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tition is only considered as an operation by which the teeth tend to pierce and traverse the gums, in order to arrange themselves in their places, yet we cannot dispense with the necessity of considering it in a more extended point of view. The teeth, as well as every other part of the body, begin to exist from the earliest moments of life." Nevertheless, "the child being born, the nourishment destined for him proves that he bas no need of teeth during the first year; it is true that infants have been born with one or more teeth, this was the case with a great monarch, (Louis XIV.) in whom the presence of a tooth at his birth seemed the presage of his future greatness."

These little drunken animals, however, like other children, about the age of seven years, come to their second dentition or permanent teeth; and in this department Mr. Duval's learning shines once more; "To see, (says he) two rows of teeth, as in the son of Mithridates, or three, as in Hercules, must certainly excite our astonishment : perhaps, we might be tempted to doubt these facts, and consider them only as fables, if in a collection of observations published at Breslaw, in 1772, and dedicated to the celebrated Haller, Arnold had not reported, that he had seen a child, aged fourteen years, who had seventy-two teeth, thirty-two for each jaw, which were healthy and well placed in two rows, except the front ones, which were slightly irregular." The cutting of teeth in very old age, he also tells us, is not in the common course of nature, and facetiously proposes the following epitaph, composed by himself, for the general use of such exceptions to the rules of dentists.

Here lies an old person once tooth less and boary,
Who renew'd all his teeth, and his health and his
hair,

And then was cut off in the height of his glory,

After living two ages devoid of all care.

This prophetic property of teeth is another recommendation to Mr. Duval's work; for it will readily be granted, that so extraordinary a quality, in addition to their common and daily usefulness, renders them of infinitely greater importance than any other or gan. M. Duval proceeds to condemn the washing of infants in cold water, as prejudicial to the teeth; and with a marked severity, reprehends the mothers in Scotland for the practice, as giving their children the croup. "It has been remarked (he tells us) that this cruel disease, which speedily suffocates the little sufferers, was endemic or peculiar to Scotland; and it is observable, that the Scotch plunge themselves and their children into cold water, even in the depth of winter"! Nor let any of our southern readers fancy that Mr. Duval approves more of their customs. No, addressing his country women, he says; "To clothe a child as much as is requisite to shelter it from the sudden impressions of heat and cold, is what nature demands for an easy dentition; every where she offers us the example. Let us endeavour rather to imitate her, than to believe that we can do better, and leave to the English to make their children walk barefoot, according to the advice of their writers Locke, Floyer, Hamilton, and others." After this we are not surprized to learn that the French ladies are such admirable nurses that their milk sometimes abso-propriate situation. futely intoxicates their babies!!

For these ultra-teethings, and other misconduct, the author mildly remonstrates with nature that beneficient mother is, as he justly observes, "sometimes forgetful in her operations, and wanders from the path which the Author of all things has marked out for her; sometimes she gives to certain teeth an oblique direction, again she transports them to a distance from their proper seat; here they cross each other, or they are so turned as to present one of their sides; there we observe one which presses against the lip, producing excoriation; again we find a tooth planted in the middle of the palate."

Oh! fie on nature, to give dentists so much trouble as these confounded transportations, transpositions, crossings, and plantings must occasion! We should like to see the skill of Duval employed in transplanting a grinder from the middle of the palate to some more ap

Having administered this wholesome

correction to nature, our author next falls foul of acids, for the mischief they do to his charge, the teeth. "The ancients (as he tells us) were not ignorant of the injurious effects which acids have upon the teeth, the prophet Jeremiah expressly says, that if we eat unripe grapes the teeth will be set on edge; and Solomon, who was not unacquainted with the physical sciences, observed an analogy between the action of smoke upon the eyes, and that of vinegar upon the teeth." Well may he exclaim after this, punning so happily upon the blowing of flowers. "By what fatality then are the minds of men fascinated with those powders which have an acid base? It is like the charm of a fine flower, which only yields an agreeable odour, that it may more effectually strike a mortal blow at those who dare approach it." Such persons are worse than beasts.

"If these truths should appear to some persons ill-founded, or of less weight than we believe they merit, we request them to recollect the lesson which has been given them by the cows, of which M. le Vaillant has given an account, from his own observation of their habits among the Caffres: according to this illustrious traveller, when these cows have eaten herbs which have a sour taste, their teeth are strongly set on edge; to relieve which, they mutually bite each others horns, when they cannot find any bones; those persons then, (i. e. such as are not blessed with horns) after using acids to clean their teeth, will try from the example of these animals, to soften their effects by gnawing their nails, and they will finish by biting their fingers."

Mr. Duval now warns his patients against certain things, which have been found by experience, (and he as usual quotes his authorities,) to be a little detrimental to the teeth. Among these, we may particularize cracking cherry stones, knocking your mouth in playing at blind-man's buff against the marble table of a commode or of a chimney, the stroke of a hammer, thumps with tennis balls, a push in the jaw with a foil; against all which practices, we 2F ATHENEUM VOL. 8.

join in dissuading those who wish to preserve a good show of teeth. Mr. Duval further advises any one whose teeth are" entirely knocked out of their sockets," not to swallow them. To this we may annex another piece of excellent counsel given by this prince of dentists. He proceeds:

"To represent a ferocious animal with teeth of iron is an ingenious idea which belongs to the style in which the prophet Daniel wrote: it is to arm ferocity with weapons of such a hardness, that sparks might be drawn from them. But confiding too much in this solidity, no one should imitate the example of him whose teeth gave sparks when struck with a flint, as related by Bartholin; he will also leave the bully to chew glass and stones, as well as those who have the indiscretion to crack nuts with their teeth. To use them thus, is to run the risque of breaking or of loosening them, or at least of producing an irritation which afterwards may become the source of pain and caries."

Biting threads, tying parcels, drawing corks and nails with your teeth; and moreover, wagering them in any bet, ought prudently to be avoided. "Want of cleanliness also renders the mouth fœtid, which, in society where it is customary to embrace often, is a matter of importance."

This is in France, where fashion and costume too operate against the teeth, which leads their zealous patron to condemn inexorably slight clothing, crops, and shaving,

"It is not a matter of indifference with regard to the teeth, to submit the head to the caprices of fashion. Although pains in the teeth may have been cured, according to the report of some observers, by cutting the hair, we ought not to conclude, that we can always imitate without inconvenience the head-dress of Titus and of Caracalla, many persons could depose to the contrary.

"It sometimes happens, that the tooth-ache is produced every time that a person is shaved; but we should not conclude with Hottinger, that the presence of the beard is a preservative

against that malady. The carious and shunned, and many to be done; but painful teeth of those venerable an- we must now refer those of our readers chorites, who distinguished themselves who are desirous of further information by their long beards, have scarcely left on this subject, to the work itself, which us room to believe that any intimate they will find to be exceedingly particonnection exists between this part and cular in its directions on every misadthe teeth." venture and malady incident to teeth— to employ a dentist.

There are many other things to be

M'LEOD'S VOYAGE TO AFRICA.*

Extracted from the British Critic.

TH HE geography of the kingdom of Dahomy, which Dr. McLeod visited, is but imperfectly known. He places its seacoast in 6° 12′ north lat. Its extent into the interior is at least 150 miles. Slaves, ivory, palm oil, and the other usual articles of African commerce abound in it; and the soil produces all the varieties of fruits which are so luxuriantly found in the torrid Zone. The religion of the natives appears to be genuine Manicheism. Of their reverence to the power of good we hear but little, but they pray to their demon for protection against magicians. The king's body guard is formed out of a portion of his 4000 wives, trained to arms under female officers. A number of messengers are entertained about court called Half-heads, because one side of their heads is always shaved; they are distinguished warriors, and instead of a blue ribbon, or collars of SS, on gala days, they wear round their necks strings of the teeth of those enemies whom they have killed with their own hands. When on actual service, they run at full speed, being relieved at certain distances by relays, who in turn transfer the royal communication to each other. In an invasion of Mahee, on the Ashantee borders, strict orders had been given to exterminate every branch of the reigning prince, who, it seems, had given much trouble to the Dahomians. One of his sons, a youth about 17, managed to conceal his real

quality, and after passing in the crowd of prisoners through the capital, was sold to Dr. McLeod, and lived at Fort William.

"In a very short time after this transaction, it somehow transpired at Abomey, that there yet lived this remnant of the enemy's family; and in order to trace him out, (for the scent bad in some degree been lost, not knowing whether he had been disposed of to the English, French, or Portuguese, or whether he was not actually embarked,) the king fell upon a scheme, which strongly displays the species of cunning and artifice so often observed among savages.

"Some of his Half-heads arrived one evening at the fort, and with the Coke (a stern and hard-hearted villain) who, in the absence of the Yavougab, was the next caboceer, demanded admittance in the king's name, prostrating themselves as usual, and covering their heads with dust. On entering, they proceeded immediately to that quarter where the slaves were, and repeated the ceremony of kissing the ground before they spoke the king's word, that is to say, delivered his message. The Coke then made a long harangue, the purport of which was to signify the king's regret that animosity should have so long existed between him and the chief of that country which he had just despoiled, and to express his sorrow for the fate of a family which had suffered

A Voyage to Africa, with some account of the Manners and Customs of the Dahomian People. By
John McLeod, M.D. London. 1820.

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from his displeasure through false accounts and misrepresentations. For this reason he was now most anxious to make every reparation in his power to a son yet remaining of that prince, and would readily re-establish him in the rank and possessions of his father, could he only find him out. Completely duped by this wile, the unsuspecting lad exultingly exclaimed, I am the son of the prince!' Then,' replied the Coke, with a hellish joy, at having succeeded in his object, you are just the person we want;' upon which these Halfheads seized him, and began to bind his hands. Finding by this time the real state of the case, which at first it was impossible to comprehend, I strongly protested against their seizing a slave whom I had regularly purchased, and complained loudly of the insult of fered to the Company's fort--but all in vain. I then earnestly entreated them to offer the king his own price, or selection of goods, and to beg, as a favour to me, that he might be spared, strongly urging the plea also, that when once embarked, be would be as free from every apprehension respecting him as if he killed him.

"The Coke coolly replied, that I need give myself no farther trouble to make proposals, for he dared not repeat one of them to the king; and I was at last, after an ineffectual struggle, compelled to witness, with the most painful emotion, this ill-fated youth dragged off in a state of the gloomiest despair :-a despair rendered more dismal from the fallacious glimpse of returning happiness by which he had been so cruelly entrapped.

"He was immediately hurried away and murdered, to glut the vengeance of this pitiless and sanguinary barbarian." We blush for humanity when we recollect that European history can furnish more than a parallel to this bloody treachery. It was, we believe, in one of the mitraillades at Lyons, that the monster who superintended these wholesale executions, after the first fire, commanded those who were unhurt, or only wounded, to rise, under the assurance that they were pardoned by the Repub

lic; as they obeyed, the matches were again applied to the cannon; a third discharge was unnecessary to complete the massacre.

But the fate of Sally Abson touches us still more, from her half English conShe was the daughter of the nexion. governor by a native woman, about 20 years of age, with a fine, animated, expressive countenance, and remarkable for the elegance and symmetry of her form.

"The king of Dahomy had repeatedly demanded her as a wife; but neither herself, nor her father, would ever for a moment listen to the proposal.

"Since she had grown up she had a house or cottage of her own near the orange-grove, with a little establishment, and slaves to attend her; but on her father returning sick from Abomey, she again took up her residence in the fort; became his nurse; attended him constantly with the most affectionate care; and when he died, nothing could exceed the poignancy of her grief.

At last

"Her situation now was very pecu. liar. Her mother was dead, and had she been alive, the relationship on that side, in such a country, could not have extended beyond that individual.—She continued regularly to appear at the mess-table, as she had been wont to do during her father's illness, but generally sat there abstracted and regardless of the food; and for the next three or four days wandered between the fort and the orange-grove, in the manner of one who had some dismal foreboding. she suddenly disappeared. Inquiring for her at breakfast-time, the servants made no reply, but hung down their heads and looked terrified and confused. Not being able, either by persuasion or threats, to obtain any information from them, I proceeded to search about in all directions but without success. cottage I found totally deserted, and began to think, (what I could hardly permit myself to believe) that she had killed herself.

Her

"At last, an old and faithful domestic of the late governor, who had followed me until we had got into a retired spot where he thought none could see

us, whispered me that a number of the king's Half-heads had arrived at midnight and carried her off to Abomey."

Dr. McLeod afterwards learnt the concluding particulars of her sad story when brought into the presence of the impatient king.

"She, to the great horror and astonishment of all the courtiers, not only refused to kneel, or pay him the least mark of respect, but with a total disregard of life, boldly accused him of oppression and injustice, and disdainfully denied his right of control over her. The despot, in the first transport of his rage, pushed her violently and dashed her on the ground; but, as if suddenly reflecting that he might have gone too far in the outrage already committed, or more probably awed and overcome by the noble intrepidity of her conduct, he was withheld from proceeding to extremities, and merely ordered her instantly to be removed from his sight."

From the moment of her seizure she

CHR

became a prey to grief, and after lingering in the seraglio some years in this state of despondency, sunk at last broken-hearted into the grave.

Dr. McLeod corroborates much of the horrible accounts which Mr. Bowditch in his work on Ashantee has related of the human sacrifices during the celebration of "customs." Mr. James, (afterwards governor) who during three different years was present at these appalling ceremonies, once counted sixtyfive victims. The walls of the royal symbomies, or palaces, some of them two miles in circumference, are decorated with the skulls of these unhappy wretches; on one occasion the architect from a wrong calculation found he had not enough for his purpose, and requested permission to alter his plan. The king on enquiry learnt that not more than 127 were wanting, and he ordered that number of captives to be slaughtered in cold blood.

CHRISTIAN VII. OF DENMARK, AND HIS QUEEN.
From the London Magazine.

CHRISTIAN THE SEVENTH, on his accession to the throne of Denmark, in 1766, was sixteen years of age, of an agreeable person and pleasing manners. His affability, and the hopes always inspired by a new reign, recalled to the court those pleasures which the austerity of his predecessor had banished; and these were still further increased by the arrival of his young consort, Matilda, a sister of George the Third of England, whom Christian married soon after he ascended the throne. Matilda was in her sixteenth year, and to a beautiful complexion joined regular features: she was, however, treated with neglect by her husband, and an open rupture soon took place between the royal pair. Addicted to the society of dissolute young men, the King passed his time in turbulent pleasures, which sometimes exposed him to danger, even in the streets of his capital. To wean him, if possible from these habits, he was persuaded to travel; and two years after his nup

tials, quitting his young queen, then just
delivered of a son and heir, he depart-
ed for England, where his stay was but
short; and thence, passing through
Holland into France, he arrived at Pa-
ris, and soon acquired the good graces
of the city and the court. A contem-
porary writer observes, with the arro-
gance of a Frenchman, "We were sur-
prised to find in a Monarch of the
North, a handsome person, a genteel
air, and something like manners." Chris-
tian was preparing to proceed to Italy,
when he was recalled to Copenhagen
by intelligence of quarrels subsisting
between his Consort and the Queen
Dowager, his stepmother, a princess
of considerable talents, but of an
intriguing disposition.
The young
Queen had not been very discreet in
the assertion of her prerogative; while,
on the other hand, sufficient time had
not elapsed for the Queen Dowager to
divest herself of those habits of com-
mand, to which her former station en-

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