230 ANIMALS OF THE 



nor so readily as those of the sheep, which are 

 less, it is obliged to feed upon the tallest vegeta- 

 bles that offer ; thus it eats them all down, and 

 in time levels the surface of the pasture. 



The age of the cow is known by the teeth and 

 horns. This animal is furnished with eight cut- 

 ting teeth in the lower jaw ; at the age of ten 

 months, the two middlemost of these fall out, and 

 are replaced by others, that are not so white, but 

 broader ; at the age of sixteen months, the two 

 next milk-white teeth fall out likewise, and others 

 come up in their room : thus, at the end of every 

 six months the creature loses and gains, till, at 

 the age of three years, all' the cutting teeth are 

 renewed, and then they are long, pretty white, 

 and equal ; but in proportion as the animal ad- 

 vances in years, they become irregular and black, 

 their inequalities become smoother, and the ani- 

 mal less capable of chewing its food. Thus the 

 cow often declines from this single cause; for, 

 as it is obliged to eat a great deal to support life, 

 and as the smoothness of the teeth makes the dif- 

 ficulty of chewing great, a sufficient quantity of 

 food cannot be supplied to the stomach. Thus 

 the poor animal sinks in the midst of plenty, and 

 every year grows leaner and leaner, till it dies. 



The horns are another, and a surer method of 

 determining this animal's age. At four years of 

 age, the cow has small pointed neat smooth horns, 

 thickest near the head ; at five, the horns become 

 larger, and are marked round with the former 

 year's growth. Thus, while the animal continues 

 tp live, the horns continue to lengthen ; and 



