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degree of heat that is proper to give the actual cautery. I
operated upon teeth in this way, which were changed for the
better, in a manner to be wondered at.

CHAPTER IV.

OP THE DISEASES OF THE GUMS, SOFT PARTS, &C.

I shall notice three diseases of the gums.
First, Scurvy, so called by Messrs. Hunter and Fox, and
the Devastating Process by Mr. Koecker.
Secondly, Cancoris.
Thirdly, A preternatural growth of the gums, and of tu-
mours from them.

First, Of Scurvy of the Gums.

This disease is one of very frequent occurrence, and often
most deplorable in its consequences. It is one that as far as
my knowledge extends, is very little understood by either
surgeon-dentists, or by the physicians or surgeons of this
country.
It is a local inflammation of that part of the gum which is
situated around the bodies and fangs of the teeth, usually
first affecting the gums covering the front incisors of the un-
der jaw, next the grinding teeth, and lastly, the incisors of
the upper jaw. It often affects persons whose teeth were
otherwise perfectly sound. It affects all classes of persons,
and^all ages, from two years, (in whom it is often fatal,) to old
age. It is this disease which usually occasions the loss of
the teeth in old people, which but for this would have re-