SKILL VERSUS BRUTALITY. 199 



horse still suffering and discharging matter from the 

 nostril, Mr. House was requested by Mr. Allen to ex- 

 amine and if possible cure him. He failed, however, 

 to discover the cause of the discharge, and it was not 

 till the expiration of another year that he determined 

 to probe the case to the bottom, the horse in the mean- 

 time having suffered as usual. Making an instrument 

 of the proper size and shape, he introduced it into the 

 nostril, seized the tooth fragment and drew it forth, 

 the horse at that instant making a deep expiration, 

 which blew out several fragments of bone and a part 

 of the root of the tooth. The animal made a good 

 recovery.* 



* The Worcester, Mass., Spy for July 13, 1877, says : "C. D. 

 House, veterinary dentist, was in the city yesterday, operating 

 on the horses of the Hambletonian Breeding Stud. A case was 

 found where the grinders had been worn rough, and were be- 

 sides slightly displaced, so that the horse in eating lacerated the 

 lining of the cheek. Another case was where a colt's temporary 

 tooth, after being partially forced from its place by the perma- 

 nent, had remained fastened by one root, and in such a position 

 as to injure the gum while the animal was feeding ; and yet so 

 nicely had the decaying tooth been lodged, that its presence was 

 only detected by the offensive odor. Several cases of inflamma- 

 tion of the gums were found, which were accounted for by the 

 presence of tartar. The tartar was removed. 



" Mr. House's mode of operating is unique. He uses no gag, 

 and the animal stands free. He passes his hands over the teeth 

 of the most vicious horses, and was never yet bitten. He has 



NOTE. In a paragraph of the above note that appeared in the first edi- 

 tion of this work, Dr. House, who now holds a diploma, advertised the 

 importance of dentistry by depreciating the importance of that great 

 scourge glanders, which Surgeon Fleming describes (1882) as a most repul- 

 sive, highly contagious, and incurable malady, very communicable between 

 the horse and ass species, less so between these and other species, man 

 also being frequently infected. Dr. Fleming says the disease was ver7 

 prevalent in London in the winter of 1883. 



