an okl horse^s mouth is lean both above and below, 

 and seems to have only the skin upon the bones. 



The tushes of old horses then, have neither curve 

 nor groove ; and they wear away at the points as if 

 they had been broken off and polished again ; the 

 corner leeth appear long and leaning forward , the 

 upper teeth project over the lower» and all lose their 

 oblong shape, whilst the gum recedes and leaves the 

 roots bare, so that the teeth seem as if grown longer. 

 When the teeth do not so meet evenly, certain deal- 

 ers file away the projecting teeth. In a {ew cases we 

 have noticed deviations from the general rule, which 

 none have been able to account for, unless it be that 

 such animals were got by old parents, when the hol- 

 iowness over the eyes will be found to disfigure 

 young colts of the most tender years. Some, again, 

 lose the mark in their teeth, except the corners, as 

 early as five years ; others have hard mouths and 

 the bars almost callous ; but all those have the hoi- 

 low just spoken of. This defect dealers endeavour 

 to rectify by puncturing the skin and blowing it up. 

 On the other hand, some horses are so strong in 

 the mouth, or rather healthy, that the marks of five 

 years old are retained by them until six or seven- 

 Further up to ten or eleven years old, the teeth 

 generally retain their oblong figure and touch each 

 other. From this period the teeth contract in size, 

 become roundish, and leave a small space between 

 them ; which space increases up to the fourteenth or 

 fifteenth year, when each tooth assumes an angular 

 shape, and projects forward irregularly. In another 

 year or two the upper lip hangs down, the jaw becomes 

 neaped and contracted, the gum recedes considerably 

 from the roots, and the shape of the teeth is then of 

 an oblong, but directly contrary to the first. More- 

 over, the eyes of a horse approaching twenty, wax 

 yellowish, he winks much, and the inner skin of his 

 mouth turns outward. 



Another Mark. — The age of a horse is knotvn by 



little nubs on the large cords of the neck, one of 



which nubs may be felt with the fingers at thirteen 



years old after which age, one nub comes every year. 



At that age, also, a similar nub may be felt on the 



