TEETH. 141 



pleasure and amusement by submitting to the will of him whom it must 

 shortly recognize as an earthly tyrant. 



Why should not the primary lessons of domestication be now gently 

 commenced, when the spirit requires not to be subdued and the temper 

 needs not to be conquered ? Is there not unnecessary cruelty in the plan 

 which is commonly adopted? The young life is allowed to roam at 

 large till the time arrives when man conceives the colt ought to be 

 "broken in.''' There is no gradual instruction; no endeavor to coax or 

 to soothe by a display of gentleness. Obedience is remorselessly wrenched 

 out of the being. Harshness naturally engenders resistance; but in- 

 creased severity is employed, till the willing creature is literally con- 

 quered and its spirit "broken." This is done to an animal which is born 

 anxious to please its superior. Let the reader ponder over this custom, 

 and then reflect upon the retentive memory of the subjected race. They 

 must remember — they have no ability to forget. Consider the custom, 

 and also regard the nature upon which that custom operates ; then say 

 whether the breeder goes the proper way to develop that sweetness of 

 temper and that gentleness of disposition which increase the value of 

 equine property. 



But, to return to the subject of the present paper. There is now a 

 long pause before more teeth appear in the mouth. The little one, in 

 the mean time, lives chiefly upon suction, and runs, during the period of 

 perfect happiness, free by its mother's side. Upon the completion of the 

 first month, seldom earlier, it may be observed to lower the head and 

 nip the young blades of the shooting grass. From the third month, 

 however, the habit becomes more frequent, until, by the advent of the 

 sixth month, the grinders will be worn quite flat ; or, having lost their 

 pointed and jagged prominences, will, by the wear of constant mastica- 

 tion, have been reduced to the state which is suited to their function. 



THE FRONT TEETH AT NINE MONTHS OLB. 



The corner incisors come into the mouth about the ninth month, the 

 four pair of nippers, which have been already traced, being at this time 

 fully developed. Above is a view of the foal's teeth, as these are ex- 



