SECTION OF THE TONGUE. 333 



The fistula had been in existence for about eight months. The 

 owner stated that it had followed a rat bite. It opened on the right 

 side of the lower lip, and was masked by the surrounding hair ; the 

 track was narrow, its opening level with the skin, and its margins not 

 indurated. A fine stilette introduced into the wound was checked by 

 contact with a necrotic fragment of bone. 



The animal having been fixed on the table, and the jaws opened 

 by means of two pieces of tape, the gum was seen to be swollen, red, 

 and retracted opposite the right canine tooth, the base of which 

 exhibited a thick deposit of tartar. The tooth was removed, and the 

 wound and fistulous tract cleansed with a 30 per cent, solution of 

 tincture of iodine. 



In ten days the cutaneous and buccal wounds had healed. 



SECTION OF THE TONGUE. 



^y. A four-year-old Arab horse, brought from Marseilles to Paris 

 in a horse-box, in which it was fastened by means of a rope passed 

 through the mouth. 



When receiving the horse the owner noticed that the loop of rope 

 was soiled with blood. On attempting to examine the mouth the 

 animal struggled violently, but the tongue was seen to exhibit a trans- 

 verse wound extending over its entire width, slightly in front of the 

 first molars. 



The patient was brought to the school three days afterwards. The 

 angles of the mouth were soiled with blood-stained saliva ; the lower 

 lip and chin showed a semicircular superficial wound, produced like 

 that of the tongue by pressure of the rope. In order to examine the 

 oral cavity a twitch had to be applied. On opening the mouth a 

 foetid odour was observed. The left side of the free portion of the 

 tongue appeared slightly swollen and red ; the right was greenish in 

 colour and gangrenous. At that time, however, the two parts were 

 still in perfect continuity throughout their entire extent, though the 

 line of demarcation could be clearly seen. It extended exactly through 

 the centre of the tongue, except in front where it curved towards the 

 right, attaining the free margin about an inch from the central line. 



This line of demarcation, though superficial in the left half of the 

 tongue, extended throughout the greater part of the thickness of the 

 right half. The inequality in depth explained the persistence of cir- 

 culation in the left half of the organ and the gangrene of the right. 



The animal was fed on liquid food, like milk, gruel, and mash, the 

 mouth being frequently washed out with cold fluids. 



On the animal's return ten days later, the gangrenous portion of 

 the tongue was seen to have become separated and lost. The entire 

 surface of the wound was granulating. 



The contraction which resulted was most marked in the direction 

 of the thickness of the tongue, the free extremity of which was only 

 drawn slightly towards the right ; there was no subsequent trouble 

 either in prehension or mastication. 



