The late W. Percivall, in his excellent work, entitled "Hippopathology," describes horses as sometimes injured under the tongue by the port of the bit. An engraving, representing such an injury, is given; but it is hoped no gentleman of the present day would employ the severe invention by which alone such a hurt could be produced. The consequences may be lasting. The terminations of the sublingual ducts are included in the blackness. Were these bruised and inflamed, their delicate mouths might be obliterated and hopeless fistula be established. [Illustration: THE UPPER JAW INJURED BY THE BARBAROUS USE OF THE BIT.] The bit must be sharply and strongly tugged at before it can harm the roof of the mouth. Any one who has seen horses pulled up before a fashionable mansion must have observed them open wide their mouths. They do this to escape the wound of the bit. The animals extend their jaws to prevent it striking the roof of the mouth. Notwithstanding the existing age is more civilized than those which preceded it, the bits used at the present time can, without any vast display of genius, be made to injure the obedient animal, for whose mouth such ferocious checks are forged. An injury thus inflicted is sufficiently serious. The bony roof not only supports the bars, but also forms the solid floor of the nostrils. As it is not very thick, the greater is the danger when it is injured. The wound, because of the unyielding substance on which it is inflicted, is more painful than that of the lower jaw. It is also for the same reason more severe. The last injury demands the same treatment as has already been described, only the remedies are far more difficult to apply. Should the entire portion of bone exfoliate and a hole be left behind, the consequence is not of fatal import. Bone can reproduce itself, though it is somewhat eccentric in its growth. So after the opening is closed, the surface toward the nostrils may be uneven, and the horse be rendered an inveterate wheezer. When the animal is once injured, never, for your own safety, afterward employ a bit. If it be ridden or driven, always use a snaffle, and use even that most tenderly. The horse has vivid recollections, and man is naturally forgetful. When power is entrusted to the oblivious, danger is apt to be close at hand. The inferior margin of the jaw-bone is liable to harm from the curb chain, and some men _will_ have the curb chain tight. Such people are commonly very imperious. They shout, and slash, and tug when they want obedience from an animal whose delight is to be allowed to please. Their meaning is seldom comprehended, and therefore their orders are rarely obeyed; whereas, they would be humbly propitiated, were their commands only given as though the animal had no interest to rebel.