148 

 feeding, attracts the attention of the groom, and 

 rarely does his intelligence detect the cause. Any 

 member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, 

 however, will soon discover the seat of mischief ; by 

 reducing the cutting edges of the molars, and in- 

 vigorating the constitution, while the ulcerated mouth 

 is properly treated, and the food carefully attended 

 to, he will soon restore the horse once more to health 

 and activity. The proprietor, however, must ever 

 after have the horse, from time to time, attended to, 

 as the symptoms denote a relapse; and with such 

 precaution the animal may continue in full work for 

 a number of years. Not a few horses show the edges 

 of the incisor teeth perfectly rounded, so that when 

 the mouth is closed the tables no longer touch in 

 every part ; indeed the form of the tables is destroyed, 

 and the age of the animal can by them hardly be 

 conjectured. These rounded teeth have been sup- 

 posed to denote crib-biting, and gentlemen have for 

 fifty years been told, to set down every horse pre- 

 senting such a mouth, as a confirmed cribber. The 

 notion, however, is not supported by fact, for crib- 

 bers generally exhibit even mouths ; and I have not 

 yet been able to discover an instance in which this 



