HORSE. 



to seize and to crop the grass ; a 

 provision is given in the structure of 

 some of the bones of the face, by 

 means of which he can comminute 

 and grind down his food as perfectly 

 as in the best-contrived mill. 



" The teeth of the horso require 

 some lengthened consideration, not 

 only from their admirable adaptation 

 to this purpose, but as indicating, by 

 the various changes which they un- 

 dergo, almost beyond the possibility 

 of error, the age of the animal. He 

 may, when young in years, be re- 

 duced nearly to the decrepitude of 

 age by the barbarous usage of those 

 who ought to be his most zealous 

 protectors ; the cavity above the eye 

 may be deepened, the under lip may 

 fall^ the limbs may be bowed, and the 

 feet may be battered and distorted, 

 but it is not easy to alter the charac- 

 ter of the teeth. 



" The colt is generally dropped with 

 the first and second molar and grind- 

 ing teeth having forced their way 

 through the gum. When he is about 

 seven or eight days old the two cen- 

 tral front, or incisor teeth, above and 

 below, appear {Fig. a). At the ex- 

 piration of five or si.K weeks the two 

 next incisors may be seen. At three 

 months they will have overtaken the 

 central ones, and both pairs will have 

 nearly attained their natural level. 

 A third grinder will then have ap- 

 peared ; and a little before or after 

 the eighth month the third nipper, 

 above and below, and on each side, 

 will be seen. The colt will now have 

 his full complement of front or cut- 

 ting teeth. 



" These teeth are beautifully adapt- 

 ed to their purpose. They have in 

 front an elevated cutting edge of con- 

 siderable sharpness. It is formed of 

 enamel, a polished substance almost 

 too hard to be acted upon by the file, 

 which covers the tooth. This eleva- 

 ted edge is bent somewhat inward 

 and over the tooth, so that there is 

 a depression behind it, which gradu- 

 ally becomes stained by the food, 

 and constitutes what is called ' the 

 mark' in the mouth of the colt or 

 horse. 

 Kk 



" This elevated edge of enamel, 

 hard as it is, is gradually worn down 

 in the act of nipping and cutting the 

 grass ; and as it wears away, the 

 hollow behind becomes diminished, 

 and is at length totally obliterated. 

 By the degree in which this mark is 

 effaced, the horseman, not only witli 

 regard to the first, but the permanent 

 teeth, judges of the age of the ani- 

 mal. This obliteration begins to be 

 manifest at a very early age. At six 

 months it is sufficiently evident in 

 the four central nippers. At a year 

 and a half the mark will be very faint 

 in the central nippers, diminished in 

 the other two, and the surface of all 

 of them will be flattened. 



" At twelve months a fourth grind- 

 er protrudes, and a fifth at the expi- 

 ration of two years. 



" These are all temporary teeth. 

 They were only to last during a very 

 early period of the life of the animal ; 

 and when his jaws were considera- 

 bly expanded, they were destined to 

 give way to another set, larger, firm- 

 er, and "that would probably last du- 

 ring life. The permanent teeth had 

 been long growing in the socket be- 

 neath the temporary ones, and had 

 been pressing upon their roots, and 

 that pressure had caused an absorp- 

 tion of these roots, until at length 

 they lost all hold, and were displaced. 



" When the animal is about three 

 years old the central pair of nippers, 

 above and below, are thus removed, 

 and two fresh teeth, easily distin- 

 guishable from the first by their in- 

 creased size, make their appearance, 

 so that a three-year old colt is easily 

 recognised by these two new and en- 

 larged central nippers. 



" A three-year old colt has his form 

 and energies much more developed 

 than a two-year old one, and is con- 

 siderably more valuable ; therefore 

 some dishonest breeders endeavour 

 to pass him upon the unwary as be- 

 ing a year older than he really is, and 

 they accomplish this in an ingenious 

 but cruel manner. This cannot, how- 

 ever, be effected until a portion of 

 the second year is past, when the 

 permanent teeth below are beginning 



385 



