EXAMINATION OF THE MOUTH FOR AGE. 



91 



back teeth; namely, three on each side of each jaw. 

 These teeth take up the positions that are subsequently 

 occupied by the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd permanent molars. 



Causes ivliich may hasten or retard the appearance of the 

 permanent teeth. — It is generally considered, that thorough- 

 bred horses, and those which are fed from an early age 

 on " hard food," shed their milk-teeth sooner than under- 

 bred animals and those that are brought up on green 

 fodder. MM. Toussaint, Goubaux and Barrier are of 

 opinion that neither breed nor food has any influence 

 in this respect. If this be the case, horses differ therein 

 from horned cattle ; for a two-year-old Shorthorn which 

 has been highly fed, shows, as a rule, the same " mouth" 

 as an ordinary ox of two-and-a-half years. As the chief 

 function of the incisor teeth is the prehension and 

 division of food that offers a certain amount of resistance 

 to its removal from the place it occuj^ies, or to its 

 entrance into the mouth, it is reasonable to conclude that 

 horses which have to graze on grass of a dry nature, or to 



