DENTIFRICES.  541 
i. 
ol.  rose,  ol.  gaulth.,  neroli,  or  jasmine.    This  of  course  is  a  mere 
matter  of  taste.    If  color  is  desired,  one  pound  of  rose  pink  may- 
be added,  and  as  much  less  of  the  chalk  used.  Tooth-powder 
should  be  thoroughly  triturated  in  a  wedgewood  mortar,  and 
finely  bolted.    The  objects  of  its  preparation  and  use  are,  to 
keep  the  teeth  perfectly  clean,  to  neutralize  any  fermented  mat- 
ter secreted  in  the  interstices,  to  allay  irritation  of  the  gums, 
and  to  correct  fetid  breath.    It  should  be  used  sufficiently  often 
to  keep  the  mouth  in  good  condition,  even  though  it  be  once  or 
twice  a  day.    Prepared  in  a  simple  manner  no  fears  need  be  en- 
tertained that  the  teeth  will  wear  out  from  its  frequent  use.  As 
it  dissolves  readily,  it  must  of  course  be  used  as  dry  as  possible, 
and  will  keep  best  in  well-stopped  glass  jars.    That  there  is  a 
necessity  for  a  good  and  suitable  dentifrice  (in  this  present  gene- 
ration) to  assist  in  the  preservation  of  human  teeth,  very  few 
close  observers  will  deny.    My  own  observation  has  led  me  to 
believe  that  scarcely  any  person  can  have  a  clean  mouth  without 
its  use.    I  know  that  it  is  argued  by  those  who  differ  from  me 
in  this  respect,  that  horses,  sheep,  and  cattle  do  not  require  the 
use  of  a  dentifrice  to  keep  their  teeth  from  decay  or  to  insure 
them  a  sweet  breath.    This  argument,  so  far  as  it  goes,  is  very 
good,  but  it  does  not  answer  in  our  case.    Horses  and  sheep  do 
not  live  on  hot  mixed  food  as  do  their  more  enlightened  masters, 
neither  did  their  progenitors  crave  such  unnatural  diet.  They 
also  possess  by  inheritance  a  good  sound  set  of  masticators,  and 
if  they  could  follow  out  their  own  natural  inclinations  would  so 
live  as  to  keep  their  teeth  and  whole  physical  organization  in  a 
state  of  perfect  health. 
Do  you  not  suppose  that  if  our  domestic  animals,  and  their 
progenitors  for  a  thousand  years  back,  had  been  compelled  to 
resort  to  the  same  sort  of  diet  that  we  and  our  ancestors  have  so 
long  indulged  in,  that  they  would  also  be  cursed  with  rotten  teeth 
and  foul  breaths?  Examine  the  teeth  of  a  poor  cow  that  has 
been  fed  on  hot  distillery  slops  for  even  a  few  short  years,  you 
will  find  a  very  different  mouth  from  that  possessed  by  an  animal 
who  takes  the  cool,  fresh  grass  from  a  country  meadow.  Look 
into  the  mouths  of  the  many  little  children  who  daily  enter  our 
offices,  and  what  do  we  behold?    Children  at  ten,  six,  or  even 
