lO Veterinary Medicine. 



to cause stomatitis. Red and white clover, trefoil, hybrid and 

 purple clover, and alfalfa have all acted more or less in this waj', 

 though in many cases, the food has become musty or attacked by 

 bacterial ferments. Some of the strongly aromatic plants, and 

 those containing acrid principles (cicuta virosa, oenanthe crocata , 

 mustard, etc. ) cause buccal inflammation and salivation. 



The irritation in many such cases is not due to one agent only, 

 the vegetable or other irritant may be the starting point, acting 

 but as a temporary irritant, the action of which is supplemented 

 and aggravated by the subsequent attacks of bacterial ferments on 

 the inflamed, weakened or abraded tissues. The bacteria present 

 in the mouth, food or water would have had no effect whatever 

 upon the healthy mucosa, while they make serious inroads on the 

 diseased. On the other hand the vegetable, mechanical or 

 chemical irritant would have had but a transient effect, but for 

 the supplementary action of the bacteria. 



In horses that have the bad habit of retaining masses of half 

 masticated food in the cheeks the growth of cryptogams is greatly 

 enhanced and such food often becomes violently irritating. 



Among other mechanical causes may be named pointed or 

 barbed hairs or spines (barley awns, spikes, thorns, etc. ) which, 

 lodging in a gland orifice, or in a wound of the gum or mucosa, 

 form a source of irritation or a centre for bacterial growth and 

 abscess. 



Again, irritants of animal origin nuist be named. These are 

 not taken by choice, but when lodged in fodder, or in the pastures 

 thcN' are taken in inadvertently with the food. In this way 

 poisonous insects, and especially hairy caterpillars, cantharides, 

 potato bugs, etc., gain access to the mouth. 



It must not be overlooked that stomatitis occurs as an exten- 

 sion, sympathetic affection or sequel of diseases of other organs. 

 Gastritis is usually attended by redness and congestive tenderness 

 of the tongue, especially of the tip and margins, and other parts 

 of the buccal mucosa, notably the palate ju.st back of the 

 incisors, are often involved. In other ca.ses it appears as a com- 

 plication of pharyngitis, laryngitis, of affections of the lower air 

 passages, of the teeth and periodontal membrane or of the 

 salivary glands. 



It appears also in a specific form in certain fevers, as in horse- 



