Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The works of John Hunter. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
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![They will often rise in a day or two after the operation as high as ever; but this newly generated matter generally dies soon, and the disease terminates well. They have often so much of a cancerous ap- pearance as to deter surgeons from meddling with them; but where they arise at once from the gum, and appear to be the only diseased part, I believe they have no malignant disposition. However, I have seen them with very broad bases, and where the whole could not be removed, and yet no bad consequences have attended their removal. These often rise again in a few years, by which means they become very troublesome. After the extirpation of them, it is often necessary to apply the actual cautery to stop the bleeding; for arteries going to increased parts are themselves increased, and also become diseased, and have not the con- tractile power of a sound artery3. §.6. Deeply seated Abscesses in the Jaws. Sometimes deeper abscesses occur than those commonly called gum- boils. They are often of very serious consequence, producing carious bones, &c. These commonly arise from a disease in the tooth, and more especially in the cuspidati, those teeth passing further into the jaw than the others. Their depth in the jaw being beyond the attach- ment of the lip to the gum, if an abscess forms at their points, it more readily makes its way through the common integuments of the face, than between the gum and lip, which disfigures the face ; and when in the lower jaw looks like the evil. In the upper jaw it makes a disagreeable scar on the face, about half an inch from the nose. These, although they may sometimes arise from diseases of the teeth and gums, yet are properly the object of common surgery; and the surgeon must apply to the dentist, if his assistance is necessary, to pull out the tooth, or to perform any other operation which comes under his province. a [Whenever the tumours here described are produced by the irritation arising from diseased or dead teeth, they will constantly recur after removal, until the cause is re- moved by the extraction of the teeth; and it often happens that after this operation they disappear spontaneously. It is not uncommon for a tumour of this description so completely to conceal the stump that has occasioned its growth, that it is only by the excision of the tumour that the cause can be ascertained. It is therefore necessary in all cases of this description that a root should be carefully searched for after the re- moval of such a tumour.]](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21996635_0002_0096.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
