66 rETEJUXAItr DENTAL 



The cutting of the sixth molar is often preceded 

 by a troublesome cough. This cough is loud, sonor- 

 ous, prolonged and paroxysmal, the animal coughing 

 twenty, thirty, or even forty times without stopping. 

 It is a throat cough originating in'laryngeal irritation, 

 which the animal tries to rid itself of by coughing. 

 The larynx becomes swollen and very sore in some 

 instances from the transmission of the irritation from 

 the seat of the tooth to that organ. 



Very often the horse is subject to various modes 

 of treatment calculated to relieve the cough, but 

 without benefit. This is not due in all cases to in- 

 efficiency on the part of the veterinary surgeon in 

 charge ; but rather to carelessness in the examination. 

 A case of this kind came under my notice where 

 the horse had been subjected to treatment for ten 

 weeks, previous to my seeing him. All the remedies 

 calculated to relieve a distressing cough, had in turn 

 been administered without any perceptible benefit to 

 the animal. I examined the mouth and found the 

 gums very much swollen and tumefied over the lower 

 sixth molars; when pressed upon the horse evinced 

 the most excruciating pain, and endeavored to tear 

 away. I made several bold incisions over each tooth 

 cutting down against them. The animal seemed 

 much relieved, and in a few days the cough entirely 

 disappeared. This is only one of many cases of a 

 similar nature that have fallen under my observation. 



