152 ANATOMY AND DISEASES OF THE NOSE AND MOUTH. 



made across them. " In this way," says Mr. Percivall, " I have seen catarrhal and 

 bronchial inflammations abated, coughs relieved, lymphatic and other glandular 

 tumours about the head reduced, cutaneous eruptions got rid of, deranged bowels 

 restored to order, appetite returned, and lost condition repaired."* 



THE TONGUE. 



The tongue is the organ of taste. It is also employed in disposing the food for 

 being ground between the teeth, and afterwards collecting it together, and conveying 

 it to the back part of the mouth, in order to be swallowed. It is likewise the main 

 instrument in deglutition, and the canal through which the water passes in the act of 

 drinking. The root of it is firmly fixed at the bottom of the mouth by a variety of 

 muscles ; the fore part is loose in the mouth. It is covered by a continuation of the 

 membrane that lines the mouth, and which, doubling beneath, and confining the 

 motions of the tongue, is called its frsnurn, or bridle. On the back of the tongue, 

 this membrane is thickened and roughened, and is covered w ith numerous conical 

 papilae, or little eminences, on which the fibres of a branch of the fifth pair of nerves 

 expand, communicating the sense of taste. The various motions of the tongue are 

 accomplished by means of the ninth pair of nerves. The substance of the tongue is 

 composed of muscular fibres, with much fatty matter interposed between them, and 

 which gives to this organ its peculiar softness. 



DISEASES OF THE TONGUE. 



The tongue is sometimes exposed to injury from carelessness or violence in the act 

 of drenching or administering a ball, it being pressed against and cut by the edges 

 of the grinders. A little diluted tincture of myrrh, or alum dissolved in water, or 

 even nature unassisted, will speedily heal the wound. The horse will sometimes bite 

 his tongue, most frequently in his sleep. If the injury is trifling, it requires little 

 care ; but, in some instances, a portion of the tongue has been deeply lacerated or 

 bitten olf. The assistance of a veterinary practitioner is here required. 



There are some interesting accounts of the results of this lesion. Mr. Dickens of 

 Kimbolton found a portion of the tongue of a mare, extending as far as the frzenulum 

 beneath, lying in the manger in a strangely lacerated condition, and fast approaching 

 to decomposition. He Irad her cast, and, excising all the unhealthy portions, he 

 dressed the wound with chloride of soda and tincture of myrrh. In less than a week 

 the laceration was nearly healed, and, soon afterwards, she could eat with very little 

 diflUculty, and keep herself in good condition. The injury was proved to have been 

 inflicted by a brutal horsebreaker, in revenge of some slight affront.j 



A curious case is recorded in the Memoirs of the Society of Calvadc s. A horse 

 was diflScult to groom. The soldier who had the care of him, in order the better to 

 manage him, fixed in his mouth and on his tongue a strong chain of iron, deeply 

 serrated, while another man gave to this chain a terrible jerk whenever the horse was 

 disposed to be rebellious. The animal, under such torture, became unmanageable, 

 and the man who held the chain sawing away with all his strength, the tongue was 

 completely cut off at the |)oint which separates its base from the free portion of it. 

 The wound healed favourably, and he was soon able to manage a mash. After that 

 some hay was given to him in small quantities. He took it and forn.ed it into a kind 

 of pellet with his lips, and then, pressing it against the bottom of his manger, he 

 gradually forced it sufficiently back into the mouth to be enabled to seize it with his 

 grinders. 



Another horse came to an untimely end in a singfular way. He had scarcely eaten 

 anything for three weeks. He seemed to be unable to swallow. The channel 

 beneath the lower jaw had much enlargement about it. Tbere was not any known 

 cause for this, nor any account cf violence done to the tongue. At length a tumour 

 appeared under the jaw. Mr. Young of Muirhead punctured it, and a consideinble 

 quantity of purulent matter escaped. The horse could drink his gruel after this, but 

 not take any solid food. A week afterwards he was found dead. Upon separating 

 the head t>om the trunk, and cutting transversely upon t!ie tongue, nearly opposite to 



*Percivairs Hippopathology, vol. ii., p. 173. t Veterinarian, vol. vi., p. 22. 



