The following editions of _Zahnarzneybuchlein_, besides the Basle and Mayence editions noted by Dr. Guerini at page 166, were issued and copies thereof are preserved in the libraries of the several collectors as stated. Edition of 1530, printed by Michael Blum, Leipzig, in collection of Edward C. Kirk. Edition of 1536, printed by Chr. Egenolff, Frankfurt a/M, in collection of William H. Trueman. Edition of 1541, printed by Chr. Egenolff, Frankfurt a/M, in _Dental Cosmos_ library and collection of E. Sauvez. Edition of 1576, printed by Chr. Egenolffserben, in collection of H. E. Friesell.—E. C. K.] The book, therefore, lacks importance from a dental point of view, except in the sense that it shows how little skilled in the cure of dental affections were the German surgeons of those days. It is worthy of note that this author, also, speaks of anesthetic inhalations; he, however, only translates, almost to a word, what Guy de Chauliac says on this subject. Toward the end of the fifteenth century and in the first half of the sixteenth there were published in German, by anonymous authors, some short translations and compilations on dental subjects, taken especially from Greek and Arabian authors.[275] Of these writings, the first one known, taken from Galen and Abulcasis, was printed at Basle in 1490; and another—one of the best—saw the light at Mayence in 1532. These works were perhaps due to intelligent barbers, or perhaps—and this seems to be the most probable—they were written, through the initiative of enterprising printers, by doctors and surgeons, who wished to remain unknown, on account of the special subject treated; for, owing to the fact that the diseases of the dental system were generally left in the hands of barbers and other unprofessional persons, the doctors and surgeons of those days would have been ashamed to interest themselves in such things. WALTER HERMANN RYFF, of Strasburg, was born in the beginning of the sixteenth century, and died about 1570. He was a rather mediocre doctor and surgeon, and a man of the worst morals, so much so that many cities expelled him from their midst.[276] He wrote many medical works, in which, however, there is very little original matter. Their principal merit consists, perhaps, in the fact that they were written not in Latin, as then was universally customary, but rather in the vernacular of the author and in a popular style; so that Ryff may be looked upon as the first who endeavored to diffuse among the people useful medical and hygienic knowledge. Among Ryff’s books there are two which are very important to us. One is his _Major Surgery_, and the other is a pamphlet entitled _Useful Instruction on the Way to Keep Healthy, to Strengthen and Reinvigorate the Eyes and the Sight. With Further Instruction on the Way of Keeping the Mouth Fresh, the Teeth Clean, and the Gums Firm._[277]