274 AMERICAN FARMER'S HORSE BOOK. 



LAMPAS. 



This is an ailment principally incident to young horees, 

 and was an object of great alarm to the farriers of former 

 times. It is simply an inflammation of the muscles in the 

 front part of the roof of the mouth. These have the form 

 of a succession of little ridges — or bars, as they are called — 

 running across the surface of that part, and constitute an 

 extension of the palate. Their appearance, so familiar to 

 every practical horseman, is tolerably well represented in the 

 cut which we have introduced in the beginning of this chap- 

 ter. The bars serve the purpose of assisting the tongue in 

 moving the particles of food backward to the jaw teeth, there 

 to be properly masticated. 



That portion of the muscle next to the front teeth some- 

 times swells, until it extends downward not only to the level 

 of the teeth, but, it may be, even beyond them. It becomes 

 very sore, and greatly annoys the horse in eating, especially 

 if his food consists of such hard substances as corn, oats, 

 and timothy hay. He shows the pain which their pressure 

 occasions by often dropping the food from his mouth. 



Such inflammation is apt to arise from the soreness that 

 accompanies teething, and which is communicated to the 

 bars in the adjoining parts of the mouth. This is the reason 

 why the young horses are more subject to it than the older 

 ones. But changes of some kind are continually going on 

 in the mouth ; the teeth, after the operations of teething and 

 shedding are done with, begin to wear away, and, after a 

 time, they commence to fall out, and the gums sink down 

 around them. As a general thing, the horse is free from 

 lampas between the ages of five and eight years ; but, at the 

 latter period, the wearing oft* of the teeth becomes more 

 marked and rapid, the gums have noticeably shrunk, and this 

 disease is apt to appear again. 



We think there is a' tendency on the part of most late 

 writers on veterinary practice to underrate the injurious 

 effects produced by lampas. A marked derangement of the 



