THE MOLARS. 



621 



at any period of life, the inferior being always more anterior than the 

 superior, 1 this wear is caused by the lips, the tongue, and the aliment. 



C.5 



FIG. 291. Superior right canine tooth. 

 A. External face. | B. Internal face. 



FIG. 292. Longitudinal and median section 



of the canines. 

 CS. Superior canine. | CL Inferior canine. 



The dental table ultimately shows, in its central portion, a dental star 

 having the form of a round spot. The configuration of the internal 

 face likewise becomes effaced. 



In proportion as these modifications are produced, the free part 

 diminishes ordinarily in length ; sometimes, however, it remains very 

 salient above the gums, even in very old horses. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE MOLARS. 



i. Supplementary Premolars. 



THESE teeth (Fig. 270), first recognized by Daubenton, 2 do not exist always. 

 They are present more frequently in the superior than in the inferior jaw, and 

 rarely do they exist in both simultaneously. Girard says that they appear at 

 about the age of ten months, and that their shedding is usually simultaneous 



1 It is very rare to observe these teeth rubbing against each other, but we have, nevertheless, 

 witnessed an example. 



2 Daubenton, Histoire naturelle g6nrale et particuliere, avec la description du Cabinet du 

 roi, Edition in-4o de I'lmprimerie royale, t. iv. p. 344. 



