SPAHISH HOUSES AND MULES. 215 



gums, as also, in a less degree, on hollowness of the 

 back. These are doubtless indications of age ; but I 

 have often seen colts got ~by aged stallions having 

 all these indications of age in a degree little less 

 than their sires, before they had yet acquired a full 

 mouth, much less lost the mark. And more than 

 once I have seen foals, newly dropped, with the 

 deep supra-orbital cavities and hollow backs be- 

 queathed them by their aged sires before they had 

 got their colt's teeth. " 



Surgeon Brandt, who thinks shape indicates age 

 as well after the eighth year as marks do before, says 

 ("Age of Horses"): 



' ' Some breeds, the Spanish for instance, require a 

 longer time to develop than others. The bones seem 

 to be harder, the teeth change somewhat later, and 

 wear more slowly; sometimes, after the fifth year, 

 they seem one or two years younger than they are. 



" The age of crib-biters can be told by the corner 

 teeth, which are seldom injured. Should this be the 

 case, however, add as many lines as are needed to 

 make them the natural length. The horse is as 

 many years younger as the teeth are lines too short. 



" The front teeth are frequently worn away earlier 

 when horses have been fed on unshelled corn. 



" The age of mules cannot be ascertained with the 

 same accuracy as that of horses. After their eighth 

 year they usually appear younger than they are." 



NOTE. For an article entitled " The Ancients on Equine Age 

 Marks," originally written for The Journal of Comparative Medicine 

 and Surgery, by the author of this work, see page 293. It refutes 

 Dr. Hoeing's claim that Pessina, in 1818, first discovered the fact 

 that the marks indicate age. 



