TEETH. 



139 



At the same time, if all respectable dealers are above positive imposi 

 tion, it is not every dealer who will prevent a self-conceited novice from 

 imposing upon himself. Such a person, acting upon his own judgment 

 may be allowed to purchase the worst screw which some yard contains, 

 at the money that should procure a first-rate animal. Even then, the 

 dealer has an escape, which every form of worldly honesty will not pro- 

 vide. The quadruped, if not approved of, can be exchanged within the 

 fortnight following the transaction. To be sure, such exchanges gen- 

 erally advantage only one party : but a tradesman must live ; he cannot 

 be expected to waste hours showing his stock and chattering with fools 

 for no business purpose 1 



However, to protect the reader from every chance of imposition, so 

 far as the age of the horse may be concerned, let him attentively accom- 

 pany the author through the following pages ; let him also particularly 

 notice the engravings with which the text is illustrated. 



A foal at birth has three molars or grinding teeth, just through the 

 gums, upon both sides of the upper and of the lower jaws. The little 

 animal, however, generally displays no incisors or front teeth ; but the 

 gums are inflamed and evidently upon the eve of bursting. The molars 

 or grinders are, as yet, unflattened or have not been rendered smooth by 

 attrition. The lower jaw, moreover, when the inferior margin is felt, 

 appears to be very thick, blunt, and round. 



THE FOAL'S JAW AT BIRTH. 



A fortnight has rarely elapsed before the membrane ruptures, and two 

 pairs of front, very white teeth begin to appear in the mouth. At first, 

 these new members look disproportionately large to their tiny abiding- 

 place ; and when contrasted with the reddened gums at their base, they 

 have that pretty, pearly aspect which is the common characteristic of 

 the milk teeth in most animals. They must occasion pain to the foal at 

 this period : the appearance of the little mouth affords sufl&cient evidence 



