The horse's mouth, showing the age by the teethMayhew, Edward
Science
The horse's mouth, showing the age by the teeth
Mayhew, Edward
Horses -- Age
The fact here recorded has certainly been generally overlooked; and Mr.
Percival deserves the gratitude of his professional brethren for
directing their observation to the point. Every practitioner, however,
has met with instances in which the molars were implicated. There are
two forms of disease to which these teeth are liable; caries, or decay,
and a loss of vitality, or death. The death of a tooth has not hitherto
been observed upon by veterinary authors, but it is not rare. The causes
which may give rise to it cannot be accurately stated, though they may
be conjectured. The vessels that nurture the fang and ramify through the
pulp, are small and delicate; the alveolar cavities are thin, some of
them in the upper jaw being not thicker in parts of their walls than
brown paper. The force of the masticatory muscles is very great, and if
any hard substance be taken between the teeth, it is easy to imagine
that the minute arteries of the fang should thereby be ruptured. The
effect produced upon the pulp, and the transient agony occasioned by
biting a piece of hard crust, are familiar to every human being; nor can
we suppose that the horse's teeth, especially when the greater strength
of its muscles is duly considered, are not liable to similar and
proportionably greater injury. There may be no history to such a case,
no record of the date when the occurrence took place; for the horse is
not always watched during the time of its feeding, nor were it watched,
is it possible that the groom would attribute the sudden exhibition of
pain to the right cause. The primary effect is therefore misinterpreted
or unnoticed; but after a time it is remarked that the creature is
longer than its companions emptying the manger; then it begins to quid
its hay,--that is, the hay is taken into the mouth partially masticated
and formed into a pellet or round mass; but instead of being swallowed,
the prepared morsel is allowed to fall from the mouth. Should no advice
be taken, the horse becomes bad in its coat, and loses flesh. No amount
of corn, or extra grooming, will restore it to condition; medicines may
be administered with no better effect. The disease is strictly local in
its nature, and the constitutional symptoms are only sympathetic. Should
the affection still be suffered to proceed unchecked, the animal is
continually moving its lips; either it is restless in the stable, or
leans the head against the manger, and neglecting the food which is
before it, remains dull and quiet, the eyes half closed, and the
breathing quickened. A dose of medicine seems to do it some temporary
good, but the purgation has hardly ceased before the symptoms reappear;
saliva runs from the mouth, and the food in the manger is rendered
sloppy, almost like to a mash, before it is eaten; the bones of the face
at last swell; the breath becomes fetid; and a thick offensive purulent
discharge issues from one of the nostrils. That discharge is not
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