82 THE VETERINARY SCIENCE. 



Treatment. — Examine the mouth as to the state of the teeth, if 

 they are found sharp, float or file them so as to stop them from cutting; 

 the tongue. if the cause is a soreness on the tongue dress it 

 with alum water — two teaspoonfuls of alum to one pint of water. 

 This will generally effect a cure if the case is taken in time. 

 There are certain kinds of bits recommended for this habit, but as 

 a general thing they prove a failure, 



CRIB SUCKERS. 



This is where a horse takes hold of the manger or anything 

 around him and sucks wind. 



Causes. — Sometimes a colt will learn this habit from seeing 

 its mother or other horses doing it. It is also caused by soreness 

 of the front teeth at first, and he commences biting at the manger 

 to relieve him, when afterwards it becomes a regular habit. 



Symptoms. — in examining the front teeth you will find them 

 worn off from biting, and the horse, if you watch him, is continu- 

 ally hanging on to the manger. In some cases he will suck him- 

 self full of wind, and sometimes will take severe colic from 

 sucking so much, while in other cases he will simply hang on 

 to the manger with his teeth. 



Treatment. — When first noticed it is best to put the animal in 

 a box stall and feed him his hay ofi^ the floor, and his gram in a 

 pail, which should be removed as soon as the animal is through 

 eating so he has nothing to take hold of with his teeth. Examine 

 the teeth and see if there is anything wrong with them, if they are 

 sharp, causing soreness, file them down, or if it is a milk tooth 

 not properly shed, it is well to remove it. If it is in the spring, 

 and the grass good, he will sometimes get over it by turning him 

 out to pasture. If the animal is old and has been a cribber for 

 some time the best thing to do is to get a muzzle for him, and 

 only leave it off while he is eating. 



FOREIGN SUBSTANCES IN THE MOUTH. 



Sometimes we find a piece of stick caught across the roof of 

 the mouth, which will be noticed by the animal not feeding and 

 he will be continually working the tongue around in his mouth, 

 and if this obstruction be not removed the animal will fall off in 

 flesh. In this case examine the mouth well and remove any sub- 

 stance found caught in the mouth with the fingers or with a pincers. 



Barley or Wheat Beards. — When horses are fed on barley or 

 wheat straw, or chaff that has beards in it the mouth should be 



