ERUPTION OF THE TEETH. 639 



not impregnated, presented, without exception, the teeth of a five- 

 year-old. 



One of our confreres in the army, M. Bizard, has communicated 

 to us an observation of the same nature : a half-bred mare, foaled on 

 the 26th of May, 1875, and served on the 8th of May, 1880, Avhen 

 five years of age, was still provided with her four corner milk-teeth ; 

 the latter were only shed from the 18th to the 30th of July, 1881, 

 — that is to say, at the age of six years and two months. 



Facts of this nature are undoubtedly more frequent than is believed, 

 in consequence of the difficulty which is experienced in obtaining exact 

 information as to the age of the subjects. If these facts were to be 

 made a criterion in this connection they would tend to increase rather 

 than diminish the age of pregnant mares. 



Girard ^ has equally noticed the action of the climate. The horses 

 of Southern France, raised in their native country, are more precocious 

 than those of the North; in them the eruption of the permanent teeth 

 takes place sometimes in the early part of September, and most often 

 at the beginning of October ; they are always entirely through the gums 

 by the middle of December. 



In the cold climates of the North, in Normandy, for example, it 

 takes place normally only at the beginning of January, February, 

 March, and even April. In the Limousin district, it is rarely termi- 

 nated before the month of January. These variations dejjend so much 

 upon the climate that the transportation of colts from cold into A\arm 

 countries hastens the eruption ; it is retarded in a contrary case, 

 and this so much the more as the diiference in the temperature is 

 greater. 



Finally, Bernard,'^ Magne,^ and M. Sanson* have advanced the opin- 

 ion that the race-horse, alwavs verv stronfflv nourished, constitutes an 

 exception to the principles of Girard. Our noted colleague, M. Tous- 

 saint,^ has furnished the proof that the thoroughbred horse is, in this 

 respect, not diiferent from the common draught-horse. Our observa- 

 tions fully confirm his. 



That there are subjects presenting exceptions to these general 



1 Girard, loc. cit., p. 60. 



* Bernard, Guide des acheteurs et des vendeurs d'animaux domestiques, Toulouse, 1845, 

 p. 175. 



3 Magne, Memoire sur I'allaitement et le sevrage des jeunes animaux. See Bulletin de 

 rAcad^mie de m^decine, ann6e 1876, p. 965. 



* A. Sanson, Le cheval de Solutre ; memoir read at the Soc. anthropologique, dans sa stance 

 du 15 Octobre, 1878. 



6 Toussaint, De I'age de chevaux de course, au point de vue de la doctrine de la pr6cocit6. 

 See Recueil de medecine vetSrinaire, annee 1872, p. 992. 



