FIVE-YEAR-OI.D MOUTH, 



67 



tlian the latter, and nearer in the lower jaw than the upper, but 

 this distance increases in both jaws with the age. In shape, the 

 tush somewhat resembles a cone ; it protrudes from the gum 

 about an inch, and is sharp-pointed and curved. The appear- 

 ance of this tush in the horse may vary from four years to four 

 years and six months. It can only be accelerated a few weeks 

 by cutting the gum over it. At four years and a half, or be- 

 tween that and five, the last important change takes place in 

 the mouth of the horse. Tlie corner nippers are shed, and the 

 permanent ones begin to appear. The central nippers are con- 

 siderably worn, and the next pair are commencing to show 

 marks of usage. The tush has now protruded, and is generally 

 a full half inch in height ; externally, it has a rounded promi- 

 nence, with a groove on either side, and it is evidently hollowed 

 within. The reader scarcely needs to be told that after the ris- 

 ing of the corner nipper, the animal changes its name. The 

 colt becomes a horse, the filly a mare. 



" At five years, the horse's mouth 

 is almost perfect — fig. 8. The 

 corner nippers are quite up, with 

 the long deep mark irregular 

 in the inside, and the other nip- 

 pers bearing evident tokens of in- 

 creased wearing. The tush is 

 much grown ; the grooves have al- 

 most or quite disappeared, and the 

 outer surface is regularly convex. 

 It is still as concave within, and 

 with the edge nearly as sharp, as it was six months before. 

 The sixth molar is quite up, and the third molar is wanting. 

 This last circumstance, if the general appearance of the animal, 

 and particularly his forehand, and the wearing of the centre 

 nippers, and the growth and shapes of the tushes be likewise 

 carefully attended to, will prevent deception, if a late four-year- 

 old is attempted to be substituted for a five-year-old. The nip- 

 pers may be brought up a few months before their time, and 

 the tushes a few weeks, but the grinder is with difficulty dis- 

 placed. The three last grinders and the tushes are never shed. 

 " At six years — see fig. 9 — the mark on the central nippers 



