As a result of a short preliminary clinical study of the healthy oral tissues of 50 Negro patients, it was found that the color of the gums and gingivae in the healthy mouths of this particular group presented considerable, variations that ranged from a very light pale pink to degrees of purplish-black pigmentation. Gums and gingivae showing little or great pigmentation are perfectly normal, except in those cases where histories of local and systemic disease would intimate that these particular conditions are responsible for the production of this dis-coloration. Diagnosis of disease solely on the basis of color changes is, therefore, difficult and unreliable.