_Causes._ Apart from the ulcerations and erosions of specific diseases
(glanders, horsepox, pustulous stomatitis, aphthous fever, etc.,) this
condition is especially liable to appear in anæmic and debilitated
subjects (Cauvet), as in rachitis (Friedberger and Fröhner), cancer
(Cadeac) chronic internal abscess (Cadeac), etc. As an exciting cause
and as a means of furnishing an infection atrium for the microbes of
ulceration all conditions of simple lesion of the mucous
membrane—mechanical, chemical, thermic, venomous, etc., are operative.
Dieckerhoff has described it in connection with diphtheritic rhinitis,
Friedberger with a nasal and conjunctival catarrh, Zeilinger and Kohler
with aphthous fever, Mobius and Hackbarth with trefoil poisoning.
_Lesions and Symptoms._ There is the usual dainty feeding and
disposition to masticate imperfectly or even to drop the partly
insalivated morsels, working of the lips, the formation of froth on
their margins, and the drivelling of saliva in long strings or
filaments. As the disease advances this becomes bloody and fœtid. The
local lesions may be at first like white pulpy spots of softened and
degenerating epithelium, which is exceptionally, raised in blisters.
This is followed by desquamation and the formation of open sores which
are indolent, and show a disposition to further erosion and extension.
They may be rounded or irregularly indented in their borders, and
contain a brownish, blackish or greenish viscid debris. They vary
widely, however, in general appearance and in their disposition to
speedy or sluggish healing, being apparently influenced by the nature of
the pathogenic microbe and the susceptibility of the subject. In some
cases the molecular degeneration extends deeply into the mucosa, and
even over the edges of the lips into the adjacent skin. Recovery and
complete cicatrization may take place in one week, or successive
outbreaks may take place in the same animal lasting in all for months as
in Cadeac’s case associated with chronic abscess of the mesentery.
_Treatment._ The first consideration is to correct the debility on which
the affection is based. Iron and bitter tonics, mineral acids, and
nourishing food given in the form of soft mashes, pulped roots, or
farinas, which will require little mastication, and the antiseptic
cleansing of the mouth after each meal are the main features of the
treatment. As antiseptics, vinegar is inimical to the microbes of the
mouth, which affect alkaline media, borax, boric acid, carbolic acid,
sulphurous acid, the sulphites and hyposulphites, permanganate of
potash, chlorate of potash, creolin, and sulphate or chloride of iron
furnish a sufficient choice of comparatively nontoxic agents. Ulcers may
be touched with tincture of iodine, lunar caustic, or sulphate of
copper.