THE TEETH 



363 



aged horse may be passed off upon an inexperienced person for a six-year-old. 

 The plan adoped is to cut off all the nippers with a saw to the proper length, 

 and then with a cutting instrument the operator scoops out an oval cavity 

 in the corner nippers which is afterwards burnt with a hot iron until it is 

 quite black. It is extremely easy to detect the imposition by carefully 

 comparing the corner nippers with the next, when it will be seen that there 

 is no gradation from the centre to the corner nippers, but that the four 

 middle ones are exactly alike, while the corners present a large black cavity, 

 without a distinct white edge to it, the dentine being generally encroached 



Fig. 10. — The Lower Nippers and Tushes of a Six-Year-Old Hokse. 



B. The lower jaw. 



1. 1. The central uiiipers, with the marks worn out. 

 2. 2. The next nipijers, with the marks disappear- 

 ing. 

 3. 3. The corner nippers, showing the mark plainly 



enough, but with the edges of the cavity 

 considerably worn. 

 4. 4. The tuslies, standing xip three-quarters of an 

 incli, with their points only slightly 

 blunted. 



upon without any regularity in the concentric rings. Moreover, on compar- 

 ing the lower with the upper nippers, unless the operator has performed on 

 the latter also, they will be found to be considerably moi'e worn than the 

 lower, the reverse of which ought naturally to be the case. Occasionally a 

 clever operator will burn all the teeth to a properly regulated depth, and 

 then a practised eye alone will detect the imposition. In the present day 

 there is not so great a demand for six-year-old horses as was formerly the 

 case, and purchasers are contented with a nine or ten-year-old mouth if the 

 legs and constitution are fresh. Hence bishoping is seldom attempted 

 excepting with horses beyond the age of eleven or twelve ; and the mere use 



