46 RURAL VETERINARY SECRETS 



symptom — not a disease, remember — is seen, the word "Lampas" is 

 uttered and the cause of the trouble thought to be located ; the 

 swollen gums are perhaps torn with nails or burned with hot irons, 

 but there is no improvement. To the well informed the cause is 

 soon known — it is the teeth. Here the veterinarian with the 

 proper instruments is indispensable. The employment of a quack, a 

 traveling (so-called) horse dentist, or the attempt to treat the condition 

 by the owner or groom will be unsatisfactory, being cruel and worrying 

 to the horse, even to the extent of spoiling his mouth for life. Ever}^- 

 (jiie knows that the efforts of the expert human dentist are directed 

 to preserve the teeth, not to insert false ones, even more important is 

 this effort in the horse, false teeth in him not being practicable ; a 

 horse's usefulness, and therefore his life, depends as much on his teeth, 

 or more so, than on any organ of the body, and while horse buyers only 

 examine the front teeth to determine the age, the well-posted person 

 will want to know the condition of the grinders, and whether any are 

 absent or diseased. The yearly examination of the horse's mouth by 

 the veterinarian is one of the most profitable investments that can be 

 made by an owner, as feed, fiesh and the required power to do the work 

 will be saved. The period of teething, it will be remembered, extends 

 almost from birth until the horse is five years old, consequently, the 

 colt is just as liable to have tooth troubles as is an old horse. The milk 

 (Temporary) molars or crowns, as they are termed, are often retained 

 instead of being shed at the proper time, especially during the age of 

 two to four years. The symptoms already mentioned are present and 

 the lining of the mouth may show a sore surface, the gums even 

 bleeding, as oftentimes a crown becomes partially loose, and its 



sharp and jagged edge will be pressed upon the gums during at- 

 tempts to feed ; the treatment is removal of those crowns, the 

 smoothing of any sharp edges, soft feed, and in a few weeks the 

 improvement is almost beyond belief. 



WOLF TEETH arc evidences of evolution in the horse. Show- 

 ing his relation to the tapir and other animals, the reasons advanced 

 for their removal, namely, danger to the eyes, is not tenable, as the 

 eyes are never directly affected by them. They are usually re- 

 moved as a matter of policy, by the veterinarian; they might, if 

 very large, interfere with the bit; as the wolf tooth has a fang; it 

 should be pulled, not knocked out, if its removal is decided upon. 

 The commonest .trouble that the veterinarian is called upon to treat 

 in horse dentistry is the presence of projections of the grinders, and 

 such projections causing sore mouths, slavering, the passage of mi- 

 digested food in the feces, unthriftiness, (sometimes very marked) 



