5 



whicli to date the age of an animal ; but under such 

 regulations, confusion will and does frequently arise. 

 In a long number of years, a few months may be of 

 little importance ; but at the earlier period the dif- 

 ference of several weeks may, in the calculation of 

 the age, be a serious matter. I will endeavour to 

 show how far, in an extreme case, confusion may be 

 created by the operation of these customs, and to 

 prove, that he who should read the teeth correctly, 

 would be unable to satisfactorily pronounce the ac- 

 cepted age of a colt. According to the received laws, 

 a blood foal dropt on the 31st of December, and a 

 foal not thorough-bred, born on the 30th of April, 

 would each, the second day of life, complete the first 

 year of its existence. Let it be supposed that a blood 

 mare bore a foal in the latter end of December — the 

 animal would be entered in the stud book according 

 to the year of its birth, but for obvious reasons could 

 never be put into training; it would be kept until 

 another January arrived, when, although but one 

 year and a few days of age, it could, in strict accor- 

 dance with the established custom, be sold as a two- 

 year-old ; and the entry being in the stud book, of 

 course the point would not be disputed. The colt is 



