Observations on the Inflammations of the Mouth in Children, with an Illustrative Case of Cancrum Oris

BEFORE submitting the report of this case of Cancrum oris to the Society, I desire, as shortly as possible, to direct the attention of the Fellows to some general questions regarding the inflammations of the mouth in children. The first of these is? 1. The Names of these Diseases.?It is to be regretted that at present the names of the various forms of stomatitis are employed by authors to indicate different diseases. Thus the name " noma," from that which devours, e.g., an ulcer, is used by some to embrace generally phagedenic ulceration of the mouth and face as well as of the vulva; whilst, by other writers, it is restricted to the affection of the latter, although the ulceration destroying that part may be considered to be dependent upon a similar or even identical constitutional state with that producing the buccal ulceration. By a third class of authors, noma is probably limited to the ulcerous or ulcerative stomatitis; and by a fourth, it may be restricted to the gangrenous stomatitis. The reports of the Edinburgh Children's Hospital, founded on the form of the Registrar-General's Returns, also show our confused