Jail Stomatitis

Sir ?I have read, with much interest, the paper entitled " Jail Stomatitis," by Dr. Nobin Chunder Dutt, in your issue of May last, and, as you have invited discussion, I venture to offer a few remarks on the subject, based upon an experience of several jails in the Punjab, during the past five years. Dr. Dutt describes a variety of conditions of the mouth under the head of stomatitis, and, for the reasons given in his paper, attributes them, shortly, to dyspepsia, due to unsuitable food, and, generally, the same causes that are held responsible for dysentery in jails. I venture to think this may be a confusion of cause and effect and believe that the stomach and intestinal troubles are the result, to a large extent, of unhealthy conditions of the gums and mouth. Like Dr. Dutt, I have, more than once found a considerable number of unhealthy gums amongst prisoners on taking overcharge of a jail (casually attributed to scurvy by ihe Hospital Assistant in charge), but have invariably found the condition disappear in a few weeks or days, and never return after the issue, and regular use, under supervision, of the ?' datwan", " miswak," or ordinary tooth-stick in common use amongst the natives of the country, and without any alteration in the diet whatsoever. I have found, moreover, that with attention to the cleanliness of the teeth, and the use of sterile sand for the cleaning of feeding vessels, diarrhoea, dysentery and alimentary troubles generally have dropped to a minimum. It would be interesting to know whether tooth-sticks are in use in the Bengal Jails. If not, it would be well worth while making an experiment in their use in a