58 DISEASES OF THE HOESE. 



DISEASES OF THE TEETH. 



Dentition. — This covers the period during which the young horse 

 is cutting his teeth — from birth to the age of 5 years. With the 

 horse more difficulty is experienced in cutting the second or per- 

 manent teeth than with the first or milk teeth. There is a tendency 

 among farmers and many veterinarians to pay too little attention to 

 the teeth of young horses. Percivall relates an instance illustrative 

 of this that is best told in his own words : 



I was requested to give my opinion concerning a horse, then, in his fifth year, 

 who had fed so sparingly for tlie hast fortniglit, and so rapidly declined in con- 

 dition in consequence, that his owner, a veterinary surgeon, was under no light 

 apprehensions about his life. He had himself examined his mouth without 

 having discovered any defect or disease, though another veterinary surgeon 

 was of opinion that the difficulty or inability manifested in mastication, and 

 the consequent cudding, arose from preternatural bluntness of the surfaces of 

 the molar teeth, which were, in consequence, filed, but without beneficial result. 

 It was after this that I saw the horse, and I confess I was, at my first examina- 

 tion, quite as much at a loss to offer any satisfactory interpretation as others 

 had been. While meditating, however, after my inspection, on the apparently 

 extraordinary nature of the case, it struck me that I had not seen the tusks. I 

 went back into the stable and discovered two little tumors, red and hard, in the 

 situation of the inferior tusks, which, when pressed, gave the animal insuffer- 

 able pain. I instantly took out my pocketknife and made crucial incisions 

 through them both, down to the coming teeth, from which moment the horse 

 recovered his appetite and, by degrees, his wonted condition. 



The mouths of young horses should be examined from time to time 

 to see whether one or more of the milk teeth are not remaining too 

 long, causing the second teeth to grow in crooked, in which case the 

 first teeth should be removed with the forceps. 



Irregularities of teeth. — There is a fashion of late years, espe- 

 cially in large cities, to have horses' teeth regularly " floated," or 

 " rasped," by " veterinary dentists." In some instances this is very 

 beneficial, while in most cases it is entirely unnecessary. From the 

 character of the feed, the rubbing, or grinding, surface of the horse's 

 teeth should be rough. Still, we must remember that the upper jaw 

 is somewhat wider than the lower, and that, from the fact of the teeth 

 not being perfectly apposed, a sharp ridge is left unworn on the 

 inside of the lower molars and on the outside of the upper, which may 

 excoriate the tongue or cheeks to a considerable extent. This condi- 

 tion may readily be felt by the hand, and these sharp ridges when 

 found should be rasped down by a guarded rasp. In some instances 

 the first or last molar tooth is unnaturally long, owing to the fact 

 that its fellow in the opposite jaw has been lost or does not close per- 

 fectly against it. Should it be the last molar that is thus elongated, 



