DISEASES OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 261 



tite, and general derangement will frequently be traced by 

 the careful observer to irritation from teething. 



" It is a rule, scarcely admitting of the slightest deviation, 

 that, when young horses are laboring under any febrile af- 

 fection, the mouth should be examined, and if the tushes are 

 prominent and pushing against the gums, a crucial incision 

 [that is, one in the form of a cross] should be made across 

 them. *In this way,' says Mr. Percivall, *I have seen ca- 

 tarrhal and bronchial inflammations abated, coughs relieved, 

 lymphatic and other glandular tumors about the head reduced, 

 cutaneous eruptions got rid of, deranged bowels restored to 

 order, appetite returned, and lost condition repaired.' " 



Possibly the effect which this extract is calculated to pro- 

 duce is hardly distinguishable from that of an over-statement, 

 and yet few experienced veterinary practitioners' would un- 

 dertake to dispute the general correctness of these views. 



The colt cuts his first front teeth when very young, which 

 operation is called teething. After this, at difierent stages of 

 his growth, these are displaced by a new set, larger and better 

 adapted to the needs of the mature horse. For the sake of 

 convenience, this process is distinguished by the name of 

 shedding. 



The horse has, or should have, when fully grown, forty 

 teeth — in each jaw, six nippers, two tushes, and twelve 

 grinders. In the mare, the tushes are either not developed 

 at all, or else do not make their appearance before old age, 

 although bony protuberances, corresponding to them, are hid- 

 den below the gums. The tush is a long, sharp tooth, occupy- 

 ing a position on each side of the jaw, between the nippers 

 and grinders, but somewhat nearer the former than to the 

 back teeth. What a great many farmers call blind teeth, andx 

 ignorantly imagine to be the cause, of almost numberless 

 ills, come on the lower jaw between the bridle-teeth and 

 grinders. 



The changes which the teeth undergo before attaining 

 their full development, with the derangements which attend 

 these changes, will first claim our attention. 



