AFFECTIONS OF THE BUCCAL MEMBRANE. 495 



of the young horse, the latter to the swollen papilla of the 

 tongue and cheeks. The lampas is supposed to interfere with 

 the masticatory powers of the animal, and the veterinary surgeon 

 is frequently requested to burn or otherwise remove it, and if 

 he declines, some barbarous fellow very soon undertakes the 

 task. If the veterinarian can convince the owner or driver of 

 the horse that an operation is unnecessary, that the bars of the 

 young horse are always prominent, that they are reddened 

 during the process of dentition, and that those of the old may 

 be swollen from some internal ailment, as indigestion, which a 

 little medicine will remove, well and good ; but if it be an 

 impossibility by force of argument to impress this conviction 

 upon the client, it is better for the veterinary surgeon to operate, 

 although it is against his conviction, than allow the horse to be 

 tortured by some ignorant and barbarous pretender. 



Barbs and paps are swollen papillae, or perhaps the orifices of 

 labial, sublingual, or submaxillary glands, mistaken for growths, 

 and cut off. I should scarcely have mentioned this in a book 

 of this kind, except that one continually meets with men who 

 believe in anything that is sufficiently absurd. The papillae, or 

 even the orifices of the gland ducts, may be swollen during 

 dentition, catarrhal affections, and indigestion ; but they are 

 never to be mutilated by being cut off. Eemove the source of 

 irritation, and they will soon disappear. If the mouth seem 

 painful, and if there is a dribbling of saliva, a mild astringent 

 wash of borax or alum will tend to remove the pain, and 

 be a source of comfort to the patient. If the stomach or 

 bowels are at fault, gentle aperients, antacids, and stomachics 

 will have to be administered, the quality of the food being at 

 the same time looked into. 



SrOEADIC APHTHA, OR THRUSH. 



A crop of small vesicles, or even pustules, occasionally ap- 

 pears in the mouth of horses, particularly during the process of 

 dentition, the eruption being called aphthae, or thrush. In 

 cattle, sheep, and pigs these eruptions are not at all uncommon, 

 the buccal membrane peeling off in patches, leaving the tongue, 

 gums, and mouth raw and painful, and rendering the animal 

 unable to take food without great difficulty. 



