_From an engraving of the Seventeenth Century._] “It happens in general that owing to vapors that rise from the stomach, a certain deposit is formed on the teeth, which may be perceived by rubbing them with a rough cloth on waking. One ought, therefore, to rub and clean them every morning, for, if one is not aware of this, or considers it of little account, the teeth become discolored and covered with a thick tartar, which often causes them to decay and to fall out. It is then necessary that the diligent barber should remove the said tartar with the instruments destined for this purpose.” We have seen that the practice of the dental art was for the most part in other hands than in the barber’s. Nevertheless, the important operation of the removal of tartar was also carried out by him. If, therefore, even the barbers, who were not in the least the true representatives of the dental art of that period, carried out such an important operation, it may logically be argued from this, in support of what we have said before, that the sphere of action of the true dental specialists of those times (especially of the best among them) was not at all so limited as imagined by those who affirm that in past times dentists properly so called did not exist, but only tooth-pullers. The barbers, however, having become, in a certain manner, members of the medical class, sought to extend their sphere of action, and it is probable that in a later period than that of Tiberio Malfi and Cintio d’Amato they invaded the whole field of dental activity; for which reason, when the barber’s art came down to a very low level, the dental art must have degenerated, too, and have been represented for a certain time only by ignorant barbers and tooth-pullers. Vicissitudes similar to these have occurred in different epochs, not only in various parts of Italy, but also in other countries of Europe. FLEURIMOND. In 1682 a little book on dental hygiene was published in Paris by a certain Fleurimond, the title of which was: _Moyens de conserver les dents belles et bonnes_. Portal, in his history of anatomy and surgery, makes mention of this pamphlet, and, briefly alluding to certain parts of it, he says: “The author proves by observation that acids act upon the enamel of the teeth. He makes some very just reflections upon dentition. Fleurimond speaks of a tooth powder invented by him, but does not say how compounded.”[381] In fact, it seems that this pamphlet was compiled from a commercial point of view, viz., that of making known the special tooth powder invented by the author. The era of advertisement had already begun!