AGE, AS INDICATED BY THE TEETH. 419 



other horses are reckoned from the 1st of May. Thoroughbred mares 

 are covered so as to throw their foals as soon as possible after the 1st of 

 January ; whilst in regard to other mares the owner does not wish to 

 have their progeny born before the spring grass is available for the sus- 

 tenance of the dam and her foal. 



High feeding encourages the growth of the teeth in common with the 

 rest of the frame. Hence thoroughbreds (independently of their earlier 

 date of foaling) are somewhat more forward in their mouths than half- 

 bred animals, though on the other hand it increases the wear and so 

 hurries the obliteration of the marks. 



870a. Drawing of Milk Teeth. 



A practice prevails of tampering with the milk teeth, in order to make 

 the animals appear of more mature ages than they really are. 



In horses rising four years old the corner temporary incisors are pulled 

 or punched out, in order to hasten the growth of the permanent teeth, 

 which would in the process of nature take their place at. a later period, 

 and thereby give the horse the appearance of rising five years old. 



More rarely attempts are made to give the three-year-old mouth the 

 appearance of four by drawing the outer milk tooth on each side. 



In the foreign horses now largely imported it is common to find both 

 milk teeth drawn on each side in three-year-old animals. 



No doubt in all these cases nature does to a certain degree hasten the 

 development of the permanent teeth, in order to supply the vacuum. 



There is, however, no need for anyone to be deceived as to the real age 

 of an animal which has been subjected to such treatment. The upcoming 

 permanent tooth is usually displaced in its alveolus or socket by the 

 violence used in punching out the milk tooth. Again, the removal 

 of the milk tooth before its time deprives the upcoming permanent tooth 

 of its natural guide to the surface of the jaw, and causes it to make its 

 appearance slightly diagonally to the curve of the jaw, thus leaving a 

 space between it and the neighbouring tooth, which is quite abnormal. 



Again, the enamel of the crown of the new tooth, from having been 

 brought into use before its natural time, is not properly consolidated, and 

 hence presents an irregular appearance, quite different from that of the 

 naturally developed tooth. 



In males this trick may be at once detected by the absence of the tusk, 

 which will not come up before its proper time ; but in mares we have not 

 this assistance. 



871. OftheMarJc. 



Hitherto we have taken no notice of the " Mark," or Infundibulum. 

 We have abstained from doing so, not because the marks in the young 

 mouth do not afford some indication of the age, but because fuller and 

 more satisfactory evidence up to six years old is afforded by the structural 

 changes detailed above. At and after six, however, we are compelled to 

 have recourse to the indications given by the marks and other slight, but 



