Mikrokosmographia a description of the body of man. Together vvith the controuersies thereto belonging. Collected and translated out of all the best authors of anatomy, especially out of Gasper Bauhinus and Andreas Laurentius. By Helkiah Crooke Doctor of Physicke, physitian to His Maiestie, and his Highnesse professor in anatomy and chyrurgerie. Published by the Kings Maiesties especiall direction and warrant according to the first integrity, as it was originally written by the author.

CHAP. XVIII. Of the generation and vse of the Teeth.

COncerning the generation of the Teeth, there are diuers opinions; some thinke they are generated within the Wombe, as Columbus and Eustachius; some without the wombe, as Aristotle; some partly within and partly with∣out, as Hippocrates who maketh a threefolde time of their generation, in his Booke de Carnibus, of a threefolde Aliment which ministreth matter vnto them. The first is from the sustenance they receiue in the womb; the second is after birth by the Milke which the child sucketh; the third is after he hath cast his teeth by the meat * 1.1 and drinke that he eateth whereby new teeth are engendred: for, saith he, whatsoeuer is glutinous in the Aliment that maketh the Teeth, but the fatty part, which heere is more plentifull then in the matter of the rest of the bones, is exiccated by the power of the heate. So also, saith Laurentius, as this threefold kinde of Aliment differs in thicknesse, so doth the solidity, hardnesse and thicknesse of the teeth varye, for those teeth that are engendred of the Aliment which the infant vseth in the wombe, or when hee suckes his mothers brest are but soft and do easily fall away, but those that are made of more solide meats are also firmer.

The truth is that they are generated in the womb together with the rest of the bones, with which they are not delineated but formed and absolued by degrees: wherefore they * 1.2 lye for some time imperfect in the Iawes, neyther do they all breake their prisons at the same time, but some sooner, some later, according as the necessity of Nature dooth re∣quire. And this is the cause why some made a double time of their generation, one in the wombe, another out of the wombe.

In the wombe after the generation of the Iawes there are twelue Teeth formed, foure of which are Shearers, two dog-teeth and six Grinders, all which do want roots and lie hid in their sockets, on euery side compassed therwith, and the gummes whole aboue them. And this may be seene in the raw of an abortiue infant or other creature, yea if it dye pre∣sently after the birth; for if you cut vp the Iaw you shall finde Teeth therein. Some haue bene borne with their Teeth out of their gummes, as of olde time M. Curtius Dentatus, and Cn. Papyrius Carbo. Of later times, the same is reported of Richard Crooke-backe the Vsurper.

The substance of the Teeth being yet imperfect is partly mucous and partly bony, for if you take away the husk of the Tooth, (for there is about euery Tooth such a white, mu∣cous and slimy substance somewhat membranous wherewith the tooth is couered, which * 1.3 also is so much the more mucous by how much the tooth is the softer and the younger) perforating it in the vpper part, that the end of the Tooth may peepe out, then shall you perceiue that the tooth is partly bony, partly mucous; for that part which was to rise a∣boue the gummes is fashioned into a white scale, thin and excauated or hollowed like a * 1.4 Hony-combe, and so the vpper part of the Tooth is bony, hard and hollow. The other part which should haue remained in fixed in the Iaw, is soft, moyst and mucous, like the * 1.5 substance that is in a young quill.

This substance seemeth to haue fibres and threds and to be couered as it were with a thin coate, for the superficies thereof is like to a smooth tunicle fastned and conioyned to the substaunce that it containeth: wherefore a resemblance of the generation of the teeth wee haue some what expressely in the generation of a quill: for the part which is without the skin is horny and hard, but that which is within the wing is softer and moy∣ster, yea sometimes like blood or congealed Phlegme. This soft part of the teeth as they breake the flesh hardneth by degrees, and by degrees becommeth bony. Sometime also it is hollowed within and formed into roots.

The hull or huske of the Tooth whereof we spake euen now serueth insteade of a Li∣gament, for by it the tooth is fastned as with glew to the socket and to the gums.

In Infancy the Teeth be within the Gummes that they might not byte the Nurses nipple: the seauenth moneth they beginne to breake out, or later sayth Hippocrates, if the Infant do toothe with a Cough, and then they are troubled with Agues, Convulsions, Scowrings and such like, especially when they breede their Dog-teeth. Galen rendereth a reason, because when the Gummes are perforated by the Teeth the paine is as violent as if a goade were thrust into the flesh, but indeed the teeth are more paynfull then goades, for if a goade be once fastned it resteth, but the tooth issueth still to the extent of his aug∣mentation.

The Teeth breake out not altogether but the vpper sooner then the lower, and the Shearers sooner then the Grinders: that they issue later in men then in bruite beastes (for * 1.6 the Elephant saith Aristotle in the 5. chap. of his 2. book de hist. animal. breedeth his teeth as soon as hee himselfe is borne) the reason is saith Aristotle because a man aboue all crea∣tures hath lesse of that earthy excrement whereof they are ingendred. But because the first Teeth and those that follow them which are thought to bee regenerated, do lie hid∣den * 1.7 in the iaw-bone, therefore wee rather say that the cause of their late yssuing in men is to bee attributed to the good will and pleasure of him that made them, who moderateth all things according to his owne wisedome; yet when the childe comes to chewing, that he might cease to be troublesome to his mother, and not lie alwaies lugging at her brests but fall to stronger kinds of meate, therefore at length Nature put them foorth; for euery particle is then accomplished when Nature standeth in neede thereof, and this is the rea∣son why the Teeth are not formed till after the birth. For this cause also sayeth Aristotle the Shearers doe yssue before the Grinders, because the meate is first shred before it bee ground.

Dentition or the breeding of the Teeth begins about the seauenth yeare, sometimes sooner, but then saith Hippocrates in his booke de carnibus, they are ingendred of an ill hu∣mour. The first Teeth that arise are the fore-teeth; Democritus saith because their sharp ends make way before their due time. Aristotle reprehends him and giueth another rea∣son, because that which is sharpe doth soonest grow blunt: & therefore Nature sendeth a supply of others; the broade Teeth are not blunted at all but onely leuigated by attriti∣on, and this is Aristotle his conceite in the 8. chapter of his fift booke de generatione anima∣lium.

When the first Teeth about the seauenth yeare are either drawne or thrust out by those that come vnder them, then doe those first Teeth appeare soft and as it were hollo∣wed: and therefore some haue thought them onely Appendances of certaine rootes left in the iaw, of which roots, as it were of seede, a new hope or succession of teeth is broght forth. Vesalius therefore counsels vs to take heed that when a childes tooth is broken by accident we doe not draw the roote, for then haply the tooth will not grow againe. But Anatomy teacheth vs the contrary, that is to say, that there is no coniunction betwixt the imperfect teeth that fall at seauen yeares of age and the perfect that arise after. Nay they do not so much as touch one another, for there is a partition in the midst betwixt them before the new tooth can breake forth. And thus much of the first time of the generati∣on of the teeth within the wombe.

The second time of their generation is without the womb, about the seuenth yeare, * 1.8 and these teeth are commonly thought to be Regenerated; but to say trueth and to speak properly, they are then neither generated nor regenerated. For together with the first Teeth in the beginning of generation they doe receiue with the rest a rude kinde of forme, and are made of the same matter; otherwise wee must be constrayned to confesse, (and that were very absurd) that Nerues, Vessels, Ligaments and Membranes which are spermaticall partes and doe consummate the frame of the Teeth, doe beginne their gene∣ration after the Infant is borne seuen yeares, more or lesse. It is true indeed that these lat∣ter Teeth are not sooner absolued or perfected then in the seuenth yeare or there abouts, and the proportion seemeth not to bee much amisse, for they first break out of the Gums about the seauenth month, and the second about the seauenth yeare. And this propor∣tion Hippocrates in his booke de septimestri partu standeth much vpon, not only in the pro∣duction of the Teeth, but also in other mutations in the body of man.

Falopius conceiueth that the latter Teeth are made of the same matter with the for∣mer

by the seminary faculty which remaineth in the iawes, and Eustachius confesseth that if you remoue the bony partition that is betwixt the first and the later teeth you shall finde the seedes of the Teeth one vnder another, I meane of the Shearers and the Dog-teeth, but of the Grinders he neuer found any seedes, and yet he thinketh it reasonable that they should haue a rude originall in the wombe which is accomplished afterward at leasure.

The teeth which about the seauenth yeare break out, or as some say are renewed, are in eyther iaw ten, foure Shearers, two Dog-teeth, and foure Grinders or Maxillaries that is two next vnto the Dog-teeth, and two that are called Genuini or Teeth of wisedome. The * 1.9 shearing teeth when they breake forth do thrust the first shearers out before them and is∣sue betwixt the two first, the second, and the Dog-tooth that is next vnto them. But if the former teeth will not fall or be not pulled out, or if the latter issue before the-firstfal, then the latter worke their way through new sockets and turne in the vpper iaw outward, in the lower iaw inward, so that there seemeth to arise a new row of teeth, and this indeed hath deceiued many Hystorians and some Anatomists also.

The Dog-teeth also do fall out and the place of the succeeder is a little of the one side the roote of the former.

The reason why the teeth about the fourth fift sixt or seauenth yeares do grow loose, is because the sockets do continually increase and the teeth are but soft and therefore doe soone perish, because the harder Aliment which from thenceforth accreweth vnto them is nothing conuenable to their substance and then they putrifie and fall away: but those teeth that breake out at the seauenth yeare receiue nourishment agreeable to their sub∣stance, and therefore do continue as long as their nourishment is supplyed. Among the grinders the two first do somtimes thrust out their predecessors, but for the most part they arise at their sides and increase the number; those two that are called Genuini doe neuer thrust out them that were before them, but yssue somtimes in extreame old age, in the ve∣ry ends of the iawes; yea Aristotle reporteth that these teeth haue arisen not without great paine after fourescore yeares. Notwithstanding this is more rare in men then in women. Hippocrates in his booke de Carnibus witnesseth that these teeth which grow vp so late doe wax old together vnlesse by mischance they fall out or perish.

The manner of the generation of the teeth Fallopius thus expresseth. The quicke∣ning faculty by an actiue spirit makes the bone hollowe; at the same time is ingendered a * 1.10 membranous huske which hath two ends, one posterior whereat a small nerue, a veyne & an artery do meete. The other anterior whereat hangeth a neruous tayle like growne Malt: and this taile creepeth through a narrow perforation of the bone to the side of that tooth which hath a successor and so passeth vnto the Gums.

In the foresaide husk there gathereth together a white and slimy matter, and the first part of the tooth becomes bony when as yet the latter part is soft, euen so as we saide it was in the teeth formed in the mothers wombe.

Euery tooth yssueth through that hole dilated, through which the tayle or beard of the huske was transmitted. Instantly the huske is broken and becommeth as we said be∣fore a ligament to the tooth, and the tooth it selfe issueth naked and hard, notwitstanding the hardest part of it receiues a further perfection by induration of his matter without the Gums.

The primary and first vse of the teeth was to diuide to breake, to chew or mitigate * 1.11 the meate and so prepare it for the stomacke. Againe, another vse of the teeth is for the forming of the voyce, for Shearing teeth are of great consequence to true pronuncia∣tion of letters or words; and hence it is that those that want their teeth cannot so well pronounce R, S, X, Z, yea it is thought that the shearing teeth in men haue no other vse but only for elocution although the Infant doth not lightly speake before he haue all his teeth, or at least some of all kindes. VVhen he hath a few teeth he will mumble and as it were record, but cannot articulate plainely till he haue all, yet these shearers do not e∣qually assist vs in the pronunciation of all words, only they make the prolation of some more cleare and facile. Those words that are formed of T and R cannot bee pronounced without the shearing Teeth articulatly, for they require that the Tongue should rest vp∣pon the fore Teeth. Laurentius saith the Teeth were made for ornament, but Homer more wisely, that they were giuen to men to keepe their Tongues within compasse. Bau∣hine thinkes that the Teeth of themselues are not onely no ornament but a fearefull sight, and therefore Nature compassed and distinguished them with Gums, couered them with

the lip as it were with a buckler the better to break & change the ingresse of the outward aer. Those creatures who are able eyther with their hornes to defend themselues as a Bull and Cow, or with their hoofes to offend their aduersaries, those creatures I say haue teeth onely to eate withall. They that haue saw-teeth do both mitigate their meat by them and stand vpon their guard with them, for they are giuen to such creatures both to offend and to defend, whereas a man hath his hands to defend himselfe.

And thus much shall be sufficient to haue saide of the Teeth, their Sockets, their Nature, Figure, Magnitude, Number, Site, Articulation, Kindes, Vessels, Sense, Cauitie; and finally of their Generation and Vse.

And thus we haue brought to an end the history of the bones of the Scull and of the Face. Another bone there is which belongeth not indeed to the head, but much lesse vnto the Trunk or the ioynts, whose history we will therefore insert in this place because it is neare vnto the Head though it be not of it, and that is the bone Hyois.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Diuers opini∣nions concer∣ning the ge∣neration of the teeth.
• * 1.2

  The truth.
• * 1.3

  The substance of the Teeth diuers.
• * 1.4

  Their hard part.
• * 1.5

  The soft part.
• * 1.6

  The times of dentition
• * 1.7

  The first
• * 1.8

  The 2. time.
• * 1.9

  The number of the teeth. How they issue.
• * 1.10

  The manner of their gene∣ration.
• * 1.11

  Their vses.