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case ; and after it came away, the new bone was rounded,
and the gums healed over very perfectly.
Last year I saw a most dreadful instance of the injurious
consequences of an improper use of mercury, in a lady, a
patient of Mr. Norris, who had just arrived from the East
Indies, where she had been salivated on account of a liver
complaint. She had been advised to employ so much mer-
cury, that she was literally poisoned; her mouth became
completely ulcerated, and the whole constitution was so
much affected, that she lay for some time in a state of insen-
sibility. As she recovered, the soreness of the mouth ren-
dered the opening of it painful and difficult ; and as the ulcers
healed, so much adhesion and contraction took place at the
posterior part of the mouth, that it could scarcely be opened
even to admit a tea-spoon ; at length the contraction in-
creased to that degree that she completely lost the power of
opening it. On this account, she was under the necessity of
receiving nutriment in the form of thick milk, soups, &c. in-
troduced into the mouth by a large syringe, the pipe of which
being curved, was passed into the mouth through an opening
formed by the loss of one of the molares. In addition to
these calamities, the great inflammation which had been ex-
cited, caused the mortification of nearly the whole of the
alveolar processes of both jaws. On separating the lips, a
most dreadful appearance presented itself; the gums had re-
tired from the teeth, leaving the alveolar processes uncovered
and quite black. I removed several teeth which had become
loose, and in two or three places exfoliation was beginning to
take place.
The constant discharge of matter made a very frequent
syringing of the mouth with tincture of myrrh and water
absolutely necessary, and had she not possessed a most exem-