in an eminent degree, has
valuable ones peculiar to itself.

Some dentists, and some persons in imitation of them, in order to
whiten the teeth, rub their surfaces with hydrochloric acid, somewhat
dilute; but the practice is a most dangerous one, which, by a few
repetitions, will sometimes utterly destroy the enamel and lead to the
rapid decay of all the teeth so treated. Should the teeth be much
discolored, and ordinary tooth powder prove ineffective, a little
lemon juice used with the brush will generally render them perfectly
white. It should only be employed occasionally, and the mouth should
be well rinsed with water afterwards. A little of the pulp of an
orange, used in the same way, is also very effective and safe, as are
also ripe strawberries, which may be either rubbed on the teeth with
the fingers or applied with the brush. The last form, perhaps, the
very best natural dentifrice known. Besides possessing singular power
in whitening and cleaning the teeth and rapidly removing tartar, they
destroy the offensive odor of rotten teeth and impart an agreeable
fragrance to the breath.

The importance of a judicious attention to the teeth, in connection
with health, cleanliness, and personal comfort and appearance, cannot
be too often alluded to and enforced.

It is no exaggeration to say that, taking the whole community, there
are few, very few, who clean their teeth, or even wash their mouths,
once a day. With the masses the operation, if performed at all, is
confined to the Sabbath day, or to holidays; whilst refined, educated,
and cleanly persons regard the operation of cleaning the teeth as a
daily duty, as necessary as washing the face and hands. The dirty and
vulgar--the two words are here synonymous--wholly neglect it, and too
often even consider it as unnecessary, effeminate, and absurd. The
consequences of the careless performance, or the neglect, of this
really necessary personal duty are not long in being developed.
Passing over the degradation of the other features, the offensiveness
of the breath, often to a degree which renders the individual
uncompanionable, and the unfavorable impression which, like other
marks of uncleanliness, they convey of the taste and habits of their
possessor, as the immediate effects of habitually neglected and dirty
teeth, let us look at the more distant, but not less certain, ones:--

In cases of ordinary toothache, even severe ones, chewing a small
piece of really go