23 



is apt to undergo fermentation if not fed directly after it is mixed, and 

 tbe mixing-trongb even, unless frequently scalded and cleaned, becomes 

 sour and enough of its scrapings are given with the food to produce 

 flatulent (wind) colic. A small amount of salt should always be mixed 

 with such food. 



Bad hay should never be cut simply because it insures a greater con- 

 sumption of it; bad foods are dear at any price and should never be fed. 

 We have before spoken of the advantage, of boiling roots. Kot only 

 does this render them less liable to produce digestive disorders, but it 

 also makes them clean. Boiling or steaming grains is to be recom- 

 mended when the teeth are poor, or when the digestive organs are weak. 

 Of ensilage as a food for horses I have no experience, but am inclined 

 to think that (and this opinion is based upon the imperfect manner iu 

 which the crop is often stored) disordered digestion would be more fre- 

 quent were it extensively fed. 



DISEASES OF THE TEETH. 



Dentition. — This covers the period during which the young horse is 



cutting his teeth, from birth to the age of five years. With the horso 



more difiQculty is experienced in cutting the secon<l or permanent teeth 



than with the first or milk teeth. There is a tendency among farmers 



and many veterinarians to pay too little attention to the teeth of young 



horses. Percivall relates an instance illustrative of this, that is best 



told in his own words : 



I was requested to give my opinion concornin.q; a horse, then in his fifth year, -^-ho 

 had fed so sparingly for the last fortnight, and so rapidly declined in condition in 

 consequence, that his owner, a veterinary surgeon, was under no light apprehensions 

 ahout his life. He had himself examined his mouth, without having discovered any 

 defect or disease ; though another veterinary surgeon was of opinion that the diffi- 

 culty or inability manifested in mastication, and the consequent cuddiug, arose from 

 preternatural bluntness of the surfaces of the molar teeth, which were, in couse- 

 quenco filed, hut without beneficial result. It was after this that I saw the horse; 

 and I confess I was, at my first examination, quite as much at a loss to offer any sat- 

 isfactory interpretation .as others had been. While meditating, however, after my 

 inspection, on the apparently extraordinary nature of the case, it struck mo that I 

 had not seen the tnslis. I went bade into the stable and discovered two little tu- 

 mors, red and hard, in the situation of the inferior tiists, which, when pressed, gave 

 the animal insufferable pain. I instantly took out my pocket-knife and made cru- 

 cial incisions through them both, down to the coming teeih, from which momeut tbe 

 horse recovered his appetite and by degrees his wonted condition. 



The mouths of young horses should also be frequently examined to 

 see if one or more of tbe milk teeth are not remaining too long, caus- 

 ing the second teeth to grow in crooked, in which case the first teeth 

 should be removed by the forceps. 



Irregularities of teeth. — There is quite a fashion of late years, espe- 

 cially in large cities, to have horses' teeth regularly "floated" or "rasped" 

 by " veterinary dentists." In some instances this is ver^^ beneficial, 

 while in most cases it is entirely unnecessary. From the character of 



