Note 14 — Chapter III · MASTICATION, INSALIVATION, AND DEGLUTITION.

M. Cadet de Gassicourt recommends the following compound as a safe and excellent dentrifrice, viz. of white sugar and powdered charcoal each one ounce, of Peruvian bark half an ounce, of cream of tartar one drachm and a half, and of canella twenty-four grains, well rubbed together into an impalpable powder. He describes it as strengthening to the gums and cleansing to the teeth, and as destroying the disagreeable odour in the breath which so often arises from decaying teeth; and as a preventive of toothach, I have heard washing the mouth and teeth twice a-day with salt and water strongly recommended by a gentleman who had both experienced and observed much benefit from it.