Surgical and Obstetrical Operations. 



I. SURGICAI, OPERATIONS. 



OPERATIONS ON THE HEAD. 



I. EXTRACTION OP TEETH. 

 Plate i. 



Prefatory remarks. The grinding teeth of the horse, 

 consisting of three molars and three premolars in each row, 

 are of such dimensions and attachments that their removal 

 in case of disease or defect often presents difficulties of no 

 small degree. 



These teeth attain their greatest size at the time of erup- 

 tion and most of each remains firmly imbedded in its 

 alveolus while a very shallow crown projects into the buccal 

 cavity. The teeth are gradually pushed out of their alveoli 

 as their crowns are worn away with age and the proportion 

 of the intra to the extra- alveolar part gradually decreases 

 until in very old animals the alveolar cavities become obliter- 

 ated and the last vestige of what was once the apex of the 

 fang rests insecurely in the buccal mucous membrane. 



The facility with which teeth may be extracted increases 

 as the age of the animal, being easily drawn with forceps 

 in the old, while in case of freshly erupted teeth in the 

 young horse we have usually been unable to extract them 

 with forceps of any kind, except in those where they have 

 become somewhat loosened as a resultof disease or accident. 

 When aberrations in development occur, leading to the for- 

 mation of dental tumors or odontomes the possibility of ex- 

 traction by means of forceps is frequently wholly excluded 

 and in cases where dental disorder has led to empyema of 

 the facial sinuses, even if the tooth may be drawn by means 

 of forceps, further operation is generally necessary, in order 



