238 
ON DISEASES OF THE DENTAL APPARATUS 
suits. If, however, the actual cautery cannot be had recourse to 
on account of the peculiar circumstances of the case, a strong solu- 
tion of argenti nitras may be most advantageously substituted, and 
applied with pledgets of tow or lint. 
Deglutition of the evulsed Tooth , or one of its Fragments. 
The falling into the throat of a tooth, and its penetration into the 
digestive canal, may be followed by the most serious functional de- 
rangements, and even induce death. Two instances of this serious 
accident have happened under our observation. 
In the first, the horse succumbed in a tympanitic affection, 
accompanied by extreme pain, and death was produced by as- 
phyxia. 
In the second case, death was the consequence of an ulceration 
of the point of the caecum, which was entirely traversed from part 
to part ; and at the post-mortem examination the tooth was dis- 
covered in the peritoneal cavity, in the midst of a quantity of ali- 
mentary matters effused into it. Such, however, are happily not 
always the results of the deglutition of a tooth or its fragments ; but 
the possibility of such consequences is sufficient to excite a dread 
lest they might be met with again. Moreover, the presence of a 
tooth, or a part of one, may induce the most serious consequences 
at some distant period. We allude to the formation of those pro- 
ductions called intestinal calculi by the swallowed tooth, on account 
of its being indigestible, acting as the nucleus for the future cal- 
culus, as, indeed, any hard substance may also do ; which has 
been clearly proved by Professor Morton, of The London Veteri- 
nary College, in his splendid paper on the formation of “ Calculous 
Concretions in the Horse,” published in The Transactions of the 
Veterinary Medical Association , vol. i. 
The greatest care should be observed to avoid the escape of the 
tooth into the mouth after its evulsion from the alveole. In the 
majority of cases this indication may be fulfilled if, immediately 
after the operation, the speculum oris is removed with rapidity 
and the animal’s head left at liberty : the tooth is then ordinarily 
rejected by the motions of the tongue. 
If, however, it was swallowed, it would be necessary to en- 
deavour to prevent the consequences of its sojourn in the digestive 
organs by exciting the whole canal with a drastic purgative, fol- 
lowed by the exhibition of gentle laxatives, until the foreign body 
may have been rejected : perhaps, by these means the dangers 
which we have above signalized might be avoided. 
