BURNING OUT LAMPAS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2506, 2 April 1902, Page 47

BURNING OUT LAMPAS.

At a meeting of the Australian Veterinary Muchcal Association held in .Melbourne the following reply to a letter from the Victorian Society for the Protection of Animals, asking for an sxpression of opinion o - i the subject, was drawn up: — "Thai it is the opinion of this meeting that 'lampas' is merely a congested nato of the palate and gums due to teething, which is often aggravated by hard, dry. and unsuitable food when the horse i« srablo-kcpr. That 'lampas' is only found in yountr hoi«e*. and the only tieaiment necessary is to scarify or puncture the parts to relie\e ti:o congested vCbfcel-s, and the application of a little common salt or powdered alum, and that a few bran mashes and a mild dose of laxative medicine will often give the necessary relief. That the apparent lehef sometimes supposed to arise from burning out a portion of the sensitive palate ia due to the animal being unable to eat for some time on account of tLe soreness ; consequently lie gets hungry, and there is no wonder that he> cats better when the pam leaves him. That in aged horses a condition simulating Mampas' is sometimes met with, but this in most cases is due to a disordered state of the digestive organs, the -treatment for which -onsists in laxative medicine and cooling diet That the ron=eouonces of burning out a portion of the palate are: — (1) It caused unnecessary pain and is therefore cruel. (2- It destroys th© highly-sensitive structures by means of which the animal discriminates the character of its food. (3) It causes a ca\ity which becomes the receptacle for particles of food winch decompose, causing ulceration of the gum; and an offo-n&ivo smel'. (4) It contracts the gum s and makes the hoise look older than he is. and consequently reduces hio value. |5) It limits the? power of prehension by means of which the auima) gathers its food for mastication.' — "\V T. Kendall. M.R.C.V.S., lion, secretaiy Veterinary Medical Association.