Mission

And now for some more period tooth cleaning suggestions from the surgeons and physicians of the time. “Numerous remedies exist for cleaning the teeth, but according to [Lazare] Riviére [1589 – 1655] the best way of cleaning them consists in rubbing them with a small stick immersed in sulphuric acid (spiritus sulphuris aut viotrioli) and afterward drying them with a piece of linen. This remedy not only cleans and renders the teeth white, but it preserves them also from caries! If the teeth are very dirty, the spirit of vitriol [sulfuric acid] may be used pure; otherwise one mixes it with mel rosatum [honey of roses] or with water.” (Guerini, p. 230) “Riviére, besides, recommends tobacco ashes for cleaning the teeth, a counsel not yet given by any previous author. He also give the formulæ for two dentifrice powders, the basis of which is alum; he calls attention __ to the great importance of taking assiduous care to keep the teeth clean, and advises that after each meal the residues of food be removed from the interstices of the teeth and the mouth well rinsed with wine.” (Guerini, p. 230-1) “This author [Anton Nuck – 1650 – 1692] acquaints us with a tooth powder, much used in his time, especially by Parisian ladies. The ingredients were powdered cuttle fish, coral powder, cream of tartar, Armenian bole [a reddish-brown soft oily clay], and powder of red roses.” (Guerini, p. 247)

Ah, fermented urine. I refer you to my latest post in Twill: http://pyracy.com/index.php?showtopic=1186...mp;#entry360729 Truly a masterwork of note-taking and recollection, I think.

And where exactly did they store said "stale piss" ? Just a sec, I can answer this one because it's gross. “Throughout the sailing ship era, the ships’ decks, sides, masts, yards and sails were frequently set on fire in battle and buckets of urine were used to extinguish the flames…. In close action, ships were often known to set each other alight.” (Watt, Vice-Admiral Sir James, “The burns of seafarers under oars, sail and steam”, Injury: the British Journal of Accident Surgery, Vol. 12, p. 71) "For a long time ships all carried piss tubs in various places, which not only served the purpose indicated but also provided ‘fire points’, to use the modern term. With the ever-present risk it was essential to have water supplies handy, and using urine instead of sea water saved work: filling buckets over a ship’s side is never easy and is especially difficult when an ample supply of water is suddenly needed to douse a fire. Urine somehow acquired a reputation for being better than water for extinguishing fires… (Thrower, William Rayner, Life at Sea in the Age of Sail, p. 82) Admittedly, Thrower is not my favorite source, but there you are. Speaking of urine... “The principle cause of this morbidity [in July 1690] was once more the quality of the victuals; nevertheless, the Commissioners for Victualling appointed in 1683 continued in office. The naval victuallers were also required to supply the troops, and so corrupt was the food that deaths occurred among the soldiers even on the short passage to Ireland. But as usual the beer was singled out for particular condemnation; ‘the Men chose rather to drink Salt Water or their own Urine’. [A.G Finch] The Victualling Commissioners blamed it all on lack of money.” (Keevil, John J., Medicine and the Navy 1200-1900: Volume II – 1640-1714, p. 172-3) And don't even let me get going about what some marooning and shipwreck survivors did.

Ah, the latest room in my Art Project House is now pretty well complete... The Key West-Themed Dining Room Now to finish the Delorean-Themed Kitchen...

The two pirate skeletons playing chess in the dungeon. (WDW)

Well, I wouldn't know how to protect it after posting it publicly if I wanted to, so I guess it will be open to all. I don't think it's big enough to make a nice background, though. (Tony "Papa Ratzi" Callahan can make it big enough with some app he designed, though.)

Cool. I have a digital copy of the original file on my laptop. I downloaded it for William when he made that flag at PiP. Unfortunately, I don't have my laptop with me. I'll put it on my website and post a link here for you as soon as I get it.

His *ahem* 'cool' stripey slops.

It also explains the mug in my avatar from that photo in May. I think I am going to chain my tankard to my belt. (Except that may not work either...who's belt was Stynky wearing on Sunday night? Wasn't it yours?) Steal Stynky's Mug?! I couldn't be involved in stealing...Stynky's...hmm... Hmm... Trouble is, I don't think he'd give $#!t. (At least not publicly.)

"If everyone is thinking alike then somebody isn't thinking." -George S Patton

Say, can she get me some Casa Europa brand Raspberry Macadamia flavored coffee? It's in a black bag. I've contacted the distributor (Ro-mart Inc.) and they keep telling to check Home Goods and their brother companies. I have had no luck - their coffee assortments seem to border on the random. Home goods does have stuff that you could fit into a pirate theme, though. Another place I've occasionally seen such things is at Hobby Lobby. I picked up a really cool wrought iron-ey looking lantern.

Actually, if Littleneckhalfshell is right and the paper should be more white than yellow, I still don't think you'd want it to look like that. It's not what people expect. You're better off to make it look like what they expect if you're going to sell them. It was just something I was wondering about.

I am reading A History of Dentistry: From The Most Ancient times Until The End Of The Eighteenth Century by Vincenzo Guerini. This material is in his section on the estimable barber-surgeon Ambroise Paré. Paré's book was written in France in the late 16th century and translated into English in the early 17th. (Note, this mostly just corroborates the above info, but I thought it was interesting coming from one of the fathers of chirurgery.) First, something that I thought would be of interest to re-enactors: "The following chapter [Chapter XVI of Œvres complètes d' Ambroise Paré] speaks 'de la limosité ou rouillure des dents, et de la manière de les conserver.' After meals the mouth must be rinsed with water or wine, or with water with a little vinegar added to it, and the teeth cleaned from all residues of food, so that their putrefying may not spoil the teeth and make the breath fetid. An earthy yellowish substance, like rust, often forms on the teeth from want of cleanliness and also when they are not used to masticate; this substance corrodes the teeth, just as rust corrodes iron. It is necessary to remove this substance, by scraping the teeth with small instruments suitable for the purpose, and then the teeth themselves must __ be rubbed with a little aqua fortis [nitric acid in water] and aqua vitæ [distilled wine] mixed together, to take away what the instruments have not been able to remove. In order to preserve the teeth it is necessary, besides, to rub the teeth frequently with appropriate dentifrices. Among these the author mentions simple bread crust, burnt and reduced to powder." (Guerini, p. 196-7) Now for some fun stuff... "Sometimes, when a tooth is too firmly planted, one prefers, says Paré, instead of extracting it, to break off the crown for the purpose of being able to act directly on the dental nerve with appropriate remedies, or to destroy the sensibility of the nerve entirely, by cauterization. [burning with acid or heated steel instruments.]" (Guerini, p. 194) "The extraction of a tooth should not be carried out with too much violence, as one risks producing luxation of the jaw or concussion of the brain and the eyes, or even bringing away a portion of the jaw together with the tooth (the author himself has observed this in several cases), not to speak of other serious accidents which may supervene, as, for example, fever, apostema [abcess], abundant hemorrhage, and even death. In extracting a tooth it is necessary to place the patient on a very low seat, or even the ground, with his head between the legs of the operator. After having laid the tooth bare sufficiently, if one sees that it is very loose, one may push it out of its socket with a poussoir, that is, with a trifed lever. But if the tooth is too firmly rooted to be extracted with this instrument, one must make use of curved pincers, or else one may have recourse to a pelican. the author notes, however, that much skill is required in using this latter instrument, for otherwise it will almost certainly happen that several good teeth will be knocked out, instead of the one intended to be extracted." (Guerini, p. 194) Below: A poussoir or trifed lever (Guerini, Fig 63, p. 195) Below: Top - two pelicans; bottom - curved pincers (Guerini, Figs 61 & 62, p. 193) "In the treatment of toothache one must fulfil the following three indications: 1. Regulate fittingly the mode of living. 2. Evacuate or dissipate the morbid humors; this may be effected by various means, namely, by purgatives, by bleeding, by gingival __ scarification [scarifying is the process of making many small incisions with a scalpel to allow bleeding - in this case in the gums], by the application of leeches on the site of the pain, by cupping on the back of the neck, or on the shoulders. [Cupping is the process of heating a small glass cup and placing it on a body part. As it cools, it draws the blood to the surface of the skin.] 3. Applying in each single case the medicaments best adapted for calming the pain. ... When a decayed tooth becomes the seat of excessive pain, and this does not yield to any remedy, one must either have recourse to extraction or cauterize it; this can be done either with potential caustics - such as oil of vitriol [sulfuric acid], aqua fortis [nitric acid in water] - or with the actual cautery [a heated iron]. By cauterizing, Paré adds, one burns the nerve, thus rendering it incapable of again feeling or causing pain. Erosion or caries [rotting or gradual destruction of the tooth] is the effect of an acute and acrid humor, that corrodes and perforates the teeth, often to their very roots. To combat this morbid condition, even when it is not accompanied by pain, one mus also have recourse (besides general treatment) to cauterization either with oil of vitriol, with aqua fortis, or with a small actual cautery. If, as often happens, that the seat of the erosion lies in such a manner between two teeth as to make it impossible to apply caustics or other medicaments, one must file just sufficiently between the healthy and the corroded tooth to render the part accessible, taking care, however, to file more on the side of the affected tooth than on that of the healthy one. The file may be used, besides, to plane down a tooth that stands out above the level of the others, or for similar purpose." (Guerini, p. 190-1) Several Dental Files (Guerini, Fig 60, p. 192) Note: All these drawings are originally from Jacques Gillemeau's companion book to Paré's book - The French Chirurgerye.

Very nice. I wonder what the paper would have looked like, say...after a few months at sea? I'm guessing we age and yellow stuff because that's how we see it today, but what might it have actually looked like then? Perhaps someone has taken a piece of paper made like they did then and tried carrying it about at sea for a few months - probably locked away amidst the ships papers?

I remember those. They were terrible! They used to have ones with vampire fangs in them at the local general store. (We had a local general store when I was a kid - with musty wood floors, long wood and glass counters and great big glass jars of penny candy. It burned down. *Sigh*)

Here's a nice descriptive one: “In our Sea-fights oftentimes a Buttock, the Brawn of the Thigh, the Calf of the Leg, are torn off by Chain-shot and Splinters. All these are contused Wounds, and look black, and do often deceive the unexperienced Chirurgeon, he taking them by their aspect to be gangrened, and by dressing them as Mortifications with Ægyptiac. and spir. vini, doth certainly sphacelate them; and those persons die miserably afflicted. Whereas if they be considered rightly, though they look like Flesh long hang’d in the Air, of a dry blackish colour, yet they have warmth, and by Lenients, as is prescribed in Simple Gun-shot Wounds, they would digest, separate their Sloughs, and incarn. But they are slow in Digestion, and require good Fomentations and Embrocations to cherish the native heat, which is much weakened by so great a loss of Substance. These require oleum terebinth. to be mixt with your Digestive: But you must have a care you do not inflame them and cause pain by adding too much of it: A Spoonful to six ounces of your Suppuratives is enough in the drest Habits. Your judgment will best direct you, and your Patient’s complaint: It being unreasonable to hope that Wounds can digest, while they are accompanied with much Pain.” (Wiseman, p. 428) Glossary Ægyptiac. - an oil-free mixture of copper acetate (verdigris), vinegar, and honey Digest - healthy pus formation in a wound Embrocate - To moisten and rub with liniment or lotion Incarn - form tissue inside the wound Lenients - soothing medications or applications Oleum terebinth. - oil of turpentine - used as an antiseptic and to create the formation of pus in wounds Slough - dead outer skin Sphacelate - moritify or complete death of a part Spir. vini - rectified spirit distilled from wine Suppurate - to form and/or discharge pus

You know, I was thinking about Gummi Bears this morning... (That's all. Further bulletins as conditions warrant.)

I come from the basic precept that nothing and no one is either totally good nor totally bad, so I am almost certain that even Blackbeard and Edward Low had their good points and charitable moments. Part of the problem you may have making your case is that most of our knowledge of the history of these famous GA pirates comes from the General History which tends to follow a pattern - Here's this fellow who was ok enough in his way and then he turned to piracy and did all sorts of horrible things which I will now detail in lurid tones. So if Teach gave a dozen daisies to some randomly chosen old women every day he was on shore, that's not likely to be recorded because it doesn't fit the sensational template. Still, in the main, you're talking about thieves as Foxe said. There's a reason for the old saw...there's no honor among thieves. (Note that I do not count privateers as true pirates, but if you wanted to drag them in, you might have a better shot at making a case for yourself as William suggests.)

Uh...God be with you in your quest. (You could cite Captain Misson's story...if only it were true.) I'm sure there are isolated examples of decent behavior, but, in the main... You sort of need to find a Robin Hood type, I think. If you read the accounts we have, the behavior of several of the folks we regard as 'famous' pirates seemed to get worse and worse as time went on. Perhaps absolute power does corrupt absolutely... Maybe someone else knows of an example, but what you're looking for sort of sounds like the cheesy 50s Hollywood idea about piracy.

Hear, hear! (Where, where?)

Thanks for the new links everyone! The comments Graydog and M.A. d'Dogge added are quite useful -- in fact, if anyone wants to add a description for the vendors already listed which will help people to better understand what they offer, feel free to post that and I'll add it. In fact, if you want to add to the comments already in there, that might be helpful too. Let's keep it sort of short, though - say, less than 10 or so words. Otherwise the list will become difficult to navigate. Something else I thought of - people might like to add posts about their experiences with a vendor. I won't add such comments to the list because I don't think opinions really belong there. Still, people might still like to read about your experiences in your posts to this thread. As for stickying this, I am unable to do that. You have to ask the moderators of this forum or the admins.

If I may suggest a course of action for those who want to do something about such issues. Indignation is a nice indulgence, but it won't help solve the problem. Your local branch would probably love getting food, litter and other supplies as well. They're usually staffed by good people with a worthwhile, but underfunded cause.

Cabin Boy was also sorely missing.

Well, Waterworld was #5 and Erik the Viking was #4, so I'm not sure how much stock I'd place in that particular list... Still POTC:CotBP was a really fun movie. I guess it "plotted a course into our imaginations." (Whatever that means. )

You have to wonder how often stuff like this happens that doesn't get reported. (I'll bet it's several orders of magnitude.) Some people need professional help controlling their emotional responses. However, I think this topic should be titled, "What's wrong with some people?" not "What's wrong with our country?" "But you can't hold a whole fraternity responsible for the behavior of a few sick, perverted individuals. For if you do, then shouldn't we blame the whole fraternity system? And if the whole fraternity system is guilty, then isn't this an indictment of our educational institutions in general? I put it to you, Greg... Isn't this an indictment of our entire American Society? Well, you can do what you want to us, but we are not going to sit here and listen to you bad-mouth the United States of America! Gentlemen!" -Eric Stratton