APPENDIX H 



THE AGE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS AS INDICATED 

 BY THE TEETH 



The incisor teeth of the different domestic animals offer a convenient and 

 comparatively accurate gauge as to their respective ages. The progressive 

 incisive dentition of the horse, the cow, the sheep, and the pig are as follows : 



THE HORSE 



The horse has six incisors in either jaw, the middle pair of which are com- 

 monly known as the middles, the next pair as the intermediates, and the outer 

 pair as the corners, or laterals. 



At birth the colt is without incisors, the middle pair in either jaw appearing 

 within a week or two, followed by the intermediates at the age of from two 

 weeks to one month and by the corners at about five months. These constitute 

 the milk, or colt, teeth, which are gradually replaced by the permanent ones 

 as the colt nears maturity. The middle colt teeth drop out when the colt is 

 about two years and a half old and are replaced at three years by the perma- 

 nent teeth. At three and one-half years the intermediates are erupted, and at 

 four their place is taken by their permanent successors. The corners are shed 

 at about four and one-half years and replaced at five by the permanent corners. 

 This is the last of the series of changes from colt to horse teeth, and the prac- 

 tically mature animal, at five years of age, possesses what is known as a full 

 mouth, all the incisors being permanent and having in their bearing surfaces 

 the black cups which are so plainly noticeable in the earlier life of the horse. 



At six years of age the black cups have disappeared from the lower middle 

 incisors ; at seven, from the lower intermediates ; at eight, from the lower 

 corners ; at nine, from the upper middles ; at ten, from the upper intermedi- 

 ates ; and at eleven, from the upper corners. The changes in the upper teeth 

 do not take place with so much uniformity as those of the lower, and therefore 

 are not so reliable as guides in age determination. 



In addition to the replacing process and the loss of cups, the gradual 

 changes in the shape and position of the teeth from maturity to death offer an 

 approximate guide as to the age of their possessor. At maturity the incisors are 

 short and wide and have a thickness equal to about one third of their width. 

 At this time the teeth of the upper and lower jaws meet squarely and very 

 nearly at right angles to the position of the jaws. As the animal grows older 

 the teeth become longer, narrower, and thicker, and at the same time gradually 

 incline forward and meet more nearly parallel with the jaws. 



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