184 TEETH. 



himself whether those parts have been doomed to unnatural wear, and 

 therefore may not have assumed an unnatural aspect. 



The author has not lately seen a specimen of bishoped teeth. In 

 Ireland, such sights obtrude themselves at every horse fair. The major- 

 ity of horses are, in that country, sold cheap, most of the purchasers 

 being clothed in rags. It is a sad feature in the practices of imposition, 

 that it is always violently rampant where there is the least certainty of 

 reward. 



To fully explain in what bishoping consists, it is necessary to inform 

 the reader that on the nipping or cutting surfaces of the young horse's 

 front teeth there mostly are dark indentations or deep hollows. Below 

 is presented an enlarged engraving of this portion of a tooth, taken from 

 the head of that which was a three-year old colt. The dark spot in the 

 middle of the diagram represents the situation of the hollow into which 

 the food naturally falls, rendering the interior of the cavity of a deep 

 color approaching to blackness. Bishoping supposes the cavity always 

 to be present ; invariably to be of one form, and in every instance to 

 sink to the like depth, which suppositions are contrary to fact ; but even 

 were such rules observed by nature, there are still means by which the 

 cheat may be detected. Immediately around the dark-colored space is 

 developed a fine line of enamel, which is always white. The rogues 

 can counterfeit the black mark, but they cannot imitate the crystalline 

 white bordering which surrounds the opening. The presence or absence 

 of this is of more importance, therefore, than the existence of a black 

 indentation. Again, those who tamper with the teeth cannot change 

 the shape of the surface on which they work. The young tooth is wide 

 from side to side, and narrow from the front to the backward margin. 

 He who ventures where bishoped horses are to be found, should familiar- 

 ize his eye with the shape of the youthful organ. 



THREE TEARS OLD. TWELVE TEARS OLD. 



An enlarged view of the difference in form and in aspect which separates the table of a twelve-year 

 old bishoped nipper from the same part in the three-year old colt. 



In contrast with the natural tooth, the reader is also presented with 

 an exaggerated sketch taken from an organ which had been tampered 

 with, and which was extracted from the head of an animal that had at 



