120 



THE STOCK OWNER S ADVISER. 



now almost plain surface of the corner teeth, so as to present the 

 appearance of the infimdibulum of a seven-year-old horse. The 

 hole is then burnt with a heated iron, and a permanent black 

 stain is left. The next pair of nippers is sometimes slightly 

 touched. If the ring of enamel is not present we may rest 

 assured that the depression is an artificial one, since, however 

 expert or clever he may be, a man cannot possibly place or pro- 

 duce a ring of enamel around a false infundibulum. 



After the horse is nine years old, we can only guess at his age, 

 or approach within a few years of it, by the changes which the 

 teeth undergo as they advance in age. 

 It would be folly to claim perfect accu- 

 racy at this advanced age. At eight the 

 upper surface of the nippers is oval, the 

 length of the oval running across from 

 tooth to tooth, but as the horse gets older 

 the teeth diminish in size, the diminution 

 commencing in their width, and not in 

 their thickness. They become a little 

 separated, and their surface are rounded. 

 At nine the center nippers are evidently 

 so; at ten the others begin to shorten the 

 oval ; at eleven the second i3air of nippers are round, and at 

 thirteen the corner ones are round. At fourteen the faces 

 of the central nippers become somewhat triangular. At seven- 

 teen they are all so ; at nineteen the angle begins to wear 

 off and tlie central teeth are again oval, but in reversed 

 direction — viz., from out inward, and at twenty-one they 

 all wear this form. At about twelve years the teeth are of 

 a yellow color, and, therefore, destitute of enamel. At this 

 age the lower nippers change their original upright direction, 

 and project forward. 



There are also general indications of the advance of old age 

 aside from those offered by the teeth, such as deepening of the 

 hollows over the eye; loss of its brilliancy and wrinkles under 



Fig. 2,5 — Lowi r Incisors of a 

 Tu)cntij-Onc Year Old Horse. 



