Some dental and social conditions of 1696-1852 connected with St. Bride's Church, Fleet Street, London.

DURING research on the mandibular foramen, skulls of known age and sex were examined at Saint Bride's Church, Fleet Street, London, and the significance of the anatomical measurements is described elsewhere (Harvey and Robb, 1965); but, apart from these results, many aspects were revealed which induced one to get a panorama of the conditions prevailing at that time. It would have been possible, but very dull, to write prosaic descriptions with photographs of the jaws of some erstwhile parishioners of an old London church; but the story round the remains became as exciting as the findings themselves, for in it could be seen a link existing between flour, tea, coffee, cocoa, caries, sugar, smuggling, slavery, domestic silver and pottery!