132 The Farmer^s Veterinary Adviser. 



tootli and the jaw-bone, this cavity being filled with putrid 

 elements and giving out a most offensive and persisteni 

 odor. In some cnses the tooth is broken in pieces. 

 In examining the mouth draw out the tongue and turn it 

 up between the jaws, or better keep the jaws apart with a 

 balling ii'on. If the diseased tooth belongs to the upper 

 jaw and is behind the first gi'inder there may be a very 

 foetid discharge from the nose, which with its attendant 

 nodular enlargement of the glands beneath the jaw have 

 led to the destruction of many such horses as glandered. 

 Treatment. When there is much inflammation of the 

 gums clear out the cavity of the tooth with the aid of a 

 bent flattened wire and a syringe with bent nozzle, feed 

 soft bran mashes only, and give a dose of laxative medi- 

 cine (horse, aloes ; ox or sheep, sulphate of magnesia ; dog 

 and pig, jalap ;) lance the gums and protect from cold for 

 a few days. When inflammation is less severe, scrape 

 from the diseased cavity all black, softened or diseased 

 tooth, and plug it with gutta-percha softened by heat, 

 moulded into the cavity and hardened by a stream of cool 

 water. If there is a tender spot from exposure of the 

 nerve this should flrst be deadened by caustic (crystallized 

 carbolic acid and powdered opium). Where the destruc- 

 tion is too great to allow of success by stuffing, the tooth 

 must be extracted, and the cavity syi-inged out after each 

 meal, until it heals up, and then filled with gutta-percha to 

 prevent the adjacent teeth deviating from their proper di- 

 rection. If very loose, the grinding teeth of large quadru- 

 peds may be extracted with large tooth forceps, but if at all 

 firm an opening must be made over the fang and the tooth 

 driven into the mouth with a maUet and punch. This oper- 

 ation requires accurate anatomical knowledge, especially 

 in young animals. In small animals the teeth may be re- 

 moved by ordinary dentist's forceps. After the removal of 

 a tooth in herbivora the opposing teeth on the other jaw 

 must be occasionally cut or rasped down to prevent injurj 

 from overgrowth. 



