204 THE ANATOMY AND DISEASES OF THE NOSE AND MOUTH. 



the sense of taste. The various motions of the tongue are accomplished by 

 means of the ninth pair of nerves. The substance of the tongue is composed of 

 muscular fibres, with much fatty matter interposed between them, and which 

 gives to this organ its peculiar softness. 



DISEASES OF THE TONGUE. 



The tongue is sometimes exposed to injury from carelessness or violence in 

 the act of drenching or administering a ball, it being pressed against and cut 

 by the edges of the grinders. A little diluted tincture of myrrh, or alum dis- 

 solved in water, or even nature unassisted, will speedily heal the wound. The 

 horse will sometimes bite his tongue, most frequently in his sleep. If the in- 

 jury is trifling, it requires little care ; but, in some instances, a portion of the 

 tongue has been deeply lacerated or bitten off. The assistance of a veterinary 

 practitioner is here required. 



There are some interesting accounts of the results of this lesion. Mr. Dickens 

 of Kimbolton found a portion of the tongue of a mare, extending as far as 

 the fraenulum beneath, lying in the manger in a strangely lacerated condition, 

 and fast approaching to decomposition. He had her cast, and, excising all the 

 unhealthy portions, he dressed the wound with chloride of soda and tincture of 

 myrrh. In less than a week the laceration was nearly healed, and, soon after- 

 wards, she could eat with very little difficulty, and keep herself in good condition. 

 The injury was proved to have been inflicted by a brutal horsebreaker, in revenge 

 for some slight affront *. 



A curious case is recorded in the Memoirs of the Society of Calvados. A 

 horse was difficult to groom. The soldier who had the care of him. in order 

 the better to manage him, fixed in his mouth and on his tongue a strong chain 

 of iron, deeply serrated, while another man gave to this chain a terrible jerk 

 whenever the horse was disposed to be rebellious. The animal, under such 

 torture, became unmanageable, and the man who held the chain sawing away 

 with all his strength, the tongue was completely cut off at the point which 

 separates its base from the free portion of it. The w r ound healed favour- 

 ably, and he was soon able to manage a mash. After that some hay was 

 given to him in small quantities. He took it and formed it into a kind of 

 pellet with his lips, and then, pressing it against the bottom of his manger, he 

 gradually forced it sufficiently back into the mouth to be enabled to seize it 

 with his grinders. 



Another horse came to an untimely end in a singular way. He had scarcely 

 eaten anything for three weeks. He seemed to be unable to swallow. The 

 channel beneath the lower jaw had much enlargement about it. There was 

 not any known cause for this, nor any account of violence done to the tongue. 

 At length a tumour appeared under the jaw. Mr. Young of Muirhead punc- 

 tured it, and a considerable quantity of purulent matter escaped. The horse 

 could drink his gruel after this, but not take any solid food. A week afterwards 

 he was found dead. Upon separating the head from the trunk, and cutting 

 transversely upon the tongue, nearly opposite to the second grinder, a needle 

 was found lying longitudinally, and which had penetrated from the side to the 

 inferior portion of the tongue. It was an inch and a quarter in length, and the 

 neighbouring substance was in a state of gangrene. 



Vesicles will sometimes appear along the under side of the tongue, which 

 will increase to a considerable size. The tongue itself will be much enlarged, 

 the animal will be unable to swallow, and a great quantity of ropy saliva will 



* Veterinarian, vol. vi., p. 22. 



