Note 297 — Chapter X · THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.

It is superfluous to say that these cases are unreal and simply dependent upon erroneous observations; for instance, in the case of the second molar being extracted before the erupting of the third, the second molar figured as, and supposed to be, the latter, when, finally, the wisdom tooth appeared, it was believed to be the last molar renewed. It is no rare thing, also, in these days, not only for unprofessional persons, but also for medical practitioners, to fall into errors of this kind, especially because, in similar cases, the wisdom tooth, having but a limited space in which to erupt, is in the habit of filling the void left by the second molar, where it meets with less resistance.