324 THE HORSE. 
without cutting off the teeth will seldom answer the purposes of ths 
“coper.”» Formerly it was very common to see mouths with the corner 
nippers burnt to show a “good mark,” and nothing else done to 
them ; but, for the reasons given above, the plan is now almost entirely 
abandoned. 
IrreGULARITIES in the growth of teeth are by no means uncommon in 
the horse, often caused by the practice of punching out the milk teeth to 
hasten the growth of the permanent set. Instead of having this effect, 
1c, 12.—Lower Nrpprers AND Lert TusH OF A VERY OLD Horse, THE RIGHT HAVING FALLEN out, 
however, the teeth are induced to take a wrong direction, and not meeting 
their fellows they do not wear down as they naturally should. In 
punching out the corner nipper it is very often broken off, and the fang is 
allowed to remain in the socket. The consequence is that the picking up 
of the food does not hasten the removal of the fang of the milk tooth, and 
instead of accelerating the growth of the permanent tooth in the natural 
position, it retards it and sometimes drives it to seek a passage through 
the gums behind its proper socket. Here, not meeting the corresponding 
nipper of the upper jaw, it grows like a tush, and has sometimes been 
mistaken for a second tooth of that kind. Some horses are naturally 
formed with “pig jaws”—that is to say, with the upper longer than the 
lower—and in these cases the whole set of teeth grow to a great length, 
and interfere with the prehension of the food. 
OS HYOIDES. 
Tue os nyorpss in the horse consists of five distinct pieces, contributing 
to the support of the tongue and larynx. One of these (the body) is 
