of the Animals of the Farm. 9 



its real age ; but as six years old is, according to general con- 

 viction, the period of equine perfection, an old horse gains by- 

 being made to appear as near that age as possible. 



That the horse's mouth is sometimes subjected to certain 

 operations for the purpose of deception cannot be doubted. 

 Many young animals come into the market showing by the mal- 

 position of their teeth, or the absence of some of them altogether, 

 that violence has been employed to aid the natural process of 

 eruption, but often in so bungling a manner that the object has 

 been defeated. Early extraction of the temporary teeth facili- 

 tates the cutting of the permanent organs, and by commencing 

 with the central incisors as soon as signs of their displacement 

 are seen, and continuing the same system in respect of the lateral 

 and corner teeth, the whole of the permanent incisors may bo 

 brought into the mouth soon after four years. The cutting of 

 the tusks at this age is also facilitated by fitting a hot iron, cun- 

 ningly arranged, over the points of the teeth which may be just 

 pricking through the gum, and thus burning away the structure 

 which obscured the organs from view. 



It was a favourite argument with Mayhew, who devoted 

 much time to the study of dentition, and certainly was the first 

 to announce the fact of the cutting of the first and second per- 

 manent molars in the same year, instead of following each other 

 at an interval of a year — as had been taught previously — that 

 extraction of the temporary teeth, or lancing the gums, or the 

 adoption of any means by which inflammation was excited,, 

 would tend rather to retard than facilitate the advance of the 

 permanent teeth. Mr. Mayhew's contention was, that during 

 the existence of inflammation blood was determined to the gum, 

 and therefore a less than the ordinary supply was sent to the 

 new tooth, which would consequently be developed slowly. How- 

 ever satisfactory this explanation might be to the physiologist, 

 it had no weight with the breeder, who knew from jjractical 

 experience that the permanent or second teeth did come up 

 more quickly if the first teeth were taken out. 



Treated in the manner above described, the horse at four 

 years off is accepted as a five-year-old ; but the expert is well 

 aware that at the age of four years there are eight molar teeth 

 which have only just approached the level of the others, and 

 these enable him to distinguish with absolute certainty between 

 a horse of four and another of five years old. 



The clumsy expedient of excavating the centres of the teeth 

 of old horses, and blackening the cavity thus made by means of 

 a hot iron to represent the lost mark, is not likely to deceive 

 any one who is familiar with the anatomy of the teeth ; and the 



