36 DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE APPARATUS 



mouth. The purulent uk-crations are to be painted with tincture of iodine 

 or touch the ulcers with any of the albuminous preparations of silver, 

 which are better than the stick of nitrate of silver. As soon as the 

 ulcerated surface begins to granulate, milder astringent mouth washes 

 may be used, such as tincture of myrrh, or permanganate of potassium. 

 Syringe the mouth with a solution of tannin and glycerine, 1 to 20. 

 The general symptoms of septicaemia will be found under the head of 

 that disease. 



Foreign Bodies in the Tongue. 



Foreign bodies, such as pins, needles, fish hooks, etc., frequently find 

 their way into the tongue. It is always well to examine the mouth care- 

 fully, when an animal appears to have ptyalism, where it is con- 

 stantly moving the jaw as if it were chewing, swallowing or making 

 efforts like vomiting or does actually vomit, or where the animal rubs the 

 mouth with the paws, as if to drag something out of the mouth. We may 

 find foreign bodies, sticks, needles, splinters of wood in or under the 

 tongue. It is sometimes very difficult to find a foreign body, particu- 

 larly when the tongue is greatly swollen and the animal keeps it con- 

 stantly moving, and at the same time the mouth filled with thick saliva; 

 too great care cannot be used to detect a foreign body. Go all over 

 the body of the tongue with the finger. The writer has found needles, 

 some of them threaded, at the base and on the ventral side of the tongue. 

 In some cases the needles were completely reversed, the point being 

 toward the tip of the tongue. To remove the foreign body, imbedded 

 in the tongue, the free portion of the tongue should be pulled out as far 

 as possible by means of a pair of forceps. In some cases such as fish 

 hooks, the foreign body should be pulled out in the direction it enters 

 the tongue, so that the barb will not further lacerate the tissues; in cases 

 Avhere the fish hook is ringed in the shank, it must be cut by means of a 

 wire cutter. No treatment is required after the foreign body is success- 

 fully removed. 



Gangrene of the Tongue. 



This may occur from Ixnndaging the tongue or rubber bands put on 

 the tongue, maliciously or otherwise, or if some of the larger blood 

 vessels of the tongue are cut transversely. The tongue is greatly swollen 

 and the gangrenous portion is separated from the healthy part by a 

 sharply defined line of demarcation. The gangrenous portion is dark 

 bluish-red or bluish-black and covered with more or less pieces of necrosed 

 tissue mixed with thick mucus and saliva. This is cold and non- 



