25 



frequently hy picking of bones one or more are lost. 

 At seven or eight the hair about the eyes become* 

 sliij;htlv grev, which fjraciuallv extends over the face ; 

 but it is not till ten, eleven, or twelve years, that 

 the eyes lose their lustre: whenever that takes place, 

 the dog breaks fast, though many <{og3 last iifteen, 

 sixteen, or seventeen years, and I have seen a mo- 

 ther and son vigorous at twenty and twenty-one 

 years. 



The age of horses is also gained by a knowledge of 

 the appearances their body puts on at diiferent pe- 

 riods: as they become old, their eyes sink, their 

 muzzles turn white or grey, and their eye-pits be- 

 come hollow ; but these appearances depend so 

 much on the previous usage of the animal, that the 

 exact age cannot be gained from an attention to any 

 of them : we therefore have recourse to the teeth, 

 w hich furnish certain alterations in their appearance 

 every year in all horses nearly alike. Horses have 40 

 teeth, and mares 36: 24- of these are grinders, or 

 double; 12 are front teetli, or gatherers; and four, 

 that occupy the space between the double and the 

 front, are called tushes, but of which mares are usu- 

 ally deprived. Horses have two sets of teeth ; a 

 tsmporaneous or milk set, and a set called permanent, 

 or horse teeth. Till five years the age is judged of by 

 the shedding of the twelve front teeth of the milk set. 

 At two years and a half, the two front nippers above 

 and below fall out, and are clianged. At three and a 

 half, the two teeth next to these, above and below, 

 are replaced by others; and before five the two 

 corners also ; about w hich period the tushes likewise 

 appear, and the colt assumes the name of tke horse ; 



D 



