probably have got well long before the expiration of the seven days if he set to work to make his medicine only when the tooth began to ache, the genius of the physician and the efficacy of the recipe are alike secure from attack.  In the second case, the very existence of one of the drugs mentioned is, to say the least, apocryphal; and although such can be purchased at the shops of native druggists, any complaint on the part of a duped patient would be met by the simple answer, that the white dragon’s bones he bought could not possibly have been genuine!

A few days after the above incident, we returned to the dentist’s stall, and asked him if he had any powder that would draw out a tooth by mere application to the gum or to the tooth itself?  He replied that such a powder certainly existed, and was commonly manufactured in all parts of China, but that he himself was out of it at the moment.  He added, that if we would call again on the 4th of the 4th moon, before 12 o’clock in the day, he should be in a position to satisfy our demands.

In conclusion, we append a quotation from the China Review, which appeared in print after our own sketch was written:—­

“Despite the oft-repeated assertion as to painless, or at least easy, dentistry in China, very few people seem prepared to admit that teeth are constantly extracted in the way described by (I think) a former correspondent of the Review.  He stated that a white powder was rubbed on the gums of the patient, after which the tooth was easily pulled from its socket; and this I can substantiate, noting, however, that the action of the powder (corrosive sublimate) is not quite so rapid as represented.  A short time since I witnessed an operation of this kind.  The operator rubbed the powder on the gum as described, but then directed the patient to wait a little.  After perhaps ten minutes’ interval, he again rubbed the gum, and then, introducing his thumb into the mouth, pressed heavily against the tooth (which was a large molar).  The man winced for a second as I heard the ‘click’ of the separation, but almost before he could cry out, the dentist gripped the tooth with his forefinger and thumb, and with very little violence pulled it out.  The gum bled considerably, and I examined the tooth so as to satisfy myself that there was no deception.  It had an abscess at the root of the fang, and was undoubtedly what it professed to be.  When the operation was over, the patient washed his mouth out with cold water, paid fifteen cash and departed.”

MEDICAL SCIENCE