TEETH AND FOOT OF THE HORSE. 



30) 



12. 



INCISOKS AND CANINES OF HOUSE 

 AND MAKE (A). 



nippers, both in the upper and lower jaws, are pushed upwards and removed by two permanent teeth, 

 which take their place, and which are distinguishable from the milk teeth by their increased size ; a 

 three-year-old Colt, therefore, is easily recognised by the possession of these two new and enlarged 

 incisors. At three years and a half the second incisors will have 

 given place to permanent ones ; and at four and a half the re- 

 maining incisors will have followed suit. Thus at four years old 

 the central nippers will be fully grown ; the next pair will not 

 have attained their full size, and the corner temporary incisors will 

 be worn small, and the mark nearly obliterated. At five years 

 old the mark from the central teeth begins to be effaced, the next 

 pair fully grown, and the corner pair only partially grown. Be- 

 tween the fourth and fifth year the canines begin to appear in 

 the male, two in each jaw ; in the female they do not appear 

 until old age. At six years old the mark on the central nippers 

 is much diminished, or obliterated. The other incisors will also 

 be worn, and the canines fully developed. At seven the mark 

 on the next pair of incisors is nearly gone, and the canines rounded at the point and edges. At 

 eight the mark disappears from all the incisor teeth, and the canines are much rounder and blunter. 

 From this time the age of a Horse is difficult to decide, and the teeth of the upper jaw seem to be 



the best guides. In the accompanying figure 

 (B) the incisors of a Horse aged sixteen years 

 are represented, in which it will be observed 

 that the oval island of enamel, or " mark," 

 has been obliterated, and its place is indi- 

 cated by a round, dark, island (A), composed 

 of osteo-dentine, which has been formed within 

 the pulp-cavity of the tooth. The absence 

 of the fine white crystalline enamel from 

 the centre of the tooth at once points out 

 the aged Horse from that " in mark," and 

 renders all attempts to produce by artificial 

 means the same pattern impossible, though this 

 trick is by no means unknown or unattempted 

 in horse-dealing. 



In the whole anatomy of the Horse there is 

 no organ more beautifully adapted for the pur- 

 poses it serves than the foot, and it is well 

 worthy to be discussed at some length. The 

 foot practically consists of the three last bones 

 of the limb. The bones are firmly bound 

 together by ligaments, affording also attachment 

 to the wonderfully strong tendons by which the 

 foot is moved. A mass of gristle called the 

 lateral cartilage is placed on each side, and 

 behind the bones is an elastic pad which is 

 termed the plantar cushion. A fibrous layer 

 is placed over these, and enveloping the whole 

 is a horny covering known as the hoof. Im- 

 mediately below the carpus, or the so-called 



BONES OF FORE (1) AND KIND (2) LIMBS OF HORSE. 



A, Carpus (knee); Al, Tarsus (hock'); B, Cannon bone; Bl, Splint bone; c, Greater - , ,. l; 



Posterior ; D, Coronet ; E, Coffin bone ; F, Navicular. knee of the Horse, in tne lore limD, 



below the tarsus or hock in the hind limb, we find what are termed the cannon bones. These, 

 which differ little in either fore or hind leg, are really, in point of fact, respectively the 

 metacarpal and metatarsal bones. On each side, towards the hinder part of these cannon bones,. 



