156 VETERINARY HOMCEOPATHY. 



ger washed out, as moistened food rapidh' turns sour, taints the- 

 manger, and the animal continues to refuse its food, in consequence 

 of the objectionable taste and smell imparted to it by the decom- 

 position of previous unfinished meals. The chief sjaiiptoms that 

 direct attention to this state of the buccal membrane are, frothing 

 and slavering, refusal to take dry food, and extreme tenderness of 

 the mouth on attempting to examine, as evinced by a determined 

 opposition to being handled. At these times the balling iron 

 must never be used, as the interdental spaces between incisors and 

 molars are swollen and highly sensitive to touch; gentle handling 

 and coaxing wnll generalh^ suffice far better than rougher proceed- 

 ings when it is necessary to examine the mouth that is in this 

 condition. 



GLOSSITIS— INFLAMMATION OF TONGUE. 



Under this heading it will be necessary to include several condi- 

 tions affecting the organ; in the first place we have idiopathic 

 glossitis, which is an inflamed state of the structures of the organ 

 that arises as the result of bad health and for which no external 

 cause is responsible; this is not a common complaint with the 

 horse; there is, however, an inflamed state of the horse's tongue 

 that is by no means uncommon, we regret to say, because it owes 

 its origin to injury effected either by carelessness or actual brutality 

 on the part of an attendant; the organ may be abraded, torn or 

 cut by being carelessly included in the halter when this is used in- 

 stead of a proper bit, to lead a horse; again, the tongue may be 

 accidentally bitten by the animal itself; or it may be wilfully and 

 maliciously injured by caustic agents, such as Ammonia and Tur- 

 pentine. 



It is of course necessary to determine what is the cause of the 

 inflammation before attempting to treat it; this is not so difficult 

 as at first sight it may seem: in primary glossitis, or that from 

 which develops of itself and is the evidence of bad health, the 

 organ is swollen, painful, but when protruded out of the mouth 

 the exposed parts are dry and brown; the animal is unable to 

 swallow, and a good deal of sticky mucus adheres to the 

 side of the cheek and about the teeth. When the tongue is 

 inflamed by means of irritating caustic agents or by hot water, the 

 organ is very much swollen and hangs out of the mouth; but the 



