648 
REVIEW— CATTLE PATHOLOGY. 
years old. The period of the protrusion of certain of the teeth has 
been ascertained with considerable certainty, and the ages of ten, 
twenty, twenty-four, thirty, and thirty-four months, and four, five, 
and six years, have been marked as periods at which disease has ori- 
ginated from or been aggravated by dentition. The veterinarian 
should at those periods particularly examine the mouth, in order 
to see whether many a disease, that would not otherwise excite 
suspicion, may not arise from or be connected with dentition. 
The pathological effects of dentition are not so evident or so 
dangerous in the ox as in the horse, possibly on account of the 
smaller number of teeth, or the roots of them not penetrating so 
deeply into the jaw. Nevertheless, the cutting of the teeth in the 
ox, as well as in the horse, is attended by loss of appetite and red- 
ness and heat of the mouth — the head hangs down, — the eyes 
weep, and sometimes there is cough, coryza, and diarrhoea. The 
veterinarian ought to be aware of this, or he will sometimes com- 
promise his reputation by an erroneous diagnosis. I have seen 
persons, careless or deficient in medical tact, bleed and physic an 
ox, supposing that they were combatting bronchitis, or gastroente- 
ritis; and, after two or three days, the proprietor or -the cowherd 
has found one or two molar teeth in the manger. The disease has 
immediately disappeared, and a laugh has been raised at the ex- 
pense of the veterinarian. A little gruel, or tender grass, or mash, 
will generally be sufficient in cases of the most painful and difficult 
dentition. Sometimes a kind of bit, consisting of a stout little bag 
filled with bran, vinegar, and honey, may give relief when the in- 
flammation of the mouth is very great. 
The irregular wearing of the teeth is a circumstance that may be 
expected, considering how many hours in every day they are em- 
ployed in the process of mastication. The Professor gives an in- 
teresting case of this. An ox, seven years old, had been hard 
worked, and was very much out of condition. The proprietor 
said that he had been getting thin during the last two months — 
that he had eaten and ruminated much less than he was used to 
do — that, during rumination there was an abundant flow of saliva 
mixed with portions of imperfectly triturated food — that he was 
subject to frequent intermittent meteorizations of the paunch, but 
which soon subsided. 
The first impression on the mind of the surgeon was that there 
was chronic disease of the fourth stomach; but the pulse was 
natural, the faeces announced that the digestion was good, and 
the animal did not cough. On opening the mouth of the beast, 
the Professor was struck with the loathsome smell of the expired 
air, and which caused him to think that there were ulcers in the 
cavity of the mouth. He cast the ox, and fixed his head in a 
somewhat elevated position, and he kept the mouth open by means 
of a kind of balling-iron. He then injected a little water, in order 
to clean the mouth, and, having drawn the tongue on one side, he 
