MOOtf-BLINDKESS. 105 



' moon-blindness ' was due to wolf-teeth, and the first 

 procedure in the treatment was their removal. Now- 

 adays, however, the supposition is not carried quite so 

 far, and the utmost that can be said is that the irrita- 

 tion of teething may be an exciting cause of ophthal- 

 mia in animals whose constitutions are hereditarily or 

 otherwise predisposed to the disease, and the removal 

 of supernumerary teeth, or lancing the gums, may pos- 

 sibly be followed by some remission of the ophthalmic 

 symptoms." 



Prof. Youatt thus accounts for Remnant teeth : 



" In a few instances the permanent teeth do not rise 

 immediately under the temporary, but somewhat by 

 their side. Then, instead of the gradual process of ab- 

 sorption, the root, being compressed sideways, dimin- 

 ishes throughout its whole bulk. The crown dimin- 

 ishes also, and the tooth is pushed out of its place to 

 the forepart of the first grinder, and remains for a con- 

 siderable time under the name of a wolf-tooth) causing 

 swelling and soreness of the gums, and frequently 

 wounding the cheeks. They would be gradually quite 

 absorbed, but the process might be slow and the an- 

 noyance great; therefore they are extracted." 



Prof. Youatt's theory is unique, but it fails to give 

 a satisfactory explanation of the " so-called wolf-teeth." 

 That a tooth should be pushed out of its place is sim- 

 ple enough ; but why would the first upper temporary 

 grinder remain in the gum and take root and the first 

 lower not ? That " they would be gradually quite ab- 

 sorbed," is disproved by the fact that they sometimes 

 persist till old age; and this fact also disproves the 

 assertion that "they are extracted." Some surgeons 



