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Ch. 9: Narwhal Horns and Walrus Tusks

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HORNS AND TUSKS                 317
phase of the custom is so singular that it deserves mention here. When a Siamese seeks to repair the ravages of time by ordering a set of artificial teeth, he usually requires that they shall be black; sometimes, however, in the case of func­tionaries who often receive Europeans, a set of black teeth is ordered for general use, and a set of white teeth to be sub­stituted when European visitors are to be entertained. When asked to give a reason for this strange custom of black­ening the teeth, or wearing black teeth, a Siamese replied: "We do not wish to have teeth like those of a dog."
The teeth of various animals were also regarded as possess­ing curative powers. For instance, if the tooth of a mole were taken out while the creature was alive, it was a specific for toothache when attached to the body.* Violent pains in the gastric region were removed by binding on, with a piece of sheep's or goat's skin, a tooth drawn from the left side of a hyena's jaw. A wolf's tooth preserved an infant from fear, if attached to its body, and also cured toothache. The larger teeth of the wolf were supposed to have the power to make horses tireless runners.f It is interesting to note in this connection that there were found in the Crimea, in 1865, beneath a tumulus, the remains of five horses, the heads being adorned with perforated boars' tusks set in gold and silver.î
That this superstition, once so deeply rooted, has not yet passed away, is illustrated by the specimens figured by Bellucci. One of these, taken from a prehistoric necropolis of the first Iron Age, is the tusk of a boar and has been partly metamorphosed into odontolite—bone turquoise coloured by coming into contact with some iron or iron salt. It has a bronze mounting at the base to facilitate its suspension
*C. Plinii Secundi, Naturalis historia, Lib. XXVIII, cap. 8, Venetia, 1507, fol. 211 verso.
tlbid., Lib. XXVIII, cap. 19, Venetia, 1507, fol. 218 recto.
tStephani, Compte rendu de la Comm. arch, de St. Petersb., 1865, p. 19.
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