4 Dentition as indicative of the Ags 



improved shorthorn cattle, Cotswold sheep, and Berkshire pigs. 

 They were kept on liberal rations, but not forced for show 

 purposes. 



The inquiry was continued beyond the College Farm , and the 

 cattle, sheep,, and swine belonging to well-known breeders and 

 exhibitors were examined, and it may be stated without hesita- 

 tion, that from the commencement of the investigation to the 

 present time, including a period of more than forty years, no 

 remarkable advance has been observed in the rate of development 

 of the teeth. None of the thousands of cattle, sheep, and pigs 

 which have been examined during that period have shown 

 examples of dental precocity more pronounced in character than 

 those which were met with in the early part of the inquiry among 

 the animals on the College Farm at Cirencester and elsewhere. 



It did not at first occur to the writer to question the truth 

 of the assumption that the improvement of the various breeds 

 of farm stock Isy selection and high feeding sufficiently accounted 

 for the early appearance of the teeth ; but now, after a further 

 period of forty years has elapsed, i.e. from 1850 to 1895, without 

 any marked change in the development of the teeth — although 

 breeders have been during the whole period steadily devoting 

 their knowledge and energies to the cultivation of the various 

 breeds of cattle, sheep, and swine — it is impossible to avoid 

 the conclusion that the original version of the development of 

 the teeth was based on imperfect observation. 



With some exhibitors, the number of whom it may be observed 

 grows less year by year, it is a favourite contention that the 

 system of forcing animals by high feeding on prepared food 

 facilitates the cutting of the teeth. Physiology affords no 

 ground for the assertion, and experience proves that it is incor- 

 rect. The use of prepared food lessens the wear of the mastica- 

 ting organs, and rather tends to retard than accelerate their 

 development. 



Dentition of the Horse. 



Among the animals of the farm, the horse has always occu- 

 pied a prominent position, and everything relating to his 

 management in health and disease has received special attention. 

 It is not therefore remarkable that horsemen were familiar with 

 the method of judging the animal's age by the teeth long before 

 it was ascertained that a similar method was applicable to other 

 farm-stock. And at the present time, although the investiga- 

 tions which have been carried out by veterinary authorities on 



