CHAPTER II. 



THE TEMPORARY DENTITIOIf. 



Twelve Incisors and Twelve Molars, — Why the Incisors are 

 called " Nippers." — The Treatment of Foals Affects Teeth- 

 ing.— Roots of Milk Teeth Absorbed by the Permanent. 

 —The Tushes. 



The foaFs temporary teeth (known also as milk or 

 deciduous teeth) are adapted in size and number to 

 the capacity of the jaws and the amount and nature 

 of the mastication required for its sustenance. There 

 are only twenty-four temporary teeth functionally de- 

 veloped. They consist of twelve incisors or nippers* 

 and twelve molars or grinders, six above and six below 

 of each kind. The dental formula is expressed thus : 



Incisors, f — |; molars, f — 1=24, 



According to Veterinary Dentist C. D. House, who 

 says the care and treatment of foals will affect the 

 growth of their teeth as much as they will their gen- 



* Horsemen call the incisor teeth "Nippers/.' The word ex- 

 presses the office they perform, to wit, nipping- grass, as we!l as 

 the word "grinder" does in the case of the molars — grinding 

 corn. They call the first pair of incisors "central nippers," or 

 "centrals," one being on either side of the median line; the 

 second pair are the " dividers," for they stand between the first 

 and third pairs; the third pair are called the "corners," from 

 their forming the points of the cr&scent-like figiu-e. 



