TEETH. 



149 



attitude, in the restlessness of fever, it offends its custodian, who, loun^ 

 ing upon the locker, watches to maintain order, and can punish, should 

 any horse sin against a groom's notion of propriety. Within the stable, 

 of an afternoon, all is silent ! The man is uneasy, because of an inward 

 consciousness that he is not discharging a humane office. The animals 

 are fidgety under, unnatural restraint. The very air of the place is op- 

 pressive. Nothing appears at ease, save the cat, and this creature dozes 

 and purs with enjoyment. But for the poor colt there is no sympathy. 

 For should the cutting of many teeth inflame the gums and destroy the 

 appetite, an iron is made red hot and violently forced into the mouth, 

 under pretense of burning away the groom's favorite disease — "the 

 lampas !" which is purely an imaginary disorder. 



JAW OF A THREE-YEAR OLD. 



It has been described that a three-year colt cuts twelve teeth. The 

 above engraving represents half the lower jaw of an animal which had 

 seen three summers. In it the reader will readily recognize those organs 

 which are of recent appearance, by their darker color, by their larger 

 size, or by their differing in shape from the other members. These new 

 teeth are a central incisor and the first two grinders. The horse has 

 two jaws and two sides to each jaw ; therefore the same number being 

 present within each side of both jaws, the teeth already alluded to appear 

 during the third year. However, even the quantity named rather under- 

 states than overrates the fact, for frequently the tushes are cut during 

 this period ; should such be the case, the colt acquires no less than six- 

 teen teeth in twelve months. We know what the young beings of 

 our own species suffer when the gums are ruptured and the bones ab- 

 sorbed by the organs of mastication ; the danger then encountered leads 

 to a belief that the great agony endured is increased by a rapid growth 



