The reported success of many local agents of widely differing chemical composition in the treatment of fusospirillary infections of the mouth, such as ulcerative gingivitis and ulcerative tonsillitis, may be explained, in part at least, as being due to the effectiveness of simple removal of debris and perhaps also to the promotion of local nonspecific tissue and leukocyte stimulation. The long list of such local agents includes hydrogen peroxide, potassium chlorate, chromic acid, methylene blue, silver nitrate, various combinations of ipecac or emetin with arsenic and glycerin, and solutions or suspensions of one or another of the arsphenamine series. The most recent addition to the list is sodium perborate, advocated in the form of a paste by Bloodgood.1
While doubtless the condition in a majority of cases will sooner or later yield to local chemical treatment and in some cases to simple thorough local cleansing, in a considerable number