Note (2) — CANTO FIRST.
Reading edition
“The teeth are composed of two very distinct substances. The internal is called the osseous part, or rather ivory, and forms the greatest part of a tooth; the external, which envelopes the former like a thin incrustation, on all that part which is out of the sockets from the commencement of the roots, is the enamel.
“At the extremity of each root there is a very small hole, by which the blood vessels and a nervous filament penetrate, destined to give it life and nourishment. The nerve and the blood vessels continue their course in a narrow canal, with which the root is provided, and form, in the interior of the tooth, a pulpy mass, composed of a gelatinous substance, contained in a very thin mucous membrane, formed by the development of the nerve and its vessels. It is by means of this membrane, that the tooth forms and nourishes itself, and acquires its increase.” (Gerbaux on the Teeth, Edinburgh Edition, 1817, pp. 34, 35, 36.)