IRREGULARITIES OF THE DENTAL APPARATUS. 767 



§ 2. BiSHOPING, COUNTERMARKING. 



The fraudulent trick known under the names bishoping, coun- 

 termarking, is performed to make the horse appear younger than 

 he in reality is; it, however, can only deceive ignorant and careless 

 observers, as we will demonstrate immediately. 



We know that in young horses the transverse diameter of the free 

 extremity of the tooth is greater than the antero-posterior diameter. 

 We know also that the dental table becomes modified and acquires a 

 form successively oval, round, triangular, etc. We have seen, finally, 

 that the external dental cavity occupies at first the whole of the sur- 

 face of friction ; that it gradually diminishes in depth, draws nearer 

 and nearer to the posterior border of the table, disappears, and is 

 then replaced by the central cement, circumscribed by the circle of 

 central enamel, whose extremity, in its turn, finally completely dis- 

 appears. 



The jobber (for an honest horse-dealer would not indulge in such 

 methods), in order to the better gain his end, will choose in pref- 

 erence a horse rather vigorous, still well preserved, and having good 

 members. Let us take a subject twelve years of age, for example : the 

 inferior incisors, at this period of life, are round, and the central enamel 

 has disappeared, or almost so, from their tables. Suppose, also, now, 

 that we desire to give to these teeth the characters of seven years. 



Certain men in Paris have the reputation of practising this fraud very 

 artistically, and we have had them perform it on two horses expressly 

 for the purpose of showing it afterwards to our students. We have 

 observed numerous specimens of this kind in horses recently purchased. 

 The following is the modus operandi : a strong halter is placed on 

 the horse's head ; the halter-strap is fastened close to the ground, so 

 that the head is conveniently placed within the reach of the operator. 

 Then a thick block of wood is placed in the mouth, to keep it open, 

 so that the inferior incisive arcade may be altogether free. 



Some operators, before commencing the tvork, level the dental tables 

 in both jaws with the rasp ; then, with a narrow gouge, a small trans- 

 verse cavity is scooped out upon the intermediates and the corners. 

 This operation is somewhat difficult on account of the hardness of 

 the central enamel. These cavities are never made in the superior 

 incisors, because there they still exist. At other times, also, the tushes 

 are rasped off, especially on their inner side, to refreshen their free 

 extremity by rendering it a little more pointed. The latter precaution 

 is, however, not practised upon all bishoped mouths. 



