OF THE AGE OF HORNED CATTLE. 47 



OF THE AGE OF HORNED CATTLE. 



In the ox, the age is most frequently judged of bj^ the 

 horns, as offering a more convenient point of observation 

 than the teeth. But as the horns are the subject of much 

 trickery, and as some breeds are now hornless, it is not im- 

 portant that we should be justly informed of the indications 

 of age by them. The dentition of horned cattle has been 

 more neglected than that of the horse ; and the scientific 

 breeders, who have learned to mould the form of these 

 animals at their will, have failed to inform themselves on 

 so simple a matter as the successional changes in the 

 bovine teeth. On the contrary, they have copied each 

 other's errors from Buffon downward ; until, in the present 

 day, some of our highest authorities are not within twelve 

 months of the correct periods of the displacement of the 

 one set and the appearance of the other. 



A calf, either at birth, or very soon after, is found to 

 have two middle incisors in the lower or posterior jaw ; 

 neat cattle having, as is well known, none above. In a 

 fortnight, two others appear alongside of the first. The 

 third week usually produces two more ; and by the fourth 

 or fifth week from birth, there is an addition of two others, 

 making the complement of milk incisors (eight) complete. 



These teeth will present a surface convex externally, and 

 somewhat concave within ; the portion above the gum will 

 be covered with enamel, and which will slant upward from 

 the internal to the external surface of the tooth, forming 

 an edge of considerable sharpness. The only indication 

 of advancing age will be the wearing down of these sharp 

 edges, and the appearance of the bony substance of the 

 tooth beneath. Even at a month the centre teeth are a 

 little worn. At two months the enamel will have been 

 slightly worn off the edge of the four centre teeth. At 

 three months, from the six centre ; and at four months, 

 the corner teeth will likewise be considerably worn. From 

 this period these teeth decrease in size in the order of their 

 appearance, until two years old, when the two middle ones 

 are pushed out by those of the permanent set ; and thus 

 a two-year old steer or heifer will have two large middle 



