Chapter IV of the same book is most important, for palatal obturators are therein spoken of for the first time. “Sometimes a portion of the bone of the palate is destroyed by the shot of an arquebus, or by some other wound or by a syphilitic ulcer (_par ulcère de verole_), the patients being thereby disabled from properly pronouncing words and from making themselves understood. To repair this defect we have found an expedient through the help and ministry of our art. It consists in the application of an instrument somewhat larger than the palatal perforation; this is made of gold or silver, of about the thickness of a crown (coin), and has the form of a vaulted roof, to which a sponge is attached; when introduced into the aperture, the sponge, absorbing the humidity natural to such parts, will very soon swell up, and thus the instrument is held firm. In this way, words are better pronounced.” Besides the above instrument, the author gives us the figure of another instrument, _sans esponge_ (without sponge), which, taken altogether, is like a large cuff button. The small part, designed to be introduced into the aperture of the palate, can be made to turn round from below, by means of a small pair of pincers, so as to fix the obturator. [Illustration: FIG. 65 Paré’s palatine obturator without sponge.] In the last chapter of Book XVIII, first dentition and the treatment required during this period are spoken of. The cutting of teeth, says Paré, is accompanied by pain, itching, and pricking of the gums; often, as well by diarrhea, fever, epileptic convulsions, which sometimes end fatally. The symptoms by which it may be known that teeth are about to come forth are as follows: The wet-nurse feels the mouth of the suckling infant to be hotter than usual; the gums are swollen; the child is restless, crying often and sleeping but little; it emits a quantity of saliva from the mouth, and frequently puts its fingers in its mouth, trying to rub its gums, and soothe, in this way, the pain and itching which it feels. It is then necessary to treat the nurse as if she had fever, and the infant should be suckled less than usual; some cooling and thirst quenching drinks should be given to it—for a child in such conditions suffers from intense thirst; the nurse should often rub the gums of the little patient with softening and soothing substances, as, for example, oil of sweet almonds, fresh butter, honey, or mucilage made from the seeds of the fleawort or of the quince; the brains of a hare (these may be roasted or boiled) have not only a very soothing action, but also, according to a very ancient belief shared by Paré, possess the occult property of aiding the cutting of the teeth. But oftentimes, neither these nor other remedies are of any use, because the gums are too hard and the teeth cannot cut their way through at all; the tension of the gums then produces very violent pain, fever, and other accidents, death even supervening in some cases.