278 



ANIMAL MANAGEMENT. 



At two 

 months. 



At one 

 year. 



At two 

 years. 

 At three 

 j^ears. 

 At four to 

 five ^'^ears. 

 At six 

 years. 

 At seven 

 years. 



The 



tushes. 



Wear of 

 teeth. 



conditions. The mouth is a wreck between four and six years, and the 

 teeth cannot cut and tear the tough thorn or hard fibrous plant which form a 

 large portion of the camel's grazing. If worked under campaign 

 conditions at this period the beast practically starves. 



The milk or temporary teeth commence to appear in the lower jaw 

 either at or shortly after birth, and at hvo 7ii07iths the six temporary 

 incisors are cut, being very small and overlapping at their edges. At 

 twelve inojiths they are well up and in wear, and as the jaw grows bigger 

 and wider they no longer overlap but become separated from each other. 

 At two years there are still only temporary teeth, well worn and quite 

 separated ; at three they are more worn, and at four they are mere 

 stumps, wide apart, peg like, discoloured and, for hard grazing, of httle 

 use. At four and a half to jive years the central pair of permanent teeth 

 are cut, and the other pairs in succession yearly, so that at six years the 

 animal has four (central and lateral), and at seven years six (central, 

 lateral, and corner) permanent incisor teeth in the lower jaw. In 

 addition there are also, on each side of the lower jaw, two tushes, which 

 are somewhat irregular in the time of their appearance, but are usually 

 in evidence at six and fully up at eight years. 



In the upper jaw there are three tush-like teeth on each side which 

 are cut between five and six, and are also fully up at eight. There are 

 no front teeth in the upper jaw, their place being occupied by a hard gum 

 similar to that seen in the ox. 



When the permanent incisor teeth first appear they are broad, white, 

 sharp-edged cutting teeth which slightly overlap each other at the edges ; 

 but as they get worn they lose their sharp outline, become first of all 

 grooved on their edges from tearing at hard and tough plants, and subse- 

 quently worn down into discoloured, brown, rounded stumps, quite separate 

 from each other. When they first appear their cutting edges project 

 almost horizontally out of the jaw, but with increasing age they get more 

 and more upright, and become not unlike the stumps of aged horses. 

 These changes take place gradually between the ages of ten and fifteen, 

 after which the teeth are not in themselves as reliable a guide as when 

 considered with other signs of age. From the very tough nature of 

 much of the camel's natural fodder the teeth are liable to get broken, and 

 though this is usually a sign of years, it is not necessarily so. At about 

 fifteen the hair on the tail becomes white, the eye sometimes loses its 

 translucency, and the hollows over the eyes become markedly deeper. 



The animal attains its prime at nine. For military purposes seven to 

 twelve are suitable ages for purchase, and under no consideration should 

 camels be bought for immediate service under six, though they may be 



