182 NOTES ON FIELDS AND CATTLE. 



colt is not considered in his prime until he has com- 

 pleted his sixth year. Writing for the tyro and the 

 amateur, I may remark here that there is a wavy 

 cavity on the top of the teeth, coloured dark. Every 

 year after six, with the rarest exception (Buffon), this 

 hue grows more faint and dim. Cheating dealers 

 take an old horse and file his teeth down ; then skil- 

 fully, with a degree of high art that is worthy of a 

 better cause, carve out the tooth with an engraver's 

 tool, then burn the hollow, finally filling it with a 

 kind of black composition, This is called Bishoping, 

 from the name of the knave who invented the 

 mode. There is a theory that after six years of 

 age, when the lower range obtain their discharge, 

 the upper teeth indicate the accession of years by 

 a like wearing of the marks, but this is not to be 

 relied on. 



A frequent but disgraceful practice is it in the 

 London market to make up a horse's mouth a year 

 before its time by drawing the outside teeth, so that 

 at four the mouth presents the appearance of being 

 " full," as it would be fairly at five. So the breeder 

 or dealer gains a year's profit. 



Some lay stress upon the growth of the tusks, 

 asserting that those in the lower jaw shoot at three 

 years and a half; the two in the upper jaw at four; 

 till six they continue sharp at the point ; at ten they 

 are long and blunt. All this is attended by much 

 uncertainty. 



After fourteen, grey hairs appear on the eyebrow. 

 Every year now the teeth grow longer and more 

 forward, being less pincer-like ; thus— (Laurence) — 



