147 



The molars sometimes wear unevenly, their edges 

 becoming as sharp as knives, and their tables slanting 

 in an unnatural degree. The slanting tables cannot 

 perfectly comminute the food, so that which is swal- 

 lowed, not being properly prepared, affords little 

 sustenance ; while the sharp edges cutting the inside 

 of the mouth, and causing it to ulcerate, render the 

 animal, from the pain, disinclined to eat. The con- 

 traction of the bones of the lower jaw, in some old 

 horses, by disabling them from bringing the tables 

 of the molars in perfect apposition, is the cause of 

 these teeth assuming such a shape ; for in young 

 animals this species of distortion is never witnessed, 

 save as the consequence of disease. The horse not 



L 2 



