www.mddus.com OUT THERE


PLANT RELIEF Neanderthals with toothache may have self-medicated using plants, researchers have found. Remains in Spain showed one man with a nasty abscess appears to have eaten poplar, which contains the active ingredient of aspirin. His dental plaque also had a natural form of penicillin, 40,000 years before its discovery. Source: CNN


PRICEY MOULD A “holy relic” of medical science has been sold by Bonham’s in London for £11,863 – a patch of mould grown by none other than Alexander Fleming 90 years ago. It bears an inscription from Fleming himself reading: “the mould that first made penicillin”. However, the scientist apparently often sent out samples of his mould to dignitaries including the Pope and – oddly – Marlene Dietrich.


TAR TEETH Two Stone Age teeth found in Italy and dating back 13,000 years suggest


dentists would scrape out cavities, often using stone tools. And rather than filling them, they would coat them with bitumen – a tarry form of crude oil.


FROM THE MUSEUM


In use from circa 1730, this brutal looking “tooth key” proved surprisingly effective in performing extractions compared to earlier methods. The key consisted of a shaft, a bolster and a claw. To pull a tooth the bolster was placed against the root and the claw over the crown. The key was then turned, dislocating the tooth. With no anaesthetic available, the extraction would have been swift.


CROSSWORD


ACROSS 1. Train network (7) 5. Organ of thought and control (5) 8. Keeps going (9) 9. Draw (3) 10. Opposite of did (4’1) 12. Army leader (7) 13. Uncategorised (13) 15. As played by Miles Davis (7) 17. Root ____ surgery (5) 19. ___ Master’s Voice (3) 20. Showed (9) 22. In computing, storage devices (5) 23. Person seized as security (7)


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Sprinted (5)


2. Bed and breakfast (3) 3. Suit (Cockney rhyming slang) (7) 4. Steely Dan song about dental prosthesis (4,4,5)


5. Sink (5) 6. Beyond lunch (9) 7. Hypodermics (7) 11. Costumes (9) 13. Paired (7) 14. Centre of cell (7) 16. As played by Pan (5) 18. Firmly fix or embed in place (5) 21. “A drink with jam and bread” (3)


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PHOTO: BDA MUSEUM


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