732 THE EXTERIOR OF THE HORSE. 



A deep external dental cavity means nothing else than the per- 

 sistence of the cavity, " the mark," at a period when it should exist no 

 longer, and its principal cause resides in the thinness of the layer of 

 cement which fills its bottom. 



Besides, the hardness of the dental tissues, the nature of the food, 

 and the conditions of health of the teeth, are also so many causes 

 capable of explaining this irregularity ; but the differences of wear 

 which they imply are not well recognized, and have not been, so far as 

 we know, determined experimentally. 



It is known that the dental cups should not be present after the 

 age of eight years, for it is at this period that all the inferior incisor 

 teeth are levelled. 



The observer, however, will be very much mistaken if he accords 

 an absolute value to this assertion. In many horses the external 

 dental cavity, in the inferior incisors, has not disappeared at six years 

 in the pincers, and frequently persists in the intermediates up to seven 

 vears. On the contrary, it is not rare to witness a too early levelling 

 of the former or of the latter. 



However this may be, beguile is not known to have the least 

 influence upon the value of the services rendered by the horse. This 

 reminds us of an acquaintance of ours at the Paris Tattersall, who 

 never purchased a horse, however suitable he might have been in all 

 other respects, if he was begu. 



According to M. de Curnieu, the begut horse is a fable. " In fact, 

 if the ' marks' on the dental table indicate six years, the length and 

 the inclination of the teeth will contradict the first evidence, and should 

 prevent us from being deceived. In these horses, the wearing away 

 of the teeth takes place more slowly than in the generality of cases. 

 Therefore the tooth is harder; therefore the general constitution of 

 the animal is stronger ; therefore the animal is more durable ; there- 

 fore he really has for the service the age which he appears to have. 

 For the age of a horse is not so much the number of years he has 

 lived as of the years during which he will yet be able to live and to 

 work." ' 



Of this there can be no doubt. Still there is no positive proof: 

 1st, that the anomaly in question is due to the hardness of the dental 

 tissues ; 2d, that the resistance of one organ to wear and tear necessa- 

 rily implies that of the organism as a whole. 



There are some mouths in which the dental cups are more hollow 



1 De Curnieu, loc. cit., t. iii. p. 529. 



