32 THE nORSE AND ITS DISEASES. 



from the teeth, what are the habits of an animal. A 

 lion with the teeth of a horse, could not subsist ; and a 

 horse with the teeth of a lion would starve. 



A colt is usually foaled with six grinders in each 

 jaw, three on each side ; in ten or eleven days, he puts 

 out two nippers in front, above and below ; in a fortnight 

 after, the two middle ones appear, and in three months 

 from this, the corner nippers are pushed out ; from this, 

 until he is a year old, no great change takes place, 

 except that the cavity in the nippers begins slightly to 

 fill up, and appears worn ; he has likewise now four 

 grinders on each side, above and below three of the milk 

 set, and one permanent ; at a year and a-half, the cavity 

 in the nipper is nearly filled up, and he has now three 

 milk, and two permanent grinders in each jaw, above 

 and below. 



At two years the mark in the nippers is wholly effaced, 

 and they appear like the same teeth in an eight years 

 old horse. At this time also, the first milk grinders, 

 above and below, fall. At about two years and a-half 

 old, the two front nippers fall out ; and as the permanent 

 ones are some little time coming to perfection, a colt 

 may experience some difficulty in grazing. Between 

 three and a-half and four years old, the two next nippers 

 appear, above and below. About four and a-half years, 

 the two corner nippers fall out to give place to the last 

 set ; soon after this the tusks appear ; from this period, 

 he is no longer a colt, but a horse, and if a female, on 

 the falling off the corner nippers, she drops the name of 

 filly, and assumes that of mare. At five and a-half, in 

 a natural state, the internal wall of the corner nippers 

 is on a level with the rest, and the tusks completely 

 come out. At six years old, in general cases, the black 

 mark, or cavity, in the two front lower nippers, which 

 was before wearing, is completely effaced. At seven 

 years old, the same mark or cavity in the two next, or 

 intermediate teeth, of the posterior jaw, likewise, is 

 completely worn out. At eight, the cavity in the lower 



