(520 THE HOME, FARM AND BUSINESS CYCLOPEDIA. 



AGE OF FARM LIVE STOCK. 



We add here a paragraph descriptive of the dentition of farm-stock as 

 indicative of age. The teeth of our domesticated animals vary in size, 

 form, character and number, in accordance with the nature of the food on 

 which they live, and also in accordance with the peculiar organization and 

 habits of life of the animals themselves. They are also capable of being 

 materially influenced in their development by the system under which 

 stock are reared. In highly bred and liberally fed animals the teeth are 

 produced earlier than in those living under the reverse conditions. It is 

 therefore necessary to take this point into consideration in determining 

 the question of age. Teeth are divided into three classes, viz.: molars or 

 grinding teeth, incisors or cutting teeth, and canines or tushes. All our 

 domesticated animals possess the two former, but not in equal numbers. 

 The ox and sheep have no incisors in the upper jaw, neither have they 

 any canine teeth or tushes. Besides the three varieties mentioned, the pig 

 has also a small tooth in each jaw situated between the corner incisor 

 tooth and the first molar ; this is termed the premolar. Each animal has 

 two sets of teeth during life : the first are termed the milk or sucking 

 teeth, also known as temporary or deciduous, in consequence of their being 

 shed or cast off; the second set, by which they are replaced, are known as 

 the permanent or adult teeth. The teeth appear in the mouth with tol- 

 erable regularity and in a certain definite order, so that they afford a fairly 

 reliable indication of the age of stock up to the time when dentition is 

 completed. The temporary teeth differ from the permanent in size, form 

 and character, and are readily distinguished from each other after a little 

 careful study. The molar teeth are distinguished numerically, counting 

 from front to back, viz. : first, second, third, and so on. The incisors of 

 the horse and pig are six in number in each jaw ; the two middle ones are 

 termed centrals, the next pair laterals, and the outermost corners. 

 In the ox and sheep there are eight cutting teeth. Those next the cen- 

 trals are spoken of as lateral centrals, and the other two pairs as in the 

 horse and pig. 



The following table shows the order of succession in which the changes 

 take place in the horse, ox, pig and sheep. 



