that could be expected from the application of these molar teeth, since neither pronunciation nor appearance could be affected by them. They were removed, and the patient's mouth was brought into a healthy state.

No. 1.

No. 2.

No. 3.

Artificial teeth are frequently rendered a cause of injury by being prepared of improper materials, either too soft or too hard, or liable to chemical changes of various kinds.

If the materials are too soft they are liable to very early corrosion, acquiring a discoloured appearance, and becoming a cause of caries to the natural teeth and of inflammation to the gums; and during their corrosion, being gradually mixed with the saliva and absorbed into the system, are even rendered a cause of morbid irritation to the general constitution.

Any kind of bone not harder than the tooth of the elephant, and artificial teeth made of ivory, should therefore be avoided by every judicious dentist.

If, on the other hand, the dental apparatus is made of any substance, so hard as not to permit its proper adaptation to

the case for which it is intended, it must unquestionably become a source of permanent mechanical irritation, and thereby produce pain and inflammation, and consequent injury of the gums and teeth.

Small sets of artificial teeth, made of one piece of a mineral or terro-metallic preparation, may justly be ranked in this class. The reason is clear; the tooth pieces are made of a soft paste, which are baked in the oven by a process similar to that in the manufacture of china, and are necessarily exposed to changes in size and form by the heat to which they are exposed. Moreover, the great hardness of such artificial teeth, and their dissimilarity to the natural teeth, act injuriously on the natural teeth of the opposite jaw with which they come in contact; and often, if applied in double sets for the upper and under jaw, produce a very disagreeable noise during mastication.

Under these circumstances, the only kind of artificial teeth to be used, are the teeth of the sea-horse, human teeth, and single mineral or terro-metallic teeth, mounted in various ways upon gold or platina.

All other metals, such as lead, tin, brass, copper, and even silver, should be rejected, being liable to chemical changes, and thus become destructive to the artificial teeth attached to them, and injurious to all the structures of the mouth as well as to the general health.

Artificial teeth may be rendered very injurious by their unskilful MECHANICAL preparation; if, for instance, they are not very well fitted to the gums, or if they bear upon such particular parts as are naturally more tender and irritable than others, such as the edges of the gums surrounding the necks of the teeth, or if they violently and irregularly strike against the remaining teeth, they cannot fail to become the causes of disease in the various structures of the mouth.

All ligatures, either of gold wire, silk cord, or any other materials, are injurious: such ligatures, by their stress upon the teeth to which they are attached, inevitably produce great relaxation and inflammation of their sockets and periosteum,

by which the teeth are soon rendered so loose as either to drop out or require extraction.

Even the best means for this purpose, namely, springs or clasps, are liable, if not applied in accordance with scientific rules, to produce the same effect as ligatures, and be thus rendered the means of destruction to the teeth to which they are attached.

No. 1.

The following case will illustrate these statements. Mrs., aged 38, the lady of an eminent warrior, consulted me. Three years previous to this consultation she had an artificial tooth

inserted, the left upper lateral incisor, No. 1. This tooth, by its irritation, had frequently

produced in the gums severe nervous pains, concentrated at times in certain parts, and resembling the most acute attack of tic doloureux; and when she first consulted me she suffered the most excruciating agony from a return of such an attack.

On examining her mouth, the gums were much swollen and in a state of violent inflammation, (but particularly those near the artificial tooth,) and from all there was a considerable discharge of fetid matter. The periosteum was exceedingly relaxed, and in many places destroyed by suppuration and mortification, and all her teeth were more or less loose and painful.

On examining the artificial tooth and its mechanical construction, I found it badly fitted, its springs sharp and pointed, and so placed as to produce great and permanent irritation, considerably aggravated by mastication, and even by the natural motions of the tongue. It was, indeed, almost the sole cause of all the diseases and sufferings of the patient.

I immediately removed the offending artificial tooth, and by a further treatment relieved the mouth from inflammation and pain; but the devastations, already produced, made the preservation of the greater part of her teeth impossible; and almost all her upper, and many of the lower teeth, were successively lost, notwithstanding my most strenuous exertions to restore the periosteum to that healthy state, necessary to retain the teeth in their sockets.

She at length had the mouth restored to health, represented by wood cut, No. 2; two sets of artificial teeth for the upper and under jaws were prepared, No. 3, and after wearing them for three days, these presenting the appearance represented in No. 4, the lady could make perfect use of them in mastication and speaking, her appearance was greatly improved, and her general health has ever since been good.

SUCCESS ATTENDING THE OLD SYSTEM PRACTICE DEPENDENT UPON THE PRACTICE BEING, THOUGH UNKNOWN TO THE PRACTITIONER, HOMOEOPATHIC. Illustrated in the Treatment of Skin Diseases by Mr. Hunt, published in the Lancet, vol. 1846.

(COMMUNICATED BY DR. EPPS.)

Continued from p, 92.

Mr. Hunt then notices the third order of skin diseases by Willan, namely, the EXANTHEMATA.

Of the six genera in this order, four, namely, measles, (rubeola), scarlet fever, (scarlatina), roseola, and erythema, he passes by, as being acute and limited in duration.

The two that remain are nettle rash, (urticaria) and purpura.

"Urticaria (nettle rash) is a common and well known affection of the skin. It is usually preceded by pain, oppression, or a sense of weight "like a lump of lead" at the pit of the stomach, and often results from eating indigestible articles. Shell-fish occasion it in some persons, and all kinds of fish in others. It is sometimes severe in character, and accompanied with alarming constitutional disturbance. This is the acute form.

"There is, however, a chronic form of urticaria, in which, whenever the skin is warm, it tingles unpleasantly; and isolated white elevations, like the wheals produced by the stinging-nettle, surrounded by a finely-shaded blush, (the form of which is generally destroyed by the finger-nails of the patient,) are to be seen on every part of the body which is covered by the clothes, and occasionally in the neck, face, and other parts where the skin is thin. These wheals will appear and disappear three or four times a day, and may annoy the patient for months or years together."

Mr Hunt considers that arsenic will cure this disease, when existing as a distinct disease, independent of fever or of gastric affection.

The homoeopathist recognizes the powers of arsenic over some forms of this disease, and he knows that the power of arsenic so to cure is dependent upon its power of producing in healthy persons the following symptoms: "Eruption similar to that produced by stinging-nettles (Fowler), 812." "In the midst of a burning itching like to that of the bites of gnats, appears an eruption on the head, between the fingers, at the lower belly, little pointed and white boutons, the top