114 CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK AND COMPLETE STOCK DOCTOR. 



at the age of eight or nine months the four corner nippers are seen. At 

 this age the colt has all his teeth, upper and lower. They are the foal's 

 teeth and are changed by the fifth or sixth year for the permanent or 

 horse's teeth. As before stated, the three front double pairs of grinders 

 are seen at birth, and are aftenvards changed. The fourth double pair, 

 those seen from the eighth to the ninth month, are the first that remain 

 stationary, and are found in the mouth of every year-old colt. The fifth 

 double pair (fifth four), appear in the second year, while the sixth doul)lc 

 pair generally come in the fourth or early in the fifth year. These three 

 double pairs of back teeth remain unchanged, as also do the tushes oi 

 hook teeth. The tushes do not appear at a fixed age ; sometimes they 

 are seen in the stallion at the end of the third year, and sometimes uot 

 i; Qtil the middle or the end of the fourth year ; sometimes they do not come 

 t.ntil the fifth 3'ear, and occasionally not until the sixth j^ear. The mare 

 ttever has them, and in the gelding they occasionally fail to develop. 



TV. Differences Between the Teeth of Foal and Horse. 



The difference between the nippers of the foal and those of th«p 

 horse should be carefully studied. They differ, ( 1 ) by their regular con • 

 ical formation; (2) by a narrow contraction called the neck, visibh; 

 almost in the center of the body of each tooth, while nothing of the 

 kind is seen in horse-teeth; (3) by their smaller size, even when full 

 grown. The milk teeth (those teeth which are shed), taken from the 

 jaws of dead foals and comf)ared with horse-teeth similarly obtained, are 

 found to be only about half as long as the latter. The breadth is not to 

 be depended on, since the milk teeth of large foals appear almost as 

 broad as those of small horses. When the nippers become horse-teeth 

 they form a great contrast to the middle and corner teeth. The size of 

 these last will at once show them to be milk teeth. (4) The outer sur- 

 face of the foal-teeth is smooth and striped with brown, while on horse- 

 teeth the same surface is divided by a dirty yellow indentation inclining 

 toward the center, which is sometimes double upon the upper teeth. 



A study of the nippers of the hoi^se taken at different ages will mater- 

 ially assist the beginner. . The incisor and all other teeth, consist, first of 

 the enamel or hiting or grinding surface ; then of a bony substance, and 

 lastly of the root imbedded in the jaw. The teeth of the foal as well 

 as of the horse, are constantly but slowly worn away in the act of feed- 

 ing. If the animal feed on sandy or gintty, and especially on shon 

 pasture, the teeth are worn faster ; if he feed on longer grass, and on 

 the prairies the teeth wear slowly. Horses kept in the stable, have less 

 wear on the nippers than those which have to forage for themselves. 

 Thus in old age the teeth, ODce two and a half or three inches long, will 



