Concerning the teeth, their affections, and the means of healing and preventing them, the strangest superstitions existed, and this not only among the common, but also among educated and learned people. The number of remedies reputed useful against diseases of the teeth was extraordinarily great; but the modern saying, “therapeutic wealth is poverty,” could have been applied only too well. Of the cleanliness of the teeth, it seems, great care was taken, for dentifrices were in great use. These, as we have already seen, were made of the most varied substances—stag’s horn burnt, ashes obtained by burning the head of the mouse, of the hare, of the wolf, etc., eggshells burnt and reduced to powder, pumice stone, and so on. For the cleanliness of the mouth, for strengthening the teeth and gums, mouth washes of sundry kinds were likewise adopted, especially formed of decoctions of astringent substances in water, wine, and vinegar. Not only among the Romans was great care given to the cleanliness and beauty of the teeth, but also among many other nations. In this regard the following poem of Catullus, in which he lashes the silly vanity of a Celtiberian resident in Rome, who made continual show of his white teeth, is somewhat interesting: “Egnatius, quod candidos habet dentes Renidet usquequaque; seu ad rei ventum est Subsellium, cum orator excitat fletum, Renidet ille: seu pii ad rogum filii Lugetur, orba cum flet unicum mater, Renidet ille; quidquid est, ubicumque est, Quodcumque agit, renidet: hunc habet morbum, Neque elegantem, ut arbitror, neque urbanum. Quare monendus es mihi, bone Egnati, Si Urbanus esses, aut Sabinus, aut Tiburs, Aut parcus Umber, aut obesus Hetruscus, Aut Lanuvinus ater, atque dentatus, Aut Transpadanus, ut meos quoque attingam, Aut quilibet, qui puriter lavit dentes: Tamen renidere usquequaque te nollem; Nam risu inepto res ineptior nulla est. Nunc, Celtiber, in celtiberia terra Quod quisque minxit, hoc solet sibi mane Dentem, atque russam defricare gingivam. Ut quo iste vester expolitior dens est, Hoc te amplius bibisse prædicet lotii.”[155] STRABO. From Strabo we learn that the Cantabri and other peoples of Spain used to clean their teeth and sometimes even to wash their face not with fresh, but with old urine, which, so it seems, was kept for the purpose, in suitable cisterns![156] In regard to this filthy custom, Joseph Linderer says[157] that the superstition has reached even to our times, although not widely diffused, that, to beautify the face, it is useful to wash it with urine. He relates that he knew a girl who, to become beautiful, had recourse to this heroic method, but, unfortunately, without at all obtaining the desired end! MARTIAL. In the epigrams of Martial (about 40 to 101 A.D.) allusions of great value with regard to several points concerning the subject we are treating of are found.