DISEASES OF THE JAWS. 71 



or ox must not be allowed a particle of solid food until the 

 opening is closed, which, in successful cases, will be obtained 

 in about a week or ten days. All means to close the wound 

 early, such as caustics and the hot iron, fail 



Death in these cases may result from three causes. The 

 most common is probably anchylosis, or bony deposition 

 around the joint; the second in frequency is purulent infec- 

 tion, or poisoning of the blood by pus or matter; and the 

 third is tetanus or lock-jaw. 



DISEASES OF THE JAWS. The horse is not very subject to 

 the peculiar degenerations of bones which implicate the face 

 and lower jaw of cattle. I have only seen one instance o 

 apparently, scrofulous disease of the lower jaw in the horse. 

 The subjoined cut indicates the amount of destruction which 

 occurred by suppuration, the manner in which all the teeth 

 became loose, and were only supported by the membrane of 

 the gums, the teeth themselves escaping free from disease. 

 (Fig. 34.) Such a condition is clearly incurable, and for- 



Fig. 34. 



