THE AGE. . 445 



After the teeth have worn down a considerable distance, if 

 the flesh kept its phice, they coukl hardly be seen at fifteen. 

 But the fact is, they keep their length, or very nearly so. This 

 is effected by the growth of the bony part of the tooth, the 

 enamel never being repaired, and by the flesh or gum strip- 

 ping off the root, which was once covered. This portion be- 

 comes covered with tartar, which gives the yellow appearance 

 of the teeth of old horses. 



At about ten the inner gums and bara of the palate com- 

 mence to shrink, and, as this becomes greater, indicates ad- 

 vancing age. 



There are some indications of age, of a general character, 

 wdiich deserve notice — among which may be mentioned the 

 general expression of the horse ; the deepening of the hollows 

 above the eyes ; the appearance of white hairs, particularly 

 about the eyes and muzzle ; shrinking and hanging down of 

 the lips ; sharpening of the withers ; swagging down of the 

 back ; lengthening of the quarters ; sharpening of the border 

 of the lower jaw, and the disappearance or absorption of all 

 tumors, spavins, w^ind-galls, etc. 



The means of ascertaining the allotted 2:)eriod of the horse's 

 age are very unsatisfactory. So man}^ circumstances attend 

 the domesticated animal, tending to the more or less rapid de- 

 struction of his system, that it is very diflicult, if not impossi- 

 ble, to ascertain what would be the " number of the days of 

 his years," were the laws of his being never violated. A few 

 cases of great age are on record. Blaine tells of a gentleman 

 ' who had three horses which died at the ages, respectively, of 

 thirty-five, thirty-seven, and thirty-nine. Percival gives an 

 account of a barge-horse that attained the ^eat age of sixty- 

 two years. Cully also tells of a horse which received a ball 

 in his neck at the battle of Preston, in 1715, and which was 

 extracted at his death in 1758. Many stallions in the United 

 States have attained a very advanced age. The Morgan 

 horses live to a good old age generally. The original, or Jus- 



