362 THE PKACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE. 



would be the height of cruelty to keep the animal in its 

 misery, hence it should be destroyed. 



LAMPAS. 



Lampas consists of a congested state of the gums behind 

 the incisors, the irritation extending in some cases back 

 to the palate : it is of most frequent occurrence in animals 

 between the ages of three and five years. In a genuine 

 case of lampas, the gums and often the palate become 

 inflamed and swollen, an infiltration of serum takes 

 place into the sub-mucous tissue, and the gums extend 

 downward until on a level with the table surfaces of the 

 teeth, and in many cases descend below the level of the 

 table surface of the upper row of incisors, and interfere to 

 a considerable extent with the taking of food into the 

 mouth — particularly food of a hard character, as corn on 

 the cob ; the process of mastication is also more or less 

 interfered with. On examination of the mouth, the gums 

 and palate are seen to be unnaturally reddened and swollen, 

 the animal evinces pain when the parts are pressed upon, 

 and shows a decided objection to having the parts 

 examined ; in many cases horses are met with having 

 naturally very prominent gums, etc., but such do not con- 

 stitute the condition known as lampas, as, on examination, 

 it will be seen that there are no signs of inflammation or 

 pain, — the gums present no unnaturally reddened appear- 

 ance, and the condition evidently is a natural one. 



Treatment. — The parts swollen may be slightly scarified, 

 using an ordinary lancet for the purpose. To obviate danger 

 of wounding the palatine artery, all of the incisions should be 

 made anterior to the third bar. The incisions may be many 

 or few, according to the judgment of the surgeon ; but in all 

 cases they should be very slight. A very common practice 



