OF THE TOOTH-ACH.

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rubbed upon the teeth, or a little of it chewed. Brookessays he hardly ever knew it fail to ease the tooth-ach.It ought, however, to be used with caution.

Many other herbs, roots, and seeds, are recom-mended for curing- the tooth-ach; as the leaves ofroots of millefoil or yarrow chewed, tobacco smokedor chewed, staves acre, or the seeds of mustardchewed, &c. These bitter, hot, and pungent things,by occasioning a greater flow of saliva, frequentlygive ease in the tooth-ach.

Opiates often relieve the tooth-ach. For this pur-pose, a little cotton wet with laudanum may be heldbetween the teeth; or a piece of sticking plaster,about the bigness of a shilling, with a bit of opium inthe middle of it, of a size not to prevent the stickingof the other, may be laid on the temporal artery,where the pulsation is most sensible. De la Motteaffirms, that there are few cases wherein this will notgive relief. If there be a hollow tooth, a small pillmade of equal parts of camphire and opium, put intothe hollow, is often beneficial. When this cannot behad, the hollow tooth may be filled with gum mas-tich, wax, lead, cork, or any substance that will stickin it, and keep out the external air.

Few applications give more relief in the tooth-achthan blistering-plasters. These may be applied be-tween the shoulders; but they have the best effectwhen put behind the ears, and made so large as tocover a great part of the lower jaw. The applicationof hot iron to the nerve has often given relief; butthis should be done with great caution.

After all, when a tooth is carious, it is often impossible to remove the pain without extracting it; andas a spoiled tooth never becomes sound again, it isprudent to draw it soon, lest it should affect the rest.Tooth-drawing, like bleeding, is very much practisedby mechanics, as well as persons of the medical pro-fession. The operation, however, is not without dan-ger, and ought always to be performed with care. Aperson unacquainted with the structure of the parts,