THE MOUTH, AND ITS TREATMENT. 295 



both in depth and superficies, assailing and de- 

 stroying all tissues alike. 



Causes, — It is caused by. want of cleanliness, 

 improper food, ill- ventilated, badly-drained, damp 

 dwellings, such hovels, in fact, as the London poor 

 almost alone are acquainted with. It is also fre- 

 quently the sequel of exanthematous and inter- 

 mittent fevers. It is also not uncommonly the 

 result of local irritation, decayed teeth with ex- 

 posed and inflamed pulp. M. Bergeron noticed it 

 frequently among his soldiers in connection with 

 suppuration within the alveolus. 



Treatment. — It is seldom cured spontaneously, 

 and if neglected, as it too often is, necrosis of 

 more or less of the alveolar plates and even of the 

 maxillary bones themselves may follow* 



The remedy par excellence for this affection, 

 whether it assail old or young, is the chlorate of 

 potash, used both internally and locally. Opium, 

 which is of so much value in phagedenic ulceration, 

 appears to me to be of no avail in this affection ; 

 but I have never seen a case in which the chlorate 

 of potash has not proved of great value, checking 

 the spread of ulceration, and causing it quickly to 

 heal if the bone has not been implicated. I have 

 seen cases ebb and flow like the tide with the. 

 administration and suspension of this salt. The 

 dose for an infant a year old would be a grain 

 twice a day, for a little child from five to eight 

 grains, and for an adult from ten to twenty grains. 



