IRREGULARITIES AND DISEASES OF THE TEETH 325 



swelling excited in the injured tissues at the time of the accident. The 

 contused part is hot and painful to pressure, and if the structures have 

 been seriously damaged further enlargement may take place in the course 

 of the formation of an abscess. The writer has known several quarts 

 of matter to form around the hernial sac in the region of the Hank. 

 It is not until this extraneous swelling has been removed that the precise 

 extent of the rupture may be determined. In an old hernia, when the 

 inflammatory tumefaction has passed away, the hole in the belly may 

 generally be felt by deep pressure along its circumference. When com- 

 posed of intestine it will be found to fluctuate to pressure, and to vary 

 in size from time to time according as the escaped bowel may contain much 

 or little food. 



Treatment.— Small ventral hernia, like umbilical hernia, may dis- 

 appear spontaneously, or undergo more or less reduction in size. 



When dealt with at the time of its occurrence, the first indication of 

 treatment is to reduce the inflammatory action and swelling by hot fomen- 

 tations and physic, and prevent further escape of abdominal contents by 

 the application of a compress, which may be extemporized out of a thick 

 pledget of tow, and a long broad bandage made out of an old rug. As the 

 inflammatory swelling subsides, the compress should be drawn tighter round 

 the body. At this time, and throughout the treatment, the patient should 

 be kept on half-rations, which should consist of sloppy bran. Large 

 quantities of bulky food will tend to force the bowels through the opening 

 and prevent its closure. If the rupture is situated backward, the hind- 

 quarters of the animal must be raised by underpacking with litter to 

 displace the weight of the abdominal contents forward. So soon as the 

 inflammation has dispersed, a blister should be applied over and round 

 the enlargement, and repeated again and again. The compress must be 

 allowed to remain on while the blister is acting, and until it is repeated. 



Old hernia must be reduced by either clams or ligature, as in the case 

 of umbilical hernia, and under the same precautionary measures. Where 

 they do not interfere with the animal's services they should not be inter- 

 fered with. 



IRREGULARITIES AND DISEASES OF THE TEETH 



Since the advent of so-called horse-dentists, and the prominence given 

 to the subject in connection with the illness of the Duke of Westminster's 

 " Orme ", the horse-owning public has been awakened to the importance 

 of the teeth as affecting health, and more particularly digestion, in horses. 

 While not endorsing all the extravagant pretensions of the dentists, we 



VOL. I. 22 



