THE JERSEY, ALDERNEY AND GUERNSEY COW. 65 



slight wear they may have undergone. The general 

 appearance of the young animal for the first few months 

 suffices to form a fair estimate of its age." 



The second epoch, or " second dentition," includes 

 three periods. The first consists in the successive erup- 

 tion of the permanent teeth. 



In referring to the ox's mouth at eighteen months, 

 Mr. Simonds says it has been shown that at a year old 

 the four middle placed incisors, in particular, give indi- 

 cations of wear by the loss of their sharp edges, and in- 

 creasing flatness of their crowns. '' By eighteen months 

 this flatness has considerably increased ; it is not now, 

 however, confined to the teeth placed in the centre of 

 the mouth, but has extended to all. The jaw of the 

 animal has also grown wider, thus increasing the spaces 

 between the teeth, so as to leave not merely their fangs 

 apart but likewise their crowns. To compensate in 

 part for their diminished length, the teeth have likewise 

 risen in their sockets ; and as some of them are soon to 

 be renewed by the permanent incisors, the powers of 

 absorption have commenced in their fangs. These 

 various causes, more or less modified in different ani- 

 mals, give to the mouth an appearance which is quickly 

 recognized." 



I may remark that the indications of age here given 



for eio^hteen months I have seen in backward breeds at 



twenty or twenty-two months, and, as Girard says, the 



middle permanent incisors are then out at two years; 



the next two, between two and three ; the next two, 

 9 



