SPANISH HORSES AKD MULES— ANCIEXTS. 215 



gums, as also on bollowness of back. I have seen colts 

 — got ly aged stallions— hsLYing all these indications 

 of age before tbey bad a full mouth ; and witli cavities 

 and hollow backs before tbey bad got colt's teeth." 



Suri^eon Brandt, who thinks shape indicates age aa well after 

 the eighth year as marks do before, says (" Age of Horses ") : — 

 " Some breeds, the Spanish for instance, require a longer time 

 to develop than others. The bones appear to be harder, the 

 teeth change somewhat later, and wear more slowly; some- 

 times, after the fifth year, they appear one or two years younger 

 than they are. The age of crib-bitei^ can be told by the corner 

 teeth, which are seldom injured. Should this be the case, liow- 

 ever, add as many lines as are needed to make them the natural 

 length. The horee is as many years younger as the teeth are 

 lines too short. The front teeth are frequently worn away 

 earlier when horses have been fed on unshelled corn. 



•' The age of mules cannot be ascertained with the same ac- 

 curacy as that of horses. After their eighth year they usually 

 appear younger than they are." 



JVote.—C.¥. Hoeing. M.R.C V.S. (Jersey City, N.J.) sars the fact that the 

 mai'ks inflicate age was discovered t>y Prof. Pessiaa of Vienna in 1818-29. 



The ancients appear to have known nothing about the marks. Aristotle 

 (His. Animals, Bohn's trans., pp. 170 1) says that before casting its teeth a 

 h'orse has its mark, bu( not afterivard. After casting them age is not easily 

 told, but is nsiially ascertained by the canines, which in riding-horses are 

 generally bit-wora ; these teeth are called the marMng teeth. (That is they 

 are marked by wear. They have no natural marks. See p. G9.) 



Xenophon, who finds use for tushes in bridling a horse— pressing the lip 

 agiinst them— says that in buying a horse, " Xo avoid being cheate:!, let it 

 Bot escape notice what his age is ; if he has not the foal teeth, he can neither 

 give pleasure with anticipate:! exertion nor be easily disposed of." (p. 719.) 



Pliny says age is indicated by the eruption and shedding of the incisors 

 (giving accurate dates) ; then by th3 projecting of the teeth, the gi-ayness 

 of the eyebrows, a.;id the depth of the pits around them. (Vol. iii. p. 60.) 



Pliny compiled from Van-o, Columella, and many others. Would they 

 all fail to mention the marks if they knew anything about them ? 



Erroneous and Extraordinary Statements by P'dmj.—Hov^e^'' teeth grow 

 whiter with age. If a horse is gelded before it changes its teeth it never 

 sheds them. No animal sheds the molars. Men have more teeth than 

 women. All men, except the Turduli, have .32 teeth. Some persons have a 

 continuous bone in place of teeth. Human teeth contain venom ; they tar- 

 nish a mirror and kill unfledged pigeons, Zocles had a set of teeth at 104. 



