then to inject it into the ear on the side affected. 
The small bones of poultry, preserved in a hole in a wall, 
the medullary channel being left intact, will immediately cure 
tooth- ache, they say, if the tooth is touched or the gum 
scarified therewith, care being taken to throw away the bone 
the moment the operation is performed. A similar result is 
obtained by using raven's dung, wrapped in wool and attached 
to the body, or else sparrow's dung, warmed with oil and in- 
jected into the ear on the side affected. This last remedy, 
however, is productive of an intolerable itching, for which 
reason it is considered a better plan to rub the part with the 
ashes of young sparrows burnt upon twigs, mixed with vinegar 
for the purpose. 
It is a singular thing that we still bear of the maggots found in filberts 
being used for the same purpose. 
See B. xxix. c. 17. 
Marcus Eiiipiricus says, honey. See B. xyi. c. 19. 
