LACERATION OF THE TONGUE. 
529 
secured, and placed a balling-iron in his mouth. I then cleansed 
the wound, and applied a little liquid blister to each of the divided 
surfaces. I next inserted two stitches deep into the substance of the 
tongue near the centre, and another on each side, and so brought 
the two surfaces of the wound into complete apposition. The diet 
of the animal was restricted to sago gruel. So rapid was the re- 
union of the parts, that in ten days the animal was able to resume 
his work. He has the complete use of the tongue, and the mark 
alone shews the nature and extent of the injury. 
This severe laceration was produced by the rope being put 
through the mouth by the carter, and, then, the horse beaten, and the 
rope forcibly pulled. 
A case very much resembling this has been recorded by a quon- 
dam rival, whose virulence we have long since forgiven, but whose 
zeal in our common cause we shall never forget or undervalue. It 
is related by Mr. John Fry : — 
“ A circumstance somewhat similar” — the tearing out of the 
tongue — “ happened to a horse of mine some years ago, though 
how it occurred still remains to me a mystery. All I could learn 
from my man was, that in the morning, when he fed him, he observed 
he bled a little from the mouth, and, on opening it, he perceived 
that his tongue was nearly cut off. The man had worked for me 
several years, and I had no reason to doubt his veracity, or to sus- 
pect that he did it either wilfully or accidentally. It was not easily 
accounted for, as he was a quiet horse ; nor could we discover any 
nail, or any thing else that could have done it, although, from the 
cleanness of the division, it appeared to have been done by a very 
sharp keen instrument. Immediately I knew it, I ordered all the 
food to be removed from him, and his head to be tied up to the rack 
to prevent his eating the straw, and thereby tearing away the very 
small piece of membrane that held the parts together, as it was all 
but divided through, and hung, as it were, by a piece of skin on the 
under side. I then sent for a surgeon with whom I was in habits 
of intimacy, and requested his advice, which he readily gave, as 
well as his operative assistance. We threw the horse, and with 
proper help secured him so as to prevent his struggling, and, with 
a curved needle and thread, he sewed the parts together. To 
nature was left the performance of the cure, which was completely 
effected. 
He was fed entirely on soft meat, bran mashes with ground oats, 
and a little treacle or honey, on which he fed, without any apparent 
difficulty or pain, for about a fortnight. He was occasionally ex- 
ercised in his halter, without putting his bit into his mouth. My 
friend regularly examined his tongue, and, pronouncing it going on 
