in Anatomy, the hard fleety substance in either jaw, through which the teeth spring from the jaw-bone. See Anatomy, No. 105.

The gums are apt to become spongy, and to separate from the teeth; but the cause is frequently a stony kind of crust, which forms itself therein, which, when separated, the gums soon return to their former state, especially if rubbed with a mixture of the infusion of roses four parts, and the tincture of myrrh one part.—The scurvy is another disorder which affects the gums.

This disorder, when not manifest in any other part, sometimes appears in this: indeed, when a scorbutic disorder invades the whole habit, its first symptom is a putrid state of the gums.