10 
DISEASES OF THE MOUTH. 
sensibility of the horse to this agent. In double-sided paralysis the 
principal point is attention to the food, which should consist of mashes, 
gruel, and green stuffs. Corn should be given crushed and in a deep 
receptacle, so that the animal can more easily seize it with the teeth. 
To avoid the tendency to dyspnoea, Schoneberger advised that wire 
sutures be passed through each nostril, and brought together over the 
nose—a suggestion he first made in 1874. Tracheotomy is sometimes 
useful. 
Voigtlander observed periodical attacks of cramp in the region supplied by 
the N. facialis in a horse; “ on the right side the upper eyelid began to twitch, 
a slight contraction like a shadow ran across the masseter as far as the lip, 
and then began powerful contractions, which drew the right half of the upper 
lip upwards and outwards, and set in motion the entire half of the head behind 
the eye.” These attacks came on every five minutes, and occurred even 
during feeding. The owner stated that the disease had been in existence for 
several years. Degive noticed paralysis of the tongue and lips in horses,, a 
disorder which is said to be frequent in Belgium, and which has a certain 
resemblance to bulbar paralysis in man. He found general progressive 
paralysis of the bulbar nerves, especially the hypoglossus and facialis, which 
was attended with salivation, paralysis of the masticatory muscles and of those 
of the tongue and lips, with consequent difficulty in eating, portions of the food 
falling out of the mouth. Paralysis of the soft palate and pharyngeal muscles 
was sometimes present and interfered with swallowing. The malady always 
ended in death, generally in five to six months, sometimes later. Post-mortem 
showed gangrenous pneumonia (mechanical pneumonia), atrophy of the roots 
of the bulbar nerves (hypoglossus, vagus and facialis), and degeneration of 
the muscles of the tongue and cheeks. 
The cause is clearly a morbid process in the medulla, leading to the degenera¬ 
tion and atrophy of the motor roots of the hypoglossus, facialis and vagus, 
which arise here. The disease does not yet appear to have been observed 
in countries other than Belgium. 
II.—DISEASES OF THE MOUTH. 
(1.) FOREIGN BODIES IN THE MOUTH. 
In domesticated animals, and especially in dogs and cattle, foreign 
bodies taken into the mouth along with the food, or picked up in play, are 
apt to become fixed in position. In dogs, bones and needles are the most 
common objects; in cattle, pieces of wood, which lie between the teeth or 
the teeth and cheeks ; while needles usually penetrate the tongue. The 
animals slobber, and chew when the mouth is apparently empty; some 
shake the head or make cautious attempts to swallow; and, if the foreign 
body is not removed, they become thin from insufficient nourishment. 
Where such symptoms are met with, the mouth should always be care¬ 
fully examined. The objects being often very small, like needles or 
splinters of wood, it is necessary to search closely. Where hard bodies 
