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INFLAMMATION OF THE ARTICULATION OF THE JAW. 
In small animals both jaws are seized, and the dislocated coronoid 
process moved first downward and then backward; but care is required 
to avoid being bitten, and for this reason the first method deserves 
preference. Recurrence is prevented by giving soft food, interdicting 
bones, and applying a muzzle. 
(4.) INFLAMMATION OF THE ARTICULATION 
OF THE JAW. 
This articulation, on account of its exposed position, is often injured 
by blows or “treads,” and purulent inflammation so caused. Cellulitis 
affecting neighbouring structures may extend to the joint, or it may 
become inflamed in horses which, in consequence of painful affections, 
lie continuously (decubitus). Gurlt found the joint immobile in a goat, 
on account of the formation of extensive exostoses. The condition had 
resulted from severe bruising. Dry chronic arthritis (arthritis chronica 
sicca) of this joint is also seen in horses. 
Symptoms and course. Impaired mastication is the most frequent 
accompaniment. The mouth cannot be properly opened, whence the 
condition is sometimes mistaken for trismus, from which it may be 
distinguished by a swelling affecting one or other, but seldom both 
articulations. The lower jaw is generally displaced sideways, so that 
the gnnding sui faces of the teeth do not exactly correspond, and patients, 
in consequence, quickly fall off in condition, and sometimes cannot take 
any food at all. They often develop the shear-like mouth. At the same 
time the animals rapidly fall away in condition, as might be expected. 
Sometimes the disease ends in anchylosis of the joint. 
Bosenroth saw a case of this kind in a horse, and has described the 
post-mortem appearance. Several similar cases occurred in Moller’s 
piactice. In a dog, which suffeied from inability to open the mouth, and 
showed extensive atrophy of the muscles of mastication, Moller found 
formation of new bony material in both articulations. This had been 
produced by an arthritis chronica. Siedamgrotzky has described a 
similar case. 
I he disease is of a veiy giave character, especially in animals which 
have to consume much food, such as working-horses and milch-cows. 
Cases like that described by Weiss, where a horse was able to masti¬ 
cate regularly after displacement of the inter-articular cartilage, are 
exceedingly rare. An error in diagnosis may possibly have occurred in 
the case described. 
Treatment. The patient’s strength must be conserved, suitable diet 
provided, wounds and inflammatory processes properly treated, and the 
ill effects of decubitus guarded against. So long as no purulent arthritis 
