312 LOSS OP APPETITE. 



A horse, for instance, may be picking the green leaves from a 

 thorn hedge, and a thorn accidentally becomes embedded in the 

 mucous membrane of the cheek, or into the substance of the 

 tongue ; or the animal may be eating corn, and a short nail, 

 dropped by accident into the mass, finds its way into the mouth 

 and becomes forced into the jaw between the gum and the teeth, 

 or into the palate, and inflammation speedily follows, the pain 

 from which is perhaps so excessive as to render the horse unable 

 to masticate ; or a wound may exist upon the tongue ; or a bad 

 tooth be present ; or the teeth are irregularly grown, and have 

 lacerated the mouth so as to render the horse afraid to eat ; or 

 it may arise from the animal being overworked, and the system 

 so exhausted that time and rest can alone restore the appetite. 

 In every case then where Loss of Appetite is a prominent 

 matter, and where it may have existed for some time, or where 

 the appetite does not return within a reasonable time, the mouth 

 should be examined, and its contents carefully inspected in every 

 part. To explore the mouth, in fact, is just as necessary in 

 cases of this kind as it is to remove the shoe and examine the 

 foot of a lame horse, ere a positive opinion as to the nature and 

 cause of the lameness can be accurately determined upon. 



I am sometimes consulted respecting Loss of Appetite 

 in young animals. Two or more colts of different ages may be 

 running together at pasture, and grass not being abundant, the 

 owner allows them hay and corn daily ; but he is surprised to 

 see one or more of the youngest lose flesh, while the others 

 thrive vigorously. Now, in perhaps nineteen cases out of 

 twenty of this kind, the cause if investigated, will prove obvious. 

 The larger and stronger animals, in all probability, drive the 

 lesser and weaker ones away from the hay and corn. Place 

 such animals, at the time of feeding, in different boxes or feed- 

 ing compartments, and the unthriftiness of the weaker vrill 

 soon disappear. 



