42 DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE APPARATUS 



a curette so as to prevent, if possible, the recurrence of the growth; 

 but frequently they return in spite of every precaution. 



Warts in the Mouth. — In young dogs, generally under twelve 

 months, we frequently find on the lips, buccal membrane, and under 

 the tongue numbers of papilloma; these sometimes occur in enormous 

 numbers. These are small whitish-gray, pink or pinkish-black, wart- 

 like proliferations (see Fig. 22). These growths are generally of little 

 importance. They may appear in a few days and cover the surface of the 

 mouth and disappear as rapidly as they appear. No. treatment is re- 

 garded unless they are in such masses as to interfere with mastication. 

 If so, remove the largest with a curved pair of scissors and dress the 

 mouth with some astringent wash, and administer, liq. potassii arse- 

 natis (Fowler's solution) internally in the food. 



Ranula. — Besides these tumors of the membranes of the mouth we 

 find a growth called ranula. It generally occurs under or on the side 

 of the ventral surface of the tongue and rarely painful to the touch, thin 

 walled, and more or less cylindrical. Often an animal will become very 

 slow in eating, and if the mouth is examined, we find on one side of the 

 tongue and under it a large-sized body, varying from the size of the little 

 finger to a chicken's egg, a fluctuating swelling, reddish-blue in color 

 and when opened with a knife it is found to be filled with a thick creamy 

 glue-like liquid (see Plate, page 42) . Many theories have been advanced 

 as to the cause of this disease; some consider it to be the formation of an 

 ordinary cyst and others contend it is due to the plugging of the ducts 

 of one or more of the salivary glands at the base of the tongue. In some 

 cases the cause of the trouble is due to the obstruction of the duct of 

 Wharton, which has its entrance into the mouth at the base of the lin- 

 gual ligament, and in other cases it is a cystoid degeneration of a few 

 glands at the base of the tongue, probably due to a plugging of the open- 

 ing of their ducts and a consequent inflammation of the glands themselves. 

 It therefore seems best to call all the cystoid formations under the tongue 

 ranula. 



It is always advisable to operate on these cysts; cut down on the 

 cysts with a lancet and make a good-sized opening, and by mean-s of a pair 

 of curved scissors remove a portion of the upper part of the wall and 

 cauterize the inner w\alls of the cysts with the thermo-cautery or stick of 

 caustic silver. If Wharton's duct is involved, be guarded in the cauteriza- 

 tion, confining it only to the anterior part of the cyst toward the point 

 of the tongue. The injection of pilocarpine, which has been used with 

 success in man according to Soffintini's method, has been tried in ani- 

 mals by Hoffmann. It consists in creating a great amount of the salivary 

 secretion, and the force of the collected fluid from the inside breaks the 

 obstruction of the duct. 



