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that the early progenitors of the horse were without 

 callosities. Zebras are devoid of warts on the hind 

 legs, and Celtic ponies and mules are also said to 

 be without them, but whether horses and asses sprang 

 from the same source is a point in evolution which 

 is still undecided. 



The practice of knocking out the colt -teeth in 

 order to accelerate the growth of the horse -teeth is 

 too well known to require description. This artificial 

 device is sometimes resorted to by unscrupulous 

 vendors whose object is to make colts appear a year 

 older than they actually are in order to procure a 

 readier sale. By this means well-grown colts are 

 sometimes worked a year sooner than they should 

 be, which is, of course, very detrimental to them from 

 all points of view. 



" Bishoping " is another form of imposition which, 

 however, is happily dying out. It consists in burning 

 artificial cups in the crowns of the lower corner teeth 

 after the natural ones are worn out, with the object 

 of making a fifteen-year-old horse appear an eight- 

 year-old. This may pass muster with a novice, but 

 the device is easily detected by an experienced horse- 

 man. The artificial burning destroys the enamel 

 surrounding the natural indentations of the teeth, 

 thus producing dead black blotches. This, together 

 with the reduced width and the increased angle of 

 the setting of the teeth, render deception next to 

 impossible since the newer methods of teeth -read- 

 ing were introduced — hence, as already mentioned, 



X 



