EXAMINATION OF TEETH. 119 



are worn out, or very nearly extinct, and the tusks are 

 full grown, with very distinct grooves on their inside 

 surfaces. At seven years of age, the cavities of the 

 next teeth on each side of the centre ones have also 

 disappeared, and the grooves in the tusks are becoming 

 smaller. At eight years old, the marks in the teeth are 

 nearly obliterated, and the grooves in the tusks are 

 filling up. These grooves can be felt at nine or ten 

 years old, when the tusks become perfectly round. If 

 a person has not sufficient confidence in his general 

 knowledge of the growth and appearances of the horse 

 at the several periods of his age to determine if he be 

 more than " seven or eight q^"," he will not be able to 

 form any corroboration from the appearances of the 

 grinders, simply for the very efficient reason, that he 

 cannot get to see them. In most horses there is great 

 difficulty in procuring a steady examination of the front 

 teeth alone, but to inspect the grinders would require 

 the use of both gags and mirrors. 



The foal is born with two grinders in the upper 

 and lower jaws. Before he is one month old, a third 

 grinder has appeared, and by the time he is twelve 

 months old the fourth grinder is far above the surface. 

 At the end of two years the fifth grinder has grown out. 



