| Description | Lined notebook comprising of notes relating to dentistry and the manufacture of artificial teeth. The volume includes names and addresses of British dentists and teeth manufacturers followed by a list of contemporary medicines used in dental treatment and surgery such as chloroform, oil of clove, mercury, morphia, nitric acid etc. This is followed by a transcribed copy of an advertisement relating to 'teeth and articulation', the treatment of decayed teeth and the use of artificial dentures. Specific dental procedures are described for example the practice of gold, silver and copper fillings and the weights required for each. This is followed by accounts of 11 actual cases and treatments administered to male and female patients of various ages and professions dated May-June 1855 for example 'May 21st, little sweet girl 4 1/2 or 5 years of age, second molar right lower jaw in the crown decayed and same causing pain to the little sufferer, mouth clean, the teeth 20 in number perfect and good, the gum healthy, tried with oil of clove...'. Lengthy transcriptions from a published work on dentistry 'The Principles and Practice of Dental Surgery' by Aaron Chapin Harris (1806-1860) then follow. The heading 'Memorandum of several mechanical things seen at the Palais du l'Industrie Paris the 14th October 1855' comprises of descriptions and hand drawn pen and ink illustrations depicting the application and use of the latest French dentistry techniques. Illustrations include sketches of artificial teeth, springs etc and suggest that the author had a deep interest and first hand experience of the dental innovations of France. Recipes for various mixtures , possibly copied from other dentistry books since page numbers are occasionally noted, include Tonic Elixir, Anodyne Paste Mixture, Anodyne Elixir, Parisian Philadontic and Antispasmodic. This is followed by a list noting the cost of treatments, for example the application of gold plates, springs, wire etc, and a list in English and French of dental tools used . The volume concludes with a pen and ink illustration of an 'operating or surgical table' and a list of names and addresses of dental surgeons in Paris. Loosely enclosed are three visiting cards for Bernhardt Rubinstein, a newspaper cutting of an advertisement for the services of Monsieur Bernarde Surgeon Dentist, and also a printed invitation in German to attend the home of Julius and Heinriette Rubinstein on Thursday 22 at 4 o'clock in the afternoon , dated May 1858. |