DR. LEGEAR'S STOCK BOOK. 55 



We often hear 'it said that "blind teeth" grow or come out 

 through the bones on the face. That is an erroneous idea, and 

 is as foolish as it is absurd. Such a thing never happens. What 

 causes the swelling on the face is the matter which inflames the 

 bone and causes it to bulge out. When the matter becomes abund- 

 ant enough it will burst through the bone and skin and cause a 

 running sore. When there is a cavity from the grinding surface of 

 tne tooth all the way up to the root, the matter will escape into 

 the ir.outh and not form an enlargement. The above is regard- 

 ing the grinders on the upper jaw. When the roots only of one 

 of the lower grinders become decayed it forms an enlargement 

 on the lower border of the jaw; in the same way the enlarge- 

 ment is formed on the upper jaw. If an enlargement is seen on a 

 colt or right young horse it is generally due to the caps (colt 

 teeth) not being properly shed. Very often the matter from a 

 diseased upper grinder will break into the nostril instead of on 

 the face, and forms a running at the nose of a very offensive 

 smelling matter. If the crown of the tooth is decayed and the 

 matter runs into the mouth you can smell a very offensive odor 

 every time you open his mouth or put on the bridle. 



Treatment. As the art of filling teeth in the lower animals 

 can not as yet be successfully done, the only remedy for a de- 

 cayed tooth is to remove it. This is generally done by means of 

 tooth forceps made especially for such work. Figure 9 is a pair 

 of forceps for pulling the molars or grinders from horses. Figure 

 8 is a speculum for opening the mouth to see which tooth is de- 

 cayed and where to place the forceps for its extraction. It is 

 generally advisable to throw a horse for this operation. After 

 the horse is secured, put on the speculum, grasp the tooth firmly 

 with the molar extractor (forceps) and by using steady force you 

 may be able to remove the tooth. Unless the whole tooth is de- 

 cayed and loosened it will be found a big job' to pull an upper 

 grinder in most of cases. A little wooden block may be placed 



