liquors.

"3. It will be adviseable to exhibit such remedies as, Peruvian bark; sarsaparilla; elm bark; mineral acids.

"The external applications that I have generally found successful have consisted of such as the following:

"Preparations of copper; a diluted mineral acid; burnt alum; decoction of bark with white vitriol; tincture of myrrh, &c."[2]

Of the above articles, those which we have indicated by italics are omitted in the last edition of Cooper's Dictionary; and, in a former one, they are directly prohibited with strong reprobation. Nevertheless, it is among these that we have found, beyond comparison, the most successful one.

Mr. Pearson prefixes to the preceding article a list of synonymes, with references to authors, in the manner of writers on natural history. They are as follow: Aphthæ Serpentes.—Sennertus; Medicinâ Practicâ. Labrosulcium, seu Cheilocace.—Arnoldus Bootius. Oris Cancrum.—Muys. Stalpaart Vander Wiel. Gangræna Oris.—Van Sweiten. Gangrene scorbutique des Gencives.—Auctores Gallici.

Of these, Sennertus[3] merely mentions, under the article aphthæ, that the latter sometimes spread around the frænum and tongue, occasionally corroding the subjacent parts. He is so far from giving a clear description, under the head of Aphthæ Serpentes, of any affection analogous to that we are about to record, that he quotes Galen as remarking, very properly, that these are not aphthæ at all, but putrid ulcers.

Arnold Bootius, in his little treatise "de morbis omissis," of diseases omitted in the books, published in London, in 1649,[4] gives, from his own observation, an account of a disease, to which he applies the names above attributed to him. It differs from the cases which have attracted our attention, chiefly in its situation. He describes it as an ulcer, soon becoming black and fœtid, corroding the inside of both lips, separating them widely from the gums and allowing them to fall outwards upon the face; thus producing a horrible deformity. Besides this, the author states, that a deep fissure usually extended down each half of the inside of each lip; thus adding four deep and ghastly ramifications to the ulcer. This shocking affection is stated to have prevailed extensively, both in England and Ireland; in which latter country the author practised and held several important offices. It occasionally became epidemic, and then destroyed great numbers of children. It principally prevailed between 2 and 4 years of age; though it was occasionally met with both earlier and later in life. It was frequently, but not always, accompanied with aphthæ.

This disease was, in general, successfully treated by our author, with a decoction of "Chærephyllum, Quinquefolium, Myrrhis, Rosæ et Salvia;" in which was dissolved a "sat magna copia" of white vitriol.—A combination about as precise as some of the prescriptions which have been recommended to me, for the present disease, in this country. With this mixture, he touched the ulcers several times a day; and then washed them with a liniment of acetate of lead, aqua plantaginis, and oleum rosaceum. He also used issues in both arms; and confined the patient, in more obstinate cases, for drink, to a decoction of sarsaparilla, china, and several other articles, which we will spare our readers. To this disease, Bootius devotes about five small 18mo. pages, forming his tenth chapter.

Vander Wiel cites Bootius, and expresses his belief, that the disease described by the latter was identical with one which he saw himself. This last, however, though described in a cursory manner, appears to resemble much more nearly the disease of the Children's Asylum; beginning in the gums, and extending to the adjacent parts. He treats it by the following lotion:

Under this treatment, and by removing the teeth, when loose, the small number of cases he saw recovered in a few days.

Vander Wiel was a practitioner in Holland; and, though he does not specify the fact, his cases were probably in a marshy country.[5]

Muys, in a little treatise entitled "Chirurgia Rationalis,"[6] published in 1684, has an account of a disease, which is evidently supposed by Pearson to be that which he describes. This also, however, appears to have been a "labrosulcium;" an ulcer between the lips and the incisor teeth. There is but little to be gathered from his paper; as it is principally occupied with an attempt to prove, that this ulcer is owing to an accumulation of acidity in the blood, increased, at this point, by the putrescence of particles of food which collect there. He illustrates this doctrine by an examination of a burnt rag under a microscope; and this he considers as in a state analogous to the gangrene. "Opinionum commenta delet dies," &c. We give his treatment; which is aimed at acidity.

To be softened with a little alcohol, the part washed with the mixture six times a day, and a rag moistened with the same compound left in the ulcer. Here we take leave of the Chirurgia Rationalis.

In the 14th volume of the Memoirs of the French Royal Academy of Surgery, are papers containing accounts of two cases, which have some points in common with the disease of which we treat; but the identity of at least one of which it is hard to establish. The first piece is entitled, "Sur la gangrene scorbutique des gencives dans les enfans. Par feu M. Berthe."