DISEASES OF THE TONGUE. 231 



disease of the eyes, cutaneous affections, dian-hoea, dysentery, loss of 

 appetite, and general derangement, will frequently be ti'aced, by the cai'eful 

 observer, to irritation from teething. 



It is a rule scarcely admittiaig of the slightest deviation, that, when young 

 horses are labouring under any febrile affection, the mouth should be 

 examined, and if the tushes are prominent and pushing against the gums, 

 a crucial incision should be 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; some 

 of these muscles originate from the os hyoides or bone of the tongTie, which 

 constitutes its base, and is connected with the temporal bone, the larynx, 

 and the pharynx ; 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 froenum, or 

 bridle. On the back of the tongue, this membrane is thickened and rough- 

 ened, and is covered with numerous conical loajpillce, or Httle eminences, 

 on which the fibres of the gustatory branch of the fifth pair, and the 

 Glossa Pharyngeal nerves expand, communicating the sense of taste. The 

 various motions of the tongue are accomphshed 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 

 Ln 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 myn-h, 

 or alum dissolved in water, or even nature unassisted, will speedily heal 

 the wound. The horse vvdll sometimes bite his tongue, most frequently in 

 his sleep. K the injury is trifling, it requires little care ; but, in some 

 instances, a portion of the tongue has been deeply lacerated or bitten off. 

 The assistance of a veterinary practitioner is here required. 



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

 Dickens of Kimbolton relates a case, in the sixth volume of the ' Veterina- 

 rian,' in which he found a portion of the tongue of a mare, extending as 

 far as the frsenum beneath, lying in the manger in a strangely lacerated 

 condition, and fast approaching to decomposition. He had her cast, and, 

 excising all the unhealthy portions, he dressed the wound mth 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 difficulty, and 

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

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



A cui'ious case is recorded in the Memoirs of the Society of Calvados. 

 A horse was difficult 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 



