SOCIETY MEETINGS. 
871 
Dr. Worms opened the discussion by reading the following- 
paper : ^ 
Partial Amputation of the Tong-ne.—This condition is fre¬ 
quently met with and is due to mechanical injuries. Moreover 
stablemen in ordef to control unruly or sensitive horses during 
cleaning, not infrequently pass a cord around the tongue. If 
this be sharply pulled, the tongue may easily be cut through 
and the thinner the cord the more easily does the accident 
occur. Snaffle bits produce the same effect, especially if worn. 
The tongue may also be injured by sharp or displaced teeth. 
Rupture of the fraenum linguae sometimes occurs in horses 
suppuration, abscess formation and the production 
of hstulae. Steffen, a foreign veterinarian, saw the point of a 
foaPs tongue become gangrenous and slough after having been 
violently handled during some dental operation. His report of 
the case points to a blood vessel having been ruptured. 
The diagnosis presents no difflculty. The irritation in the 
mouth, salivation, want of appetite or of slow, cautious mastica¬ 
tion readily indicate the nature of the injury and its extent. 
Healing is usually rapid and certain, though transverse wounds 
of the tongue may leave a deep depression. But even this is no 
great drawback, and is only worth notice inasmuch as the ani¬ 
mal wastes food in eating, and the tongue may be lacerated if 
forcibly handled during examination. But a portion of the 
tongue may be torn away in the first instance or later, and if the 
fraenum linguae be involved mastication will be rendered difflcnlt. 
Attempts to cure protrusion of the tongue have shown that 
in horses the removal of three-fourths of an inch causes no in¬ 
convenience, but where more is lost the animals are unable to 
bring the food between the back teeth. At times they seek to 
effect this by holding the head in the air like chickens when 
drinking, but at best some food must be wasted, and mastication 
takes longer. Graf, a foreigner, records that a horse which had 
lost the point of the tongue had severe swelling of the remainder 
accompanied by salivation and inability to eat solid food. Only 
fluids and mashes could be taken. When the wound had cica¬ 
trized the stump only extended about three-fourths of an inch 
beyond^ the first molar. In three weeks the horse could ao-ain 
eat ordinary food, but took three times as long as formerly to do 
so. Dudecke, another foreigner, described a similar case in which 
the tongue was lost as far as the commencement of the fraenum 
but nevertheless the horse could eat as usual. I regard such a 
horse as unsound. 
