228 



THE PEOCESS OF TEETHIXG. 



At seven years, the mark, in the way in which we have described it, is 

 worn out in the four central nippers, and fast wearing away in the 

 corner teeth ; the tush also is beginning to be altered. It is rounded at 

 the point ; rounded at the edges ; still round without ; and beginning 

 to get round inside. 



At eight years old, the tush is rounder in every way ; the mark is gone 

 from all the bottom nippers, and it may almost be said to be out of the 



mouth. There is nothing remain- 

 ing in the bottom nippers that can 

 afterwards clearly show the age 

 of the horse, or justify the most 

 experienced examiner in gi^dng 

 a positive opinion. 



Dishonest dealers have re- 

 sorted to a method of prolonging 

 the mark in the lower nippers. It 

 is called hlslioinng. With an en- 

 graver's tool a hole is dug in the 

 now almost plain surface of the 

 corner teeth, and in shape and 

 depth resembling the mark in a 

 seven-years-old horse. The hole 

 is then burned with a heated iron, 

 and a permanent black stain is 

 left ; but the irregular appear- 

 ance of the cavity, the dif- 

 fusion of the black stain, and the general appearance of the mouth, can 

 never deceive a careful examiner. 



Horsemen, after the animal is eight years old, are accustomed to look 

 to the nippers in the upper jaAv, and some conclusion has been drawn from 

 the appearances which they present. It cannot be doubted that the mark 

 remains in them some years after it has been obliterated from the nippers 

 in the lower jaw ; because the hard substance, a kind of cement by which 

 the pit or funnel in the centre of the tooth is occupied, does not reach so 

 high, and there is a greater depth of tooth to be worn away in order to 

 come at it. To this it may be added, that the upper nippers are not so 

 much exposed to friction and wear as the under. The lower jaw alone is 

 moved, and pressed forcibly upon the food : the upper jaw is without 

 motion, and has only to resist that pressure. 



There are various opinions as to the intervals between the disapjDearance 

 of the marks from the different cutting-teeth in the upper jaw. Some 

 have averaged it at two years, and others at one. The author is inclined 

 to adopt the latter opinion, and then the age will be thus determined : at 

 nine years the mark will be worn out from the middle nippers, fi'om the 

 next pair at ten, and from all the upper nippers at eleven. During these 

 periods the tush is likewise undergoing a manifest change ; it is blunter, 

 shorter, and rounder. In what degree this takes place in the different 

 periods, long and most favourable oppoi'tunities for observation can alone 

 enable the horseman to decide. 



The tushes are exposed to but little wear and tear. The friction against 

 them must be slight, proceeding only from the passage of the food over 

 them, and from the motion of the tongue, or from the bit ; and their 

 alteration of form, although generally as we have described it, is fre- 

 quently uncertain. The tush will sometimes be blunt at eight ; at other 

 times it will remain pointed at eighteen. The upper tush, although the 

 latest in appearing, is soonest worn away. 



