CHAPTER XVIII. 



DISEASES OF THE TEETH. 



The stockman is seldom worried with tooth trouble in 

 sheep, cattle and pigs, and unless well informed is apt to 

 think horses are just as free, such, however, is not the 

 case. The slightest irregularity of the teeth will inter- 

 fere more or less with chewing and masticating the food, 

 quite readily understood if a person is familiar with the 

 arrangement of the teeth. No horse is exempt, from 

 colthood to old age the teeth are liable to need attention. 

 There are general symptoms, such as unthriftiness, often 

 in spite of good and liberal feeding and little work, there 

 is dribbling of saliva from the mouth, ends of hay may 

 be dropped from the mouth, water is let fall out when 

 drinking, the horse may crib or windsuck, the feces may 

 contain undigested feed, there may be swelling of the 

 jaw, a partial refusal of food, loss of flesh; the animal 

 may pull on the bit or refuse to take hold at all, and 

 there may be swelling of the gums just behind the upper 

 front teeth, if this 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 employ- 

 ment of a quack, a travelling so-called horse dentist, or 



